Talk to me about Kenya

RandomTourist

I've lived there; we are back most years; we were there last month. Current disturbances are reasonably OK, most have taken place away from tourist areas; as always take advice and follow local media. More generally Nairobi is known locally as Nairobbery - be careful especially after dark.

Nairobi is a good base but there's not much to detain you there. National Museum recently re-done is informative and tells lots of stories which are worth finding out about. Elephant Orphanage is fantastic - but you do need to book.

Game safaris are better if you buy a tour - guides know where to go and what wildlife is where, self-drive won't give you that help. Various operators from the excellent to the fly-by-night, and generally you get what you pay for. With luck they'll be able to tell you where the best viewing is that week.

Naivasha opens up Hell's Gate National Park where you can explore on a pushbike (no big predators) and amazing bird life.

Coast is great. Do explore the history as well as the sand! There are real security problems in the NE with Al-Shabaab and others - take advice. Kenya is host to many many refugees and the N in particular is bearing the  brunt of insecurity.

Flying internally is far mre comfortable and safer than the roads. We have lost too many friends in road accidents: the average matatu (minibus) driver seems to be homicidal rather than professional. Avoid night-time travel.

You'll find that most things work pretty well, visas only take 24h online for example, and the impact of mobile phones and Mpesa money transfer through them has been impressive.

tightauldgit

RandomTourist said:

I've lived there; we are back most years; we were there last month. Current disturbances are reasonably OK, most have taken place away from tourist areas; as always take advice and follow local media. More generally Nairobi is known locally as Nairobbery - be careful especially after dark.

Nairobi is a good base but there's not much to detain you there. National Museum recently re-done is informative and tells lots of stories which are worth finding out about. Elephant Orphanage is fantastic - but you do need to book.

Game safaris are better if you buy a tour - guides know where to go and what wildlife is where, self-drive won't give you that help. Various operators from the excellent to the fly-by-night, and generally you get what you pay for. With luck they'll be able to tell you where the best viewing is that week.

Naivasha opens up Hell's Gate National Park where you can explore on a pushbike (no big predators) and amazing bird life.

Coast is great. Do explore the history as well as the sand! There are real security problems in the NE with Al-Shabaab and others - take advice. Kenya is host to many many refugees and the N in particular is bearing the  brunt of insecurity.

Flying internally is far mre comfortable and safer than the roads. We have lost too many friends in road accidents: the average matatu (minibus) driver seems to be homicidal rather than professional. Avoid night-time travel.

You'll find that most things work pretty well, visas only take 24h online for example, and the impact of mobile phones and Mpesa money transfer through them has been impressive.

Thanks for that... all good to know. 

Getting my shots up to date this week and everything arranged now except for my visas and whatever internal travel I fancy.

frankie

Kenya evisa no longer available after the recent data hacking issue. FCDO has details. You now have to get Visa on Arrival. I think this is a temporary issue until systems are up and running again.

tightauldgit

frankie said:

Kenya evisa no longer available after the recent data hacking issue. FCDO has details. You now have to get Visa on Arrival. I think this is a temporary issue until systems are up and running again.

Very usefully the FCDO page says things have changed so check the entry requirements page but the entry requirements page says nothing. Hopefully it'll be sorted by September when I travel.

silvercar

We went to Kenya last year. I wouldn't waste much time in Nairobi personally. 

We were quite surprised on the amount of security provided for us in Nairobi, so clearly there are some risks.

We did a safari, which was amazing, well exceeded expectations. Followed by a few days by the beach. 

I would look on tripadvisor forums for more advice on exactly where to stay and what to do. 

RandomTourist

On the security front: yes, there's lots. Expect armed guards on banks. Expect luggage to be scanned on entry to hotels. Expect pickpockets.

And leave lots of time for flying out. On arriving at the airport you have to get out of the car/taxi, go through screening and get back in. Then you'll need tickets to get into the airport, and there is screening there too for luggage. After checkin there's further screening, and also at the gate. This can be very slow at times and we've seen flights being missed as a result.

And don't even think of driving at night; better, don't drive and let someone else do it for you, and let them deal with the police roadside 'checks' as well. Traffic in Nairobi particularly is very scary and no-one gives an inch. Battle scars on buses tell a tale!

tightauldgit

So.... coming to the end of my 5 weeks in Kenya and thought I'd provide a little bit of an update....

