Nairobi National Park is the only national park in the world within sight of a major city's skyline. Opened in 1946 as Kenya's first national park, it covers 117 square kilometres of open grassland, scattered acacia woodland, and a stretch of the Athi river — all just 7 km south of Nairobi's city centre.
The park holds lion, leopard, buffalo, giraffe, zebra, and both black and white rhino — the rhino population is one of Kenya's most important. You will hear planes from Jomo Kenyatta Airport on approach, and the Nairobi skyline looms on the northern horizon, which makes the sight of a pride of lions against a backdrop of skyscrapers genuinely surreal.
Game viewing is best early morning or late afternoon. Half-day tours run from the city and three hours is a reasonable minimum. The Kenya Wildlife Service headquarters is at the park's main gate.