A rapidly modernizing city of 3 million and the hub for the East African wildlife safari business, Nairobi has its own attractions, including a fine National Museum, but the big draw for wildlife fanciers is Nairobi National Park ($40), a 45-square-mile reserve just four miles south of downtown that offers game drives within sight of the city’s skyscrapers. This is the world’s only wildlife park bordering a major city. Bounded on three sides by electric fencing, the park hosts four of the Big Five (lion, leopard, Cape buffalo, rhino), as well as giraffe and cheetah — nearly the whole menagerie but for the elephant. Check with your hotel to arrange a guided game drive or a taxi.

To add elephants to a city safari, the top pick is the Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage near the National Park entrance. The Sheldrick Orphanage is open to visitors from 11 a.m. to noon daily ($6). Visitors get a close-up view of the hand-feeding, bathing, pratfalls and pranks of several dozen infants who have been rescued (usually after their mothers were killed by poachers). You can’t pet or feed the babies, but the experience puts you closer to the heart of the poaching threat these animals face daily, and you can “adopt” your favorite baby elephant as you leave ($50/year). Between the National Park and the Sheldrick Orphanage, there’s a chance to see Africa’s Big Five in the wild without leaving Nairobi.