Flight to Kitale
We took fly540 from Nairobi
to Kitale, it costs about $100USD for the flight, one way. It takes 1
hour. Your other option is a matatu (bus) that takes about 8 hours. And I
wouldn't advise it due to the state of Kenyan roads.
Where to stay?
Well,
you have a few options, but the best of them all would be Karibuni
Lodge. With extremely reasonable prices, an amazing, helpful staff, and a
wonderful couple that owns the place, there is no better place to stay.
The food is amazing, a three course dinner is 650 ksh. Should you need
anything at all, the smiling staff is always there to lend a hand. The
whole place has such a homey feeling to it, we never wanted to leave!
Travelling..
We
only used two types of transportation, although there are three to
choose from. Taxi, Piki piki (motorbike taxi) and a boda boda (bycicle
taxi). We never got up the courage to take a boda boda, but we did find
ourselves a few amazing drivers who will keep you safe at all times. For
taxi, our favourite driver was Isaac, his number is 0721447321, and our
favourite piki drivers are Elisha (0726212645) and Phillip
(0721430861). They are all very safe, very kind, and fair.
Eating..
The
best place to eat would probably be Karibuni Lodge, but should you want
something a little different, Pinewood offers both Chinese and Indian
menus, although the cost is a bit steep compared to other places here.
Still dirt cheap compared to North America, but in terms of Kitale,
you can get a decent meal at some places for about 200KSH. Any of the
hotels offer samosas, chips (fries), chips masala, eggs, chicken etc. at
a decent price. Coffee shop has some really good food, and a handy
little internet café right there should you need it. Here soda (pop)
costs about a third of the price of bottled water, and the tap water is
not safe to drink. Karibuni supplies purified water.
Shopping
If
you want some North American food, the big supermarkets like Khetia’s,
Transmat and Suam are the best places to check out first, but if you
can’t find what you are looking for, you can try Soy. It’s the most
expensive of the lot, but the most likely to have what you are looking
for. If you aren’t in one of those four stores, usually you can bargain
the price down on anything and everything. If you are a muzungu (white
skin), you get a special price of your very own! About three times the
price of what everyone else pays! So don’t fall for it, and just walk
away. Nine out of ten times, they’ll chase you down and give you a
better price.
Customs
In some of the outlying villages
they have some customs that must be recognized before certain things can
occur. One such custom is accepting tea from the lady of the house and
drinking it together before you can have a conversation. The tea here
is made with milk, which isn’t pasteurized and makes us sick everytime
we drink it. So we pop a gravol beforehand, and it seems to help.
Sickness
Malaria.
You hear horror stories about it at home, but here it’s simply a common
flu. You find out you have it, get some shots and you are good to go.
If you start feeling the symptoms, get tested! You might think you don’t
have it due to a lack of itchy bug bites however it’s spread through
female mossies who do not give you visible bites. Something else you
are probably going to want to do is get a worm preventative that you can
pick up at the local chemist here upon arrival for about 145KSH.
A little Swahili that will come in useful…
Hapana – no
Hakuna pesa – no money
Habari – how are you
Mzuri – good
Asante – thank you
Kidogo – little
Baridi – cold
Maji – water
Ndiyo – yes
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