Snake Park

The Nairobi snake park is located adjacent to the Nairobi National Museum at Museum Hill. with a central garden—a little set of trees, bushes, rocks and a tiny pool, through which move various reptilian species: lizards, harmless snakes, and tortoises. Around this runs a corridor with built-in display cases that house more dangerous species: black and green mambas, cobras, gaboon vipers, the African puff adder (Africa’s most dangerous snake) among them. Off to one side, a doorway leads into a couple of tiled rooms which contain a small, unimpressive aquarium: dimly lit and avoidable. Outside, after you’ve gone past the puff adder and some other snakes, the corridor descends to a few larger enclosures which house bigger species: tortoises, a Nile crocodile, and an American alligator among them. It’s physically damaging for the snakes to strike the hard glass. Simple warnings by the cages would stop this and updated information would excite the youth more; for instance, information that the Gabon viper is the world’s heaviest viper and has the longest fangs of up to five centimeters and the highest venom yield of any venomous snake. The Snake Park is easily covered in an hour, or even less. You can buy a ticket at the main gate here, or at the gate of the National Museum—we bought a combined ticket for both the museum and this. Unless you’ve exhausted all other sights to see or are exceptionally keen on reptiles, I wouldn’t recommend it. The display cases are, in most cases, shabby and stained, and generally, look in serious need of maintenance. The collection is all right and clean but not great.

If you are afraid of snakes, this is the place to face your fears. It is located on the museum hill, just a few minutes from Nairobi CBD. The entrance fee is KES150 for kids and KES300 for adults. The fee combines the entrance fee for the museum and the snake park. The snake park is right behind the museum in a beautiful botanical garden. They have quite a variety of snakes. You can be able to read about them on the slabs next to their habitats or you can have the tour guide take you through. The park I like the most is also the part that scared me the most. I got to put a huge anaconda on my shoulder and got some pictures taken. The snake is quite heavy and it moves slowly while it’s on your neck. It was a mind-blowing experience to hold the anaconda. 10/10 would recommend for the adrenaline junkies.