nature travel

Nairobi National Park, Randomly

Last Thursday, out of the blues that engulfed Nairobi after tensions from the General Election, I got an urge to return to the Nairobi National Park to shoot wildlife. I shared the idea with friends from Onetouch and Friday morning, we met at the NNP Lang’ata Road Gate at 6am.

JW, Paul, Mumbi and I jumped into one car and started the hunt for the one thing we were hungry for… lions!

Nairobi-National-Park_Mwangi-Kirubi-1I’d always wanted to get an iconic shot of a lion with the Nairobi skyline in the background.

I thank God that getting up at 445am wasn’t in vain.

Shortly after, the sun rose in an equally iconic way, piercing through the heavy clouds for just a few minutes.

Zebras are silhouetted at sunrise in Nairobi National Park on 11th August 2017.

After just a few clicks, it disappeared behind the clouds. But not before I managed to squeeze-in another silhouette.

Zebras are silhouetted at sunrise in Nairobi National Park on 11th August 2017.

Not too far from where we caught the sunrise, we saw three lionesses and six cubs walking towards us.

Nairobi-National-Park_Mwangi-Kirubi-4

Nairobi-National-Park_Mwangi-Kirubi-5

It was a joy to see this family, especially the cubs, playing with each other and following their mothers.

We didn’t know where they were going so we followed them at a distance.

Nairobi-National-Park_Mwangi-Kirubi-7

It turned out that the lionesses were taking the cubs for a breakfast of freshly prepared zebra.

We left them having breakfast and continued with our tour of the park.

It was a very quiet day in NNP. It was apparent Nairobi was still in post-election-holiday mode and residents, including tourists, had chosen to stay home. During our five hours in the park, we met only three other cars, which is unheard of, even for a weekday.

Animals however hadn’t had elections and didn’t mind roaming the park, reminding us of what a privilege it is to have a National Park in Nairobi.

Rhinos in Nairobi National Park on 11th August 2017.

White rhino.

Marbou storks in Nairobi National Park on 11th August 2017.

Marbou storks in Nairobi National Park on 11th August 2017.

Marabou stork.

Zebras in Nairobi National Park on 11th August 2017.

Zebra.

When sleep and hunger started calling, we answered, exited the park, and started making plans to return soon.

 

  1. Gitau Kevin

    August 14, 2017 at 8:34 am

    Love your post Mwarv. Is the park open for entry at dawn?

    1. mwarv

      August 15, 2017 at 10:53 am

      The park gate is open at 6am. Payment is by Mpesa, debit or credit card. Carry your national ID or passport for identification.

  2. Ivan Mugambi

    August 29, 2017 at 12:35 pm

    Great work Mwarv.

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