We heard that Kenya was beautiful & Nairobi (the capital city) was simply amazing! Is the country perfect? No, no one country is but Kenya has a lot to offer besides safaris. We have said from the beginning of our journey that we were searching for our little piece of paradise. Let me just say it, Nairobi is closing in -right now- on our first place holder of Medellin, Colombia. What moves Nairobi up the list is that everyone speaks English vs a language barrier speaking Spanish in Colombia but we shall see in the end. We have a lot of countries to cover.
It wasn’t a safari that we were in search of but more of the culture & beauty of the city & Kenya. Don’t get me wrong, I would have loved to have gone on a safari, but they are not for people on a fixed income! More to the point, Africa continues to amaze these two senior travelers. The people have simply been wonderful and always have smiling faces. We have had nothing but love from Africa so far. It seems – to me – Africans are very centered on families & appreciate the gift of life. This is a conversation for another day.
After having spent five months in Kampala & Entebbe in Uganda we were not sure what to expect from Kenya. We were told that Kenya had tall buildings, great food, animal parks, etc. We were told Kenya was thirty years ahead of Uganda. What we found was a calmness & beauty that we had not seen in Uganda. People were just as nice but we were surprised to see that the Kenyan infrastructure was far ahead of what we had been use to seeing in Uganda. We walked paved streets with great sidewalks. Traffic seemed to definitely be more organized & motorbikes /bodas were not as many or crazy as in Kampala.
Our Takeaways from our one month in Nairobi, Kenya!
Mobile Money
Kenya like Uganda uses mobile money (the M-Pesa app is a must). Mobile money is a must in cash economies & very easy to use. Mobile money is a pay-as-you-go digital platform provided by mobile network operators. People do not need a bank account to use the mobile money services. Kenya was introduced to M-Pesa in 2007, as a app for people to access financial services. M-Pesa allows people pay any bill or shop with their mobile phone. As an International traveler you do not always have the ability to set up a local bank account but mobile money allows you access to many of the same services, but without the use of a bank. Makes perfect sense!
Language
With 72 -77 tribes (depending on who you ask) in Kenya, it was not – again – surprisingly to learn of how many languages each person could speak. I am totally in awe of their ability to navigate between languages. The Big Guy & I were taught general greetings in Swahili which is with English, the two most spoken language.
Here are some of the other things we saw:
1] Don’t be afraid to visit Nairobi town! Its crazy but again not as CRAZY as Kampala, Uganda! More organized.
2] If you like stamps, visit the Stamp Bureau at the GPO [main post office] downtown. We were in heaven.
3] At museums & many tourist sites, there are sometimes two prices – a lower price for the local resident – a higher price for tourist/foreigner. Genius! This upfront pricing is a good system & will not make you feel like you are being price gauged by a greedy business owner.
4] Someone will ask you for money…its a given. Either for ‘food’ or to cover school fees, etc.
5] Streets are paved & there are plenty of traffic control lights. Side streets may or may not be dirt or gravel but still good shape. No huge potholes!
6] Some of the neighborhood markets can seem a little overwhelming running for many blocks with lots of twists & turns. These markets are operated by local residents & only sell fresh produce & there are so many small shops inside these markets where you can buy almost anything!
7] Uber, Tuk-tuks, buses & matatus (the smaller privately owned bus) are readily available. We used Ubers, matatus & the train which were really very reasonable.
8] Kenya uses the e-Citizen Kenya website, which allows you to set up an account & is very simple to navigate. e-Citizen is a website that is used to access to all government & some other services.
9] Be prepared to answer politically based questions about the U.S. as Nairobi is very advanced & very interested in other countries politics (especially U.S.) & religion.
10] Last but not least, research the visa requirements carefully. We wanted to stay in Nairobi for three months but was told we spent five months in Uganda so was only allowed one month in Kenya. We got caught up in the East Africa Visa which was not our intention which only allows six months in EAST Africa which both Uganda & Kenya are members.
Our SGR Train ride to Mombasa!
Kenya has the Standard Gauge Railway referred to as the SGR Train. This train makes two four-to-five hour trips a day to Mombasa, Kenya daily. Let me just say that this train holds over a thousand passengers & is the most organized system I have ever seen. The station is VERY large with additions being added as I type. My grandpa was a train engineer way back so I grew up around & riding trains. Boy have they changed!
We rode in the First class coach from Nairobi to Mombasa for about $20 USD a person & returned in economy class for about $6 USD a person. The round trip for BOTH of us was VERY affordable. Look here for trips & fares. The seats both way were comfortable with a little more room in first class. Kenyan people are so friendly & we had some wonderful conversations with some children & adults during our return trip to Nairobi! Snacks are sold on train, but we ate at one of the SGR restaurants (very affordable pricing) before the train ride & we did buy a few very reasonably priced snacks on the train ride back. Be prepared for 5-6 security checks before we made it to our train in Nairobi.
We bought our tickets for the SGR train using the M-Pesa app & mobile money on my telephone (very easy). Once we arrived at the train station we went through several security checks separate areas for male & female screening. We went to the SGR train counter window & they were able to look up my ticket purchase using my phone. They printed our tickets at the ticket counter & we walked into the station area to wait for the call to start boarding the train. We were both impressed by how fast they loaded the train & started moving – right on the minute!
Kudos to those of you quick on the draw with your photography! Going south I saw a herd of zebras, a few giraffes & monkeys along with a lone mamma elephant & baby. On the return trip we passed a huge group of elephants practically within reach of the train. I was stoked but again no pictures. Every time I turn my ‘video’ off & settled back in seat – boom! – the animals were passing us by. The train kept a good pace so….be prepared!
Pulling into the train station it was after dark & all you could see was a sea of people, cars, taxis & buses. I feel we lucked out on our Uber. He was already there – it just took a few minutes to find him in the crowd!
Mombasa, Kenya
Mombasa is a busy little town & really wasn’t our cup of tea so we were happy that we only planned to stay the afternoon & overnight. The Mall that was touted to be everything you needed was just more closed businesses than open stores, very disappointing. We went there from great reviews we had read & were told but…again such a disappointment!
The late afternoon of our arrival we took a tuk-tuk ride to the Indian Ocean which was well worth the trip! Be strong, the tuk-tuk drivers are relentless but we found Sam who gave us a little tour & explained the city to us. Worth the price!!
We booked one night at “The Ivory Suites” for $60 USD that included breakfast the next morning at the SOY restaurant next door. After breakfast we found a salon for manicures & pedicures! Then it was time to get our butts to Mombasa Train Station.
Ordering an Uber back to the train station from downtown Mombasa was horrific. The first Uber decided not to stop & passed us by, the second Uber pulled up and told us that Uber wasn’t charging enough for the ride to the train station and advised us the cost would be – triple the price, shown on the Uber app! The third Uber showed up & checked the price and we had to negotiate a higher fee to get him to take us to the train station. Don’t get me wrong there were several shady taxi drivers trying to offer us a ride to the Mombasa SGR station, but being in a foreign country we believed Uber was probably a safer mode of transportation.
Would We Come Back to Nairobi, Kenya?
Yes we would. It fits very nicely into our budget & again the people were super nice. There is a lot we could not see in our short time there. I definitely see another longer trip to Kenya in the future.
Next stop is Zambia. Lets see if Zambia has any surprises for us.