Hotels near Nairobi National Museum

The Nairobi National Museum is Kenya's premier museum complex - covering natural history, prehistoric humans, contemporary Kenyan art, ethnography of Kenya's 42 tribes, and a separate snake park on the grounds. The Hall of Mammals displays the original mounted specimens of African wildlife from the colonial era including Ahmed (the famous 60-year-old elephant with 4-metre tusks). The Cradle of Humankind gallery shows the original fossils discovered by the Leakey family at Lake Turkana.

The Pre-history gallery contains casts of Turkana Boy (the most complete Homo erectus skeleton, 1.6 million years old) and the original Australopithecus discoveries. The Snake Park houses Kenya's most poisonous serpents including the black mamba. Admission 1200 KES adults; combined museum and snake park 1500 KES. Open daily 08:30-17:30. Allow 3-4 hours for both.

Pro Tip: Time your visit for a Tuesday-Thursday afternoon when school groups have left. The Cradle of Humankind hall is the must-see; the rest of the museum is excellent but the prehistoric hominid section is genuinely world-class - Kenya is where humanity began.