A few days from today, on a Thursday, we will be celebrating the highlight and climax of the festive season – Christmas Day.
With hard economic times, the anticipation is that many Nairobi dwellers (and other counties too) may not be making it to travel, as the tradition is among Kenyans to their upcountry homes, or afford a holiday treat such as travelling to destinations.
So, what do you do with the long Christmas holiday break if you are on a low budget to travel?
Make use of your current location and you will be surprised that there is so much you can do.
Start planning now for a “48 hours in” Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Kakamega, Meru, Embu, Nyeri, Kericho – whatever capital or town you are in within your county.
To guide you, let us explore what you can do if you, like me (I am hesitant to travel during the festivities), find yourself “stuck” in Nairobi.
Here’s what the green city in the sun offers you, an offer you can take and accomplish in “48 hours in Nairobi”.
The Safari Capital of the World
Thanks to the recent and ongoing upgrading and beautification of Nairobi, the city has captured many visitors and travelers.
Experience Nairobi during the festive season
From the breathtaking scenery and beautiful abundance of natural attractions to the glamour and glitz of the modern city lifestyle, the capital city of Nairobi has a lot to offer you during the Christmas festivities. Magical Kenya, welcomes you to the “Magic that is Nairobi”.
For nature and game lovers here is what you can explore
Nairobi National Park – Located in Langata, a distance of 10km from Central Business Centre (CBD), the Park within the city’s precinct offers you a half-day exploration deepening your interest points.
The Park that was established in 1948 has a diverse environment, with varied flora and fauna, and deep rocky valleys.
Here you will get to see wildlife like the rare black and white rhinoceroses, lions, leopards, hyenas, cheetahs, buffaloes, zebras, giraffes, baboons, monkeys, hippos and a rich variety of bird life.
Next is the animal orphanage that was established in 1964, where you can spend two to three hours depending on your interest points.
The orphanage is a refuge and rehabilitation centre for wild animals found abandoned or injured across the country.
Nairobi Safari Walk – This is Kenya’s new conservation-based recreation facility. Here you too, can spend one or two hours, walking on a specially constructed elevated pavement that offers you the opportunity to experience what you could expect to see across the country. A tour guide is available for those interested. The same for nature talks.
Other attractions
Nairobi National Museum – It is located in Museum Hill, about 3km from the CBD. At the museum, a visitor gets an interpretation of Kenya’s rich heritage.
It is a one-stop shop for visitors who want to sample the country’s rich heritage both for education, and leisure.
Here too, you will find botanical gardens, shopping and restaurants. Adjacent to the museum is the Snake Park, with life specimens of Kenya’s most common reptiles.
Daphne Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage – Located in Karen, about 10km from CBD, offers the visitor an experience of the life of orphaned elephant calves as a result of poaching, or natural occurrences.
This is home to rescued elephant calves from all over the country. While here, the calves receive extremely specialised treatment and personalised care from highly dedicated staff.
The orphanage is open to the public during feeding times where visitors can interact with the calves and watch them being fed, as they learn how the calves were rescued and how they came to the orphanage.
While here, you can adopt a calve, that gives you the option of participating in the elephant’s calve care at the orphanage.
Galleries and monuments.
Nairobi has several galleries and monuments to be proud of. These include:
Jomo Kenyatta monument – This is a masterpiece sculptor by James Butler, a British sculptor. The intricately double life-size 12-foot sculptor of the first president of the Republic of Kenya, shows the late President in the 1969 sculpture in detail, right down to a birthmark on Jomo Kenyatta’s face and his famous trademark peep toe sandals. The structure that sits at the centre of the Kenya International Conventional Centre (KICC) is an attraction to many visitors and photographers who make a field day from shooting photographs of visitors.
Nyayo monument – The statute stands on Uhuru Highway. It was built in 1988 to commemorate Kenya’s 25 years of independence. The marble monument shows the lowering of the British colonial flag and the raising of the Kenya flag.
Tom Mboya – The monument is located in the city centre, along Moi Avenue. It was elected in 2011, by the Kibaki administration, in honour of Tom Mboya, a charismatic youthful pan-African and freedom fighter known for his African airlift projects, and who helped in the formation of the oldest party in Kenya – The Kenya African National Union (KANU).
Dedan Kimathi statute- The monument is located on Kimathi Street, opposite the Hilton Hotel. Kimathi was a Mau Mau leader, a movement that led to the armed struggle uprising against the British colonial government in the 1950s. The statute depicts the warrior clad in military regalia, holding a riffle in the right hand and a dagger in the other, symbolising the last weapons she held in his struggle.
National Monument
The monument stands in Uhuru Gardens on Langata Road. This is a hallmark, where Kenya’s first flag was raised on 12th December 1963.
Bizarre monument
This is reportedly the statute of the white man who devised the road system in the country. It is located on Kenyatta Avenue, near GPO, Nairobi’s main post office. Another monument worth exploring is the War Memorial statute.
Galleries
Nairobi’s galleries worth exploring include; the Nairobi Gallery, Paa ya Paa, The Go Down Art Centre, Banana Hill Art Gallery, and the Nairobi Railway Museum Gallery.
Still, within your 48hours in Nairobi exploration you could include picnics in your itinerary. The city has several recreation parks and picnic sites, some of them like Uhuru Park, having undergone a major refurbishment.
These include; Uhuru Park, Nairobi City Park, Nairobi Arboretum, Central Park, Jeevanje Gardens, Ngong Hills, Karura Forest, Olooua Nature Trail, Rowallan Camp and Bomb Blast Memorial Park.
Other places worth visiting include the giraffe centre, Mamba Village, Boma of Kenya, Nairobi Arboretum, Karen Blixen Museum, Kitengela Glass, Kazuri beads, Kenya National Archives, and Maasai Markets among others.