The most striking thing about Nairobi National Park, Kenya's oldest national park, isn’t a mountain or a lake but the very fact that it exists at all. The park survives on the edge of the city. It is the only spot where you get a photo of animals in their natural habitat with skyscrapers in the background. As you travel into the city from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, you're likely to see hartebeests grazing near the highway.

A few minutes from Nairobi National Park is the African Fund for Endangered Wildlife (AFEW), a giraffe sanctuary offering wonderful excursion for children and adults alike. 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 wild.