One day in Nairobi: itinerary and highlights

The Nairobi National Park is the natural starting point: the only national park in the world bordering a capital city, it hosts lions, giraffes, black rhinos, and hundreds of bird species, with the city skyline visible in the background during safari.

Near the park entrance is the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, the rescue center that raises orphaned elephants until they are ready to be reintroduced into the wild, visitable during morning feeding time.

A few minutes away rises the Giraffe Centre, where it is possible to hand-feed Rothschild giraffes from an elevated platform built specifically for this close encounter.

For lunch, the restaurants around Karen, the residential district named after writer Karen Blixen, offer Kenyan and international cuisine in a more tranquil atmosphere than downtown.

For the final part of the day, the Karen Blixen Museum, the former farm of the author of Out of Africa, with its original furnishings and garden overlooking the Ngong Hills.

The Maasai Market, the itinerant craft market, is instead the right place to bargain for masks, fabrics, and jewelry made by local artisans.

As evening falls, heading back to the center, the restaurants of the Westlands district become the point of reference for dinner, closing the day among restaurants and nightlife.

Nairobi National Park, the elephant center, and the Giraffe Centre sketch the city's naturalistic side, while an afternoon choice between the Karen Blixen Museum and Maasai Market adds the literary or artisanal dimension.

The Nairobi National Museum, with its paleontological collections, and a trip to the Masai Mara Reserve remain chapters for a second journey. Seeing a giraffe stand out against Nairobi's skyscrapers remains the most direct image of the city.