7 Best Sights in Kenya

Established by the African Fund for Endangered Wildlife (AFEW), this unique giraffe sanctuary is a wonderful excursion for children and adults alike. Located in Nairobi's western suburb of Langata, it has greatly contributed to boosting Kenya's population of rare Rothschild's giraffes—after being born and raised at this center, many have been relocated to the game parks and reserves. The original house of the founders is now the very impressive Giraffe Manor hotel. You can climb a giraffe-height tower for an eye-to-eye view and it's not unheard of for a giraffe to give a friendly and grateful lick as you feed them—great for photos. There's a café and a short nature trail where you might also spot warthogs, as well as a souvenir shop.

Take the morning excursion at 11 am, which you can book through your tour guide or hotel concierge, to this amazing elephant rescue center and orphanage on the edge of Nairobi National Park. It was set up by Dame Daphne Sheldrick after the death of her husband, David, who was famous for his anti-poaching activities in Tsavo East National Park. You'll be able to watch baby elephants at play or having a bath, knowing that one day when they're old enough they will be successfully reintroduced into the wild. It's an absolutely unmissable and heartwarming experience. Make a donation, however small, or go for gold and adopt your own baby elephant.

The center is only open from 11 am–noon. If you miss the 11 am tour, you won't be able to visit until the following day.

Designed in 1930 as an aircraft hangar, this vast space between Muindi Mbingu Street and Koinange Street is a jumble of color, noise, and activity. It has dozens of stalls selling wooden and soapstone carvings, drums, shields, and Maasai jewelry and there are also fruit, vegetable, and flower sellers and butchers. Look for kikois and kangas, traditional fabrics worn by Kenyan women, which are good for wearing over a bathing suit or throwing over a picnic table; they are half the price here than in the hotel shops.

Out of Africa author Karen Blixen, who wrote under the pen name Isak Dinesen, lived at this estate from 1913 to 1931. This is where she threw a grand dinner party for the Prince of Wales and where she carried on a torrid relationship with aviator Denys Finch Hatton. The museum contains a few of her belongings and furniture, and outside is some of the farm machinery she used to cultivate the land for coffee and tea; guides will take you on a tour. There is a magnificent view of the Ngong Hills from her lawn, which is dominated by euphorbia, the many-armed plant widely known as the candelabra cactus. On the way to the museum you may notice a signpost reading "ndege." On this road, whose Swahili name means "bird," Finch Hatton once landed his plane for his visits with Blixen. After his plane crashed in Voi, he was buried nearby in the Ngong Hills.

On Museum Hill just to the north of downtown Nairobi, this interesting museum has good reproduction rock art displays and excellent prehistory exhibits of the archaeological discoveries of Richard and Mary Leakey. When working near Lake Turkana in the 1960s, the Leakeys discovered the skull and bones of Homo habilis, believed to be the ancestor of early humankind. Their findings established the Rift Valley as the possible Cradle of Humankind, although both South Africa's Sterkfontein Caves and Ethiopia's Hadar region claim the same distinction. There are also excellent paintings by Joy Adamson, better known as the author of Born Free, and a good collection of Kenya's birds and butterflies. There are some good craft shops and a museum shop, and it's worthwhile wandering around the gardens to see the sculptures and perhaps visiting the small snake park.  Nature Kenya runs guided bird walks every Wednesday morning at 8:45 from the museum (KSh200).

Established to preserve relics and records of East African railways and harbors, this museum is enormous fun for rail enthusiasts and children of all ages. You can see the rhino catcher that Teddy Roosevelt rode during his 1908 safari and climb into the carriage where Charles Ryall, a British railroad builder, was dragged out a window by a hungry lion. There are great photos and posters, plus silver service from the more elegant days of the overnight train to Mombasa. You can clamber over the British-built locomotives in the old rail yard.

Set in the eastern branch of the Great Rift Valley, Olorgesailie is one of Kenya's best-known archaeological sites. Discovered in 1919 by geologist J. W. Gregory, the area was excavated by Louis and Mary Leakey in the 1940s. They discovered tools thought to have been made by residents of the region more than a half million years ago. A small museum shows some of the axes and other tools found nearby. The journey here is unforgettable. As you drive south on Magadi Road, you'll find that past the town of Kiserian the route climbs over the southern end of the Ngong Hills, affording fine views of the entire valley. Volcanic hills rise out of the plains as the road drops into dry country where the Maasai people graze their herds. There's a campsite should you wish to spend the night, and this area boasts the largest population of migratory birds in the country.