36 Hours in Nairobi, Kenya

By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN DEC. 15, 2016

Intense traffic, a strong multicultural vibe, big global businesses — and yet you can still feed giraffes and elephants within the city limits.

From giraffe kisses to country music, spend some time with the delights of Kenya’s capital.

Credit

Video by Sam Wolson for The New York Times. Technology by Samsung. on

Publish Date

December 15, 2016

Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, calls itself the City in the Sun, and a visit can be as pleasant as that sounds. Most outsiders drop in for two reasons: business and animals. A short flight from spectacular wildlife parks such as the Maasai Mara, Nairobi has also become a magnet for some of the world’s biggest corporations trying to gain a foothold in Africa. The city is surprisingly beautiful with flowering trees and the perfect climate: 70s and 80s, sunny, low humidity — almost every day. It’s a palpably multicultural place, encapsulating what is happening in Africa better than any other city on the continent. Picture new construction, a lot of people, intense traffic, and more and more Western businesses. Yet you can still feed giraffes and baby elephants from within the city limits and see Maasai warriors ordering lattes in red-checkered blankets.

36 Hours in Nairobi, Kenya
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Friday
1. CURIO MADNESS, 4 P.M.
Plunge in. Haggle hard. And console yourself that if you do get ripped off — which is almost inevitable — the people on the other side of that 500 shilling note probably need it more than you. Friday is Maasai Market day at the Village Market Mall in northern Nairobi, and this is the best place to load up on East African souvenirs, from toy airplanes made of bottle caps to Obama Africa T-shirts and kanga cloth. The vendors are pushy but friendly and not averse to talking about life as you bargain. Few things have a marked price. That’s the fun.
2. INTO AFRICA, 6 P.M.
Indians arrived more than a century ago to help build the railway across East Africa known as the Lunatic Express. (Some of the original workmen were eaten by lions). Thankfully, the Indian community flourished, and there is no better way to get a taste of it than at the Diamond Plaza food court in Nairobi’s Indian quarter. Diamond Plaza is an old mall where everything is two-thirds scale: The streets are two-thirds as wide, the buildings two-thirds tall; it has the feel of a toy town. The food is served from a dozen booths arranged around outdoor tables. A favorite is Anil’s chicken tikka on the bone with gooey naan bread slathered in butter, costing together 600 Kenyan shillings (about $6). Wash this down with fresh ginger sugar cane juice for 150 shillings. Don’t miss Chowpaty’s vegetarian chana masala (675 shillings).
3. AFRICAN COUNTRY MUSIC, 8 P.M.
Kenyans adore country music. You hear it on the radio all the time. The leader is a man whose name joins these two seemingly incongruous cultures: Elvis Otieno (Sir Elvis, as he is known, whose parents named him after The King). You can catch Sir Elvis at the Gallileo Lounge in the Westlands neighborhood, among other venues. Close your eyes and let his purring baritone sink in, and you might think Don Williams had wandered into Kenya. Find out where Sir Elvis is playing in UP Nairobi Magazine, Kenya’s equivalent of Time Out.

Visitors ride a ferris wheel at the Mamba crocodile farm. Credit
Sam Wolson for The New York Times

Saturday
4. GET MOVING, 7:30 A.M.
Wildlife safaris are wonderful, but they tend to be sedentary, full of long drives and big meals. About an hour and a half outside Nairobi lies Mount Longonot National Park, a beautiful emerald green dormant volcano. It’s a rigorous hourlong hike to the top, where you can scan the Great Rift Valley, cradle of mankind. You’ll see buffaloes, zebras and, maybe, baboons. You can hike around the crater rim, which takes about four hours. You don’t need a guide but if you would like to hire one, several are at the park gates. Admission 2,700 shillings.
5. ANOTHER SLICE OF QUIET, 10 A.M.
Feeling less ambitious but still eager to stretch your legs? Karura Forest, in the middle of the city, offers more than 2,500 acres of trails, bicycles to rent and a little history. Mau Mau rebels who fought for Kenya’s independence in the 1950s hid out here, and you can peek into their caves. You can also take in waterfalls, butterfly-filled meadows and many species of tall trees. Listen for the eerie bark of the Sykes monkeys; you might see a gang of them swinging through the trees, a blur in the leaves. Admission 600 shillings.

 Lunch at Brown’s Cheese. Credit
Sam Wolson for The New York Times 6. A VERY PLEASANT LUNCH, 12:30 P.M.

