Nairobi, whose name means ‘cool water’ in Maasai, is a great transport hub, springing into being because it was a convenient place to put a railway terminus during the building of Kenya’s famous ‘Lunatic Line’ in 1899. Since then, it has sprawled upwards and outwards to house a population of nearly three million. Its low-level colonial buildings now jostle equally for space with mirror-fronted skyscrapers, concrete apartment blocks and rickety tin shacks. Sadly, the city currently has a bad reputation for street crime and robbery. However, it is also undoubtedly the greatest city in East Africa, a pleasantly laid-back place surrounded by magnificent scenery and a great centre for souvenir shopping.

There are relatively few formal ‘sights’ in central Nairobi; take time just to wander the streets and look at the old colonial architecture and the brightly coloured crowds and get a feel for Africa. The city’s single must-see sight is the National Museum (Museum Hill, off Uhuru Highway, +254207742161, www.museums.or.ke), home to most of the great prehistoric finds made by the Leakey family in East Africa, from Ethiopia to the Olduvai Gorge. It also has sections on wildlife, art, geology, local history and a snake park. The Railway Museum (Station Road, off the Uhuru Highway, +25420221211) is surprisingly interesting, even for those without a passion for trains.

West of the city, the suburb of Karen is named after Karen Blixen, author of 'Out of Africa'. Much of the suburb stands on her old farm. Her house is now the Karen Blixen Museum (Karen Road, +25420882779, www.museums.or.ke), although it contains few of her own possessions, while the garden contains a tea room and some cottages where you can stay. A couple of miles away, the African Butterfly Research Institute (256 Dagoretti Road, +25420884872) is a vast magical greenhouse alive with native butterflies.

South of the city, in Langata, the Giraffe Centre (Go Go Falls Lane, near Hardy Estate Shopping Centre, +25420891658) is the city’s most enchanting attraction, with the option of hand-feeding the rare Rothschild giraffes, plus a nature walk with 160 species of bird. The Sheldrick Animal Orphanage (Banda Gate, Nairobi National Park, +25420891996 (phone before visiting), www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org) was set up to look after orphaned animals and return them to the wild and usually has baby elephants in care. Nairobi National Park (+25420501081, www.kenya-wildlife-service.org), may be within sight and sound of the city but it is still a fine game reserve, covering 114 sq km, with over 400 species of bird and all the major mammals, including the lions, leopards, and one of the country’s few thriving populations of black rhino. Beyond the park gate, the Bomas of Kenya, Langata Road, +25420891801, is a living open-air museum of the tribes of Kenya, including regular dance performances.