Welcome to Maarifa Park, our corner of paradise in Nairobi! This beautiful private botanical garden offers a lush, vibrant experience that will transport you from the bustle of everyday city life.
A passion project from the Maarifa Homes management, these gardens have been lovingly tended and grown for over a decade before now being opened. Boasting more than 200 species of plants and trees, every corner of The Shamba reveals new treasures.
The space has a beautiful terraced design, and each garden bed is carefully considered to offer striking views from every angle. From the entrance, you’ll be enchanted by a lovely lookout over the entire park, as well as the gorgeous first level of the garden, which features a variety of flowers and miniature Ficus all along the interior wall, to immediately submerse you in a calming green aura. Descending along grassy walkways, surrounded on every side by flowers and shrubs, you’ll make your way to the lowest level of Maarifa Park, which features several open lawns, edged by shade throwing tress and beautifully designed garden beds. You’ll also find the pond, home to our resident ducks and geese as well as a variety of visiting birds. The park also hosts chickens, guinea fowl and peacocks, as well as a family of rabbits.
The gardens feature hedges for privacy and structure, as well as interior hedges to divide the space and rim its terraces. Large mature trees – including Cape chestnut, Nandi flame tree, Nile trumpet, and Cape mahogany – anchor the space, and provide lush shade. An absolutely stunning variety of flowers and shrubs light up the garden in a dazzling display of colour. On your visit, you may find in flower hibiscus, birds of paradise, bougainvillea, oleanders, azalias, jasmine, mukoma daisies, hydrangeas, irises, carnations, marigolds, chrysanthemum and wild roses, amongst many, many more. You’ll also find a lovely rock garden planted with succulents, and a captivating hanging garden on Maarifa Park’s large trellis.
In 2012, this space began as a small urban shamba, planted with a variety of vegetables. This legacy is maintained today with plants like yellow and red cherry tomatoes, courgettes, peas, cucumber, spinach, salad, chillis and more. The garden also boasts fragrant herbs, like lavender, rosemary, coriander, oregano, thyme, and curry tree. A row of fruit trees acts a small orchard, growing yellow and black passion fruit, guava, lemons, oranges, avocados, mangos and pomegranate, amongst others.
Loving care and careful consideration of how best to use the land’s natural features has gone into creating the garden’s green surroundings. Found in an area of Kitisuru with an abundance of water, and featuring steep inclines, the space was prone to flooding and standing water. With thoughtful design and planning, this concern was transformed into a beautiful pond that attract an abundant variety of birds, and a rich environment for flowers, shrubs and trees.
To create a mini-ecosystem that supports a many bird species, Maarifa installed bird feeders throughout the park, but also provided nesting trees, like acacia, and plants that they can use to build their homes, like sugarcane and raffia. We also planted honeysuckle, aloes and shrubs to entice them with additional food sources.
This space is truly one-of-a-kind, and upon entering Maarifa Park you can sense the love and passion that has gone into its growth. This creates a restful, welcoming atmosphere will leave you relaxed and refreshed, having enjoyed several hours in a literal paradise. We look forward to hosting you!
