More likely than not if you find yourself flying to Kenya, you’re probably planning to holiday there. But if you’re using Kenya Airways to fly from an African country since it was the cheapest ticket, you might find yourself with a long layover in Nairobi. In the first case, awesome – go explore the Masai Mara and Amboseli National Park to your heart’s content. If you are here for less than 24 hours, don’t fret – there’s plenty you can do with a long layover in Nairobi outside of pacing around the airport.
Usually there are multiple flight options that you can play with to optimise the length and timing of your layover to suit a transit excursion. Plan your layover to coincide with daylight hours – aim to land in the morning and take-off in the evening. Ideally, you’ll want a layover longer than 10 hours to make the effort worth it. This is because there are a lot of little things that eat time. There’s the time it takes between landing and disembarkation (about 30 min). Then the time to make your way through immigration (anywhere from 10 to 30 min depending on the number of people). It takes another 30 minutes with no traffic to get to the city centre from the airport. And then to catch your next flight you should aim to be at the airport about 3 hours prior to departure, because you never know.
If you booked your first flight and connecting flight on the same ticket with Kenya Airways, your luggage will automatically be transferred. So don’t worry about picking it up. Simply take your carry on and go.
What to See and Do
Depending on your appetite, there are a few things you can pack in around the city. To minimise on Uber costs (it’s really the only way around when you’re short on time), I would focus on exploring around Langata and Nairobi Central.
The Giraffe Centre is on the edge of Nairobi in Langata and is a pretty fun way to get up close to giraffes. For 1500 KES ($15), you can grab a handful of pellets and feed the giraffes. Just watch out because they like to head-butt you for more food and it’s not exactly a love tap. You can preorder your tickets here.
If you prefer baby elephants, head down the road to Sheldrick Wildlife Trust Orphanage between 11am and noon any day of the week (except 25 December) to see the staff feed the baby elephants and hear about about their stories. Prior to the pandemic, you could just show up, but now you need to make bookings in advance by email. Entry fees require a minimum donation of 1500 KES ($15). Personally, I’m terrified of elephants, but these guys were really adorable. Until two of the teenagers had a spat and the one backed up and almost trampled me.
For those who want to get up close to all the animals except elephants, you can go on a safari literally right in the middle of the city – Nairobi National Park. The 117 square-metre park has buffalo, giraffe lion, leopard, baboon, zebra, wildebeest and cheetah – what more could you want? Non-residents pay $35 each for a day visit ($20 for children). The park entrance is right by the airport. Most people self-drive around the park, but since you’re just transiting there’s no point in renting a car – you can just go with an organised tour. This tour operator offers 5 hour tours for $90 per person and will pick you up and drop you off at the airport. They will also take you on a walking tour in the park. Just make sure the times work for you – the morning tour starts at 07:00 am and ends at 12:00 pm. The afternoon group tour begins at 1:00 pm and ends at approximately 6:00 pm. People also offer tours through AirBnB experiences.
Souvenir hunters can get their shopping fix on without stepping into a single one of Nairobi’s many malls. Six minutes by car from the Giraffe Centre are the Langata Link Shops which, though small, have an assortment of unique gifts made locally. Given you’ll be super tired from flying, this spot is a quiet oasis with a little courtyard and cafe where you can recharge on caffeine and relax in the swings. For jewellery lovers, try out Kazuri Beads where ceramic beads are handcrafted and painted onsite. They also sell an assortment of beautiful ceramics, but the necklaces and earrings will probably survive your carry-on better. They export a lot of their products to London, but you can snag the factory prices here in Nairobi. If you have a lot of energy to haggle or are too tired to care about hecklers, then one of the more traditional African markets might be for you. You can find traditional handicraft at the Maasai Market (closed Mondays) which you can find at different locations based on the day of the week.
Fans of the 1985 epic romantic drama “Out of Africa” starring Merryl Streep should check out the Karen Blixen Museum. The museum is the former home of the famed author the film is based on – ‘I had a farm in Africa at the foot of the Ngong Hills’. This has an entrance fee of 1200 KES ($12).
The Nairobi Central Business District doesn’t really have too much going on and is a bit uncomfortable to walk around, but I did enjoy checking out some interesting architecture like the Kenyatta International Convention Centre. Nearby is the Al-Yusra Restaurant where you can try some local dishes (you’ll probably be the only tourists here – just ask to order what others are having). The portions are huge, show up hungry.
Of course, if you just want to spend the day taking it easy, you can book a hotel with a pool for relatively affordable rates. On one layover occasion, we booked a place at Woodmere Serviced Apartments in Kilimani so that we could relax at the pool after a morning of exploring, nap and shower before heading back to the airport. Prices start at $30 for a room.
Packing Essentials
It’s pretty hot during the day all year round in Nairobi, so after a day exploring, make sure to have a pair of spare clothes to change into before your next flight. Also be sure to have summer clothes for your day in Nairobi, but a sweater for the morning and evening – it gets very chilly. If you’ve got a SIM card that works abroad bring it so you can use e-hailing apps. Otherwise pick up a SIM card at the airport. Download the local area on Google Maps or Maps.Me to help navigate during the day.
Visa Tips
If you’re from one of the 40 countries that don’t need a visa to visit Kenya, then this is a pretty easy visit for you. That includes a bunch of African countries including Ghana and South Africa. For everyone else (Americans and Europeans included), you’ll need to apply for a visa online at least 7 days before arrival. You should have proof of yellow fever immunisations, or you may be denied entry (the yellow vax book). A single entry visa costs $51. They also have transit visas for $21 if you are planning to enter and exit within 3 days via another destination.
Getting Around
Nairobi has a lot of public transportation – matatus (colourful buses), motorcycle taxis, etc. – but unless you are familiar with how these work and their routes, you’ll probably want to stick to e-hailing for the day. Both Uber and Bolt operate in Nairobi.
