One of the reasons Nairobi was selected as our long African stay was the proximity to so many great safari spots. I think when a lot of people do their safari trip, they do weeklong package tours, which has them at lodges and doing game drives twice a day. With the kids in tow and a budget that had to last a whole year of travel, that wasn’t going to fit for us. We pre-booked one safari before we came, a 3 day, 2 night trek to the Maassai Mara, the most popular site in the area, made busier by the great migration currently happening. We’ll doing that Oct 1st (the prices in October were 30% less than the prices in September).
Even closer though, within a day trip from Nairobi, are Lake Naivasha & Hell’s Gate, Lake Nakuru, Amboseli, and Ol Pejeta — each offering unique wildlife experiences. We figured once we were in the area we’d look around and see what additional safaris we wanted to add to our trip. For our first safari, we stayed close to home with Nairobi National Park, a 117 km² reserve just 10 km from downtown, famous for lions, rhinos, giraffes, and over 400 bird species — though elephants are the one notable absence.
We priced it out and we could do a group tour with a standard agenda, or for an extra $150 we could do a private ride that we could specifically tailor. Despite trying to prep the girls with what to expect and the guidelines for a safari, we weren’t sure how the girls would do for the 3 hour game drive. So we jumped on the chance to do the private adventure.
We got picked up at 6am, tired but eager for our day ahead. We saw the sun rise while we drove through town and made it to the park entrance shortly after. We saw our first animals approximately 100 feet into the park, a family of baboons, including a number of babies. The girls were instantly in love. They also loved the fact that they could live out their dream standing up in a car and looking out in the roof. Standing, they weren’t quite tall enough to look out, but sitting on the seat headrest turned out to be a perfect spot for them to perch from.
As you can see, we weren’t dressed in the traditional head‑to‑toe beige safari outfits. Other than missing out on the “cool photo” aesthetic, it made zero difference. The chilly morning meant sweaters and pants were far more practical. Neutral colors are recommended to avoid startling animals (they didn’t care) and to deter bugs (we didn’t encounter any). I’m grateful I didn’t stress‑buy a new wardrobe.
Within 30 minutes we’d already seen buffalo, hippos, zebras, giraffes, and countless birds. We didn’t have fancy cameras — we briefly considered it but decided we lacked the space and know‑how. Phones worked just fine. We did buy binoculars in Nairobi, which were fun for spotting details but not essential.
The highlight for me was a mother rhino and her calf grazing right by the road.
Justin was mesmerized with the ostrich, it is just such a unique, enormous and terrifying animal.
Hippos were tough to really capture, as they were happy wallowing in the center of the lake, but we did see them. The lion pride turned out to be the most elusive. Thanks to our driver radioing around to the other jeeps in the park, we were able to find them, but they were very content to sit and lay in the long grass off in the distance. The girls lost interest after a while but pulled out their notebooks and markers and entertained themselves for a bit.
The scariest encounter came as we headed back out. Another baboon family crossed our path, and while I filmed a mother and baby, the dominant male suddenly vaulted onto our open roof. My heart stopped — he looked ready to drop inside. Luckily, the girls were perched on the opposite side, not directly under him. Before we could react, our driver shooed him away with a quick wave and loud shout. The baboon leapt back down, leaving us shaken but just fine. The girls were unphased and thought it was a highlight of the day.
Our half‑day game drive in Nairobi National Park turned out to be the perfect introduction to safaris and the thrill of seeing African animals in the wild. We’ve already had the chance to spot so many animals up close, and it gave us a taste of what’s to come. With two more safaris planned during our stay, we’re excited to see how they differ — and how this first experience will help us prepare for those longer, all‑day adventures.