In Tigoni, a beautiful high-altitude tea-growing area, the hillsides are carpeted with verdant tea fields picked to a uniform height — a giant green couch begging for someone to stretch out. Here you will find Brown’s Cheese, an all-natural cheese company run by two Cornell grads who make award-winning cheeses and awesome ice cream, especially the salted caramel, which, if slightly melted, is addictive. From Thursdays to Saturdays, Brown’s puts on a cheese-tasting lunch. For 4,000 shillings, sit in their garden and indulge in fresh cheeses, organic salads, the ice cream and wine. You can also tour the cheese factory and milk cows. All lunches by appointment.
7. CROCODILES!, 4 P.M.
Your children are probably wondering when it’s their turn to pick something. Just tell them “hakuna matata” — no problem in Swahili. And take them to Mamba crocodile farm. Here you can watch crocodiles slither into ponds and crunch on lamb femurs. There is also an amusement park ideal for young children with a small lake shaped like Africa, paddle boats, a Ferris wheel and other spinning rides powered not by electricity but by men pushing them. It’s relatively safe, and the people couldn’t be friendlier. Admission 1,000 shillings for adults, 500 shillings for children.
8. NAIROBI LUXE, 6:30 P.M.
The Sarova Stanley Hotel in bustling downtown Nairobi opened in 1902 as a luxury hotel. Upstairs is the Exchange Bar, rumored to be the site of Nairobi’s first stock exchange during colonial times, decked out with leather couches and dark wood. Unique fans are bolted into the ceiling; they don’t rotate but beckon back and forth like giant hands. This is a nice place to enjoy Kenya’s cocktail, the dawa (medicine in Swahili), a refreshing mix of vodka, lime, ice and honey. Beware, they go down quick! 

Country music night at Gallileo Lounge. Credit
Sam Wolson for The New York Times 9. SUSHI IN AFRICA, 8 P.M.

Kenya is an increasingly multiethnic place where Asian food plays a big role. Furusato is a local favorite. It’s a boisterous, crowded place where you’ll see all types — safari goers, aid workers, out-of-town businessmen and Kenyans with their families. The menu is Japanese and Korean and a meal can be built around the Dynamite Roll (shrimp and chile inside) for 1,300 shillings and an order of salmon ngiri (600).
10. DANCE, DANCE, DANCE, 11 P.M.
The most famous — or infamous — of Nairobi’s party spots is Black Diamond. The club is crawling with young people in tight clothes, and the smells of perfume, deodorant, sweat and beer hang in the air. The speakers thump out reggae rap and the latest Afropop. Note: Nairobi has been trying hard to distance itself from its reputation as crime-ridden and dangerous; it never liked the nickname Nairobbery. But at night, exercise caution. You can use Uber, but after dark don’t visit an A.T.M. or stroll around.

The view from the top of the Kenyatta International Convention Center (KICC) building in Nairobi. Credit
Sam Wolson for The New York Times

Sunday
11. KISS A GIRAFFE, 9 A.M.
Where else can you do this? At Nairobi’s Giraffe Center, you can feed Rothschild’s giraffes food pellets from your palm, and stick a pellet between your lips and get the wettest, stickiest kiss you’ve received since seventh grade. Of course, you do this for the greater good. The Giraffe Center uses proceeds to help breed and resettle endangered Rothschild’s giraffes. Fun facts: Giraffes sleep a maximum of two hours each day, and their coats are just like snowflakes, no two have the same pattern.
12. ADOPT AN ELEPHANT, 11 A.M.
China’s insatiable demand for ivory has driven up the price of elephant tusks to $500 a pound. African poachers are now colluding with Asian gangsters, and in recent years more than 100,000 of some of the most intelligent life-forms on earth have been slaughtered to make combs, bookmarks and other ivory trinkets popular in Beijing. At the David Sheldrick elephant orphanage, from 11 a.m. to noon daily you can feed and pet orphaned elephants, many whose mothers were felled by bullets. If that isn’t enough, “adopt” one — you can come off-hours and watch the elephant keepers tuck them in and put them to bed.
13. FEAST, 12:30 P.M.
The Talisman restaurant in Karen, the neighborhood of Nairobi where Karen Blixen once lived, is a meeting ground for Kenya’s who’s who. Both sprawling and cozy — with shaded outdoor tables, a playground and nooks next to the fireplace for cooler days — it offers excellent food. Go heavy on the feta and coriander samosas for 750 shillings. Fish and chips is another favorite 

Lodging
Sarova Stanley Hotel has been a Nairobi classic for over a hundred years. It is centrally located with those unforgettable ceiling fans. Double rooms from $225.
The Fairview is near the center of town, offering spacious gardens. From $205.
The Tribe Hotel is a good alternative if you are in the Gigiri neighborhood, about 30 minutes from the city center, which is home to East Africa’s United Nations headquarters and several Western embassies. From $190.