1. Spent most of the time in Nairobi and it's been pretty good. It's a big city and it doesn't have all that much touristy stuff to do but I was quite happy with that as I'm quite happy to just chill and see the local area and get to know the place. It's probably not a 2-weeks in the sun holiday destination.

2. Really had NO problem with safety and security here and had no reason to feel afraid - obviously observing standard 'in a dodgy country' protocols of not carrying valuables, not wandering the streets at night, not going to places that I might get in trouble, etc. The only real issue I find with it is that at night you can't just pick a location and wander around and see which bar or restaurant you fancy. You kind of have to know where you are going in advance and get an Uber direct to/from the door. Makes exploring a bit tougher. 

3. Took a safari to Maasai Mara with a local company and really enjoyed that. 

4. People here are really friendly and welcoming, prices aren't bad but certainly things aren't 'dirt cheap' except for Ubers which seem to be about 10-25% of what a taxi back home would cost. An hour long Uber across Nairobi is about £5-10 depending on time of day. Restaurant prices in 'decent' places I'd say are about £8-10 for a main course, £2 for a beer or a non-alco drink, cocktails and wine etc can be more expensive in nice places but nothing that's going to break the bank. 

5. I also went to Mombasa and just found it a lot less comfortable than Nairobi - not least of all because it's too damn hot and humid. I found I could only last about an hour or so in the sun in the afternoon. Plus it was a pain in the butt as the Uber's would constantly reject the ride, or try to negotiate double the fare, or refuse payment by card etc etc so anytime I wanted to go somewhere it was a case of having to book about 8 Ubers in a row until I found one that would actually take the ride. Plus I did get an attempted phone snatch on Nyali beach - luckily the guy missed and just knocked the phone to the ground. It is certainly prettier than Nairobi and you have the beaches etc but to my mind they are nothing special compared to elsewhere. apparently Diani is nicer but I didn't go there yet. Maybe next time.

A few things I learned:

1. Just take Ubers everywhere - they are cheap and public transport etc looks hellish
2. Nairobi is pretty good with card everywhere, Mombasa was a cash society outside of hotels and supermarkets etc.
3. The ATMs are a pain as most of them seem to be VISA only! So if like me you have 2 mastercards you're in trouble. (There are ways and means though- I had an uber driver sort me out by taking me to a petrol station forecourt where a guy swiped my card and gave me cash (loads of small notes) which we then drove to another petrol station to exchange for larger notes!) 
4. I did the anti-malarials and yellow fever shots etc but I'm not sure they are actually necessary. Probably yes if you are going on safari long term or going to be out in the wilds but if you are just hanging around the cities I'm not sure. 
5. It is Africa so a great deal of patience is required at times as things just don't always work as you expect. Patience not something I'm renowned for! 
6. If you happen to be single and interested in that sort of thing then you will have no shortage of offers from locals - you're a bit of a movie star here if you are white. Just obviously exercise caution with your health, safety and money. 

If anyone is planning a trip then happy to answer any questions. Next week I'm off to Sri Lanka. 

heatherw_01

When I went it wasn't as bad as it is now as travel wasn't recommended against travelling at the time, it was much safer then, although still not great but better than now.

I also was driven from the airport to hotel with an escort. I was told not to go into the city and I had no interest in that.

I was there for a safari so didn't go into cities other than when I had my last 2 days in Mombasa.

Don't go if it says not to, and I would advise booking either all inclusive or book transfers to get around when you do go.
I personally wouldn't have gone there if it wasn't for the safaris as I love animals so much and it is the best place for that!

tightauldgit

Quick update on Sri Lanka for anyone interested - I found it a bit meh to be honest though caveat it by saying I ended up staying in Colombo for 2 weeks rather than hitting the more touristy spots. 

I should say though that it was absolutely 100% safe - I'm seeing a lot of stuff online asking if Sri Lanka is safe and it absolutely is. This was my first time here and I couldn't work out quite what didn't quite click with me but most of the places seemed incredibly quiet - not sure if it's lack of tourists, lack of money or what - but the couple of times I tried to hit local bars or whatever there was literally noone in them. I might well have just been going to the wrong places. Which I think also wasn't helped by the fact that I found the locals a bit impenetrable - it seemed like they had their own way of doing things and pretty much kept themselves to themselves. 

I dont think the weather helped for me - during the day it was too damn hot and humid and then every evening the skies opened for several hours pretty much forcing you inside. 

Overall it's a nice enough place, and I feel like maybe hitting some of the tourist spots would have been better but very much a 6/10 for me.