WHERE TO VISIT IN NAIROBI

The Karen Blixen Museum (named after the heroine of out of Africa) is about 20 minutes' drive out of the city centre. Karen Blixen's house has much of its original features still intact. Photographs and original oil portraits painted by Ms Blixen adorn the walls showing glimpses of life on this former coffee plantation.

The Giraffe Centre, founded in 1979, is the creation of the African fund for Endangered Wildlife. Visitors get an opportunity to come into close contact and feed these tall graceful animals. The visit can be combined with a look at Daisy Rothschilds's Giraffe Manor, one of Kenya's best-known guesthouses.

The Nairobi National Park is the only park in the world within the proximity of a capital city and is Kenya's wildlife shop window. The park is unique as nowhere in the world exists a wildlife park with such a variety of animals and birds species so close to the capital city. The diverse flora of the park makes it possible for many different types of wildlife species to co-exist. Among the animals in the park are the lion, buffalo, cheetah, zebra, giraffe, antelopes and gazelles, and the black rhino, as well as over 400 species of birds.

The David Sheldrick Animal Orphanage is situated on the edge of the Nairobi National Park. Here, visitors can observe the amazing accomplishments of dedicated men and women in the rehabilitation and rearing of orphaned baby elephants. Daphne Sheldrick founded it in 1977 in honour of her late husband and famous naturalist, David Leslie William Sheldrick MBE. The orphanage is a charitable organization, and is open to visitors daily between 11am and midday, when the baby elephants take their mud baths.

The Nairobi national Museum tells the history of man with original fossils that are found nowhere else in the world. A walk in this rich heritage exposes the visitor to the richness of the history of Kenya, the diversity and richness of the Kenya culture, the bird and animal kingdom, and a reptile park that is very popular. The Museum has recently undergone major renovation and is well worth a visit, even with those who may think they have seen it all.

The Kenya Railway Museum is located off Uhuru Highway in the City centre. On display are carriages dating back to the turn of the century. The carriages are full of historical photographs and relics from the time when railway construction workers first arrived in Nairobi. A visit to the Railway Museum is a fascinating encounter with the story of Nairobi's humble beginnings.