Nairobi National Park, Game Drive #6 – Kenya 2026, Blog post #11

Our time in Kenya was winding down. It was Friday, July 31. Nick and Jessica would fly home that night, and the rest of us – the three old ladies - would leave the next day. We had to pack in as much as we could that day. But for me, one thing mattered. One thing I was hoping for, almost counting on.

We left early in the morning for Nairobi National Park, which is only a twenty-minute drive from where we were staying. It’s a small park, less than 30,000 acres, compared to Masa Mara which is ten times bigger, at over 373,000 acres. What would we see here that we hadn’t seen already?

We found wildebeest, hippos, giraffes, zebras, antelopes, and a variety of birds. Our driver, Peter, told us that the lion pride had moved south, out of the park and into the Kitengela Conservation Area. Leopards aren’t known to be in either place, so I was out of luck seeing one this trip. But what about the last of the Big Five? We’d seen elephants, lions, and buffalo. What about number five?

What’s that in the brush?

And what is with it? 

Could it be? Not just one Southern White Rhino, but a mother with her baby. 

There are between 16,000 and 18,000 Southern White Rhinos alive today. Their numbers had dwindled to around 100 in 1900, due mostly to poaching for their horns, which some people, mostly in Asia, believe have medicinal benefits. Their comeback is a conservation success story.

Not so for the closest subspecies. The Northern White Rhino is basically extinct, with only two, aging females remaining, living on a reserve in Kenya, protected 24/7 by armed guards. The last male of their species, Sudan, died in March of 2018, at the age of 45.

These white rhinos in Nairobi Park are also guarded night and day. I didn’t want to zoom in on them, so the picture is not the best. But they were there.

After we left the mom and her calf, we found these two bachelors, living their best life, 

even if they were surrounded by safari vans.

We watched them for a very long time. I'm sure they didn't know how special they are.