NAIROBI: FULL DAY EXCURSION - Karen Blixen

1.      Nairobi National Park

Nairobi National Park is situated 6 miles (10 km) from the heart of Kenya’s capital. Established in 1946, it has 44 square miles (114 square km) of pristine savanna with a large population of migratory game animals.

Kenya's first national park, Nairobi National Park is a haven for wildlife and only seven kilometers from the skyscrapers of Nairobi's city center. The park is also a rhino sanctuary, which protects more than 50 of these critically endangered creatures. In addition to the rhinos, you can see lions, gazelles, buffaloes, warthogs, cheetahs, zebras, giraffes, and ostriches, and more than 400 species of birds have been recorded in the wetlands.

2.      Karen Blixen

One of Nairobi's top tourist attractions, the Karen Blixen Museum, at the foot of the Ngong Hills, is the former home of the famous namesake Out of Africa author. Karen Blixen, also known by her pen name, Isak Dinesen, lived in the house from 1917 to 1931, where she ran a coffee plantation. Today, you can tour the well-preserved colonial farmhouse, a kitchen in a separate building, a coffee-drying plant in the woodland, and an agricultural college on the grounds. Furniture that belonged to Karen Blixen and her husband is on display, as well as photographs and books owned by Karen and her lover, Denys Finch Hatton. Enthusiastic guides bring the story of Karen Blixen and colonial Kenya to life.

3.      Kazuri Beads factory

If you are looking for some unique souvenirs and gifts for family and friends, the Kazuri Beads Factory is a great place to shop and help out disadvantaged local women at the same time. Kazuri means "small and beautiful" in Swahili, and these shiny, brightly-colored beads surely fit the bill. Join a free factory tour and see how local women, including many single mothers, make the beads and other pottery items from scratch. After the tour, you can purchase some to take with you, knowing you are purchasing from a World Fair Trade Organization member. Prices are relatively reasonable. This is a great tour to combine with a visit to the Karen Blixen Museum, as the factory lies right nearby.

4.      Nairobi National Museum

The National Museum in Nairobi is an educational way to spend a few hours on a city stopover. The museum displays diverse cultural and natural history exhibits including more than 900 stuffed birds and mammals, fossils from Lake Turkana, ethnic displays from various Kenyan tribal groups, and exhibits of local art. In the Geology Gallery, you can explore an impressive collection of rocks and minerals and learn about tectonic plates and the life cycle of a volcano. The Hominid Vault contains a collection of prehistoric bones and fossils, including the preserved fossil of an elephant. At the museum, visitors can purchase combination tickets, which include entrance to the adjacent Snake Park with live specimens of Kenya's most common reptiles.

The Museum aims to interpret Kenya’s rich heritage and offers a one stop for visitors to sample the country’s rich heritage both for education and leisure. In addition to the museum, visitors are treated to a variety of shopping and dining facilities, as well as botanical gardens that offer a serene environment.