“The Game drive in itself is just therapeutic,” said my friend Caro during our safari last Sunday. 

I can’t think of a better way to put it. It was my first time doing the drive at the national park and it was the best 5 hours of wildlife experience. 

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The national park is located in Langata about 7km south of Nairobi.  Apart from being the only wildlife park in the city, it also boasts of a wide variety of wildlife including the endangered black rhino, lions, leopards, cheetahs, hyenas, buffaloes, giraffes and diverse birdlife with over 400 species recorded.

I booked my trip with Mufasa Travels, which costed ksh. 2000 per head plus 400 entrance fee for residents, for my international folks, adults will pay 35 USD and 20USD for kids. You can also find these tariff information and more details on the national park website; http://www.kws.go.ke/. Our trip included a pick-up and drop off in town by the company’s Land Cruiser. 

I also inquired about other options which I’m glad to share in case they may be of interest to you.

One can drive themselves, which means there will be a charge for the car i.e. a 5-seater vehicle will be charged Ksh.300 and Ksh. 400 per head on each person inside in case there’s and underage ksh. 200. Then depending on how well you’ve been to the park you can decide if you need a guide or not. The guide fee starts from Ksh. 1000 and it’s negotiable. 

There’s also an option of hiring the KWS Land Cruiser which is Ksh. 7000 and of course you’ll pay the entrance fee.

In my opinion, I prefer the travel company on this one as the driver is experienced on the routes plus navigating in places where you can find and see most animals.  The land cruiser is also a good choice since it can go through all places a normal car can’t. 

The best time to also book with the travel companies is the weekend since it’s easier to fill the Cruiser than on a weekday where you might be forced to pay for the empty seats and might end up paying up to Ksh.12,000.

However I saw other types of vehicles, so you can also go forth and explore if that’s your preference :).

Let’s now get to THE experience, my experience!

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The drive was 5hour long. We got there around 8am, which was actually a good time as the place is not yet full of many people. 

We had our temperatures checked, washed our hands and off we went!

 The first animals we saw were the crocodiles and a few hippos. 

The park was also painted with beautiful zebras, impalas and antelopes. A few ostriches could be seen. Our driver, Dennis also took the time to explain to us the different breeds of the animals. 

Among the big 5 animals, we got to see three – the buffalo, rhino and the lion. Dennis had earlier told us the elephants could not settle at the park since it’s not big enough for them but I look forward to seeing them at the Elephant Orphanage. On the other hand leopards are shy animals hence not easily seen.

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We finished our ride by around 1pm and honestly we were worn out and craved for an afternoon nap.

My safari number uno is in the bucket!!!

Here is a better glimpse to it 🙂 https://youtu.be/GQ4HCVQFuUg