The centre of Nairobi is full of modern skyscrapers and offices of Multi National Companies. There is not a lot worth seeing. There are some modern shops but the city is very congested. The vehicle exhaust emission rules are not enforced. When lorries pass you the air is thick with black polluting smoke. You can taste the grit in the air. It is relatively safe to walk around during day light hours but do not walk around at night. This is when you risk being robbed

Medication for Kenya
You must have all the necessary injections before you go. It would be suicidal not to. The take time so go to your doctor a few months before you leave. Find out the price of the full course of injections and pills. Then phone around to other practices to see how much they would charge. I saved £200 to have my family vaccinated at another Doctors one mile away from my normal Doctors practice. Go to the chemist and ask for a safe needle kit. You do not want to catch a disease from reused needles if you need a blood transfusion following a road accident. Big companies like boots sell them as part of a first aid kit. Pack them in your main luggage and not as hand luggage. They are not cheap. The injections and pills are also very expensive so phone around. I have already mentioned the Flying doctor service but just to remind you log onto their website and pay for temporary membership of the Kenyan Flying Doctor evacuation service for the period you will be away. It gives you piece of mind that if you slip and break a leg you will be flown to a modern hospital in Nairobi and not have to endure hours of agony in the back of a vehicle on a very bumpy road.

Gifts to take to Kenya
Most adults in Kenya only earn $2.00US a day. It is a poor country and in my experience people are really happy to receive some small gift. They appreciate everything they can get. Bring with you gift's like baseball hats, old football (soccer) t-shirts, small toys, ballpoint-pen's, pencils, colouring pencils, pencil sharpeners, paper note pads to write on. The children don't have much school equipment and the parents have to pay for all school equipment such as paper and pencils. Look around your house for unwanted items that could do with a good new home. I had some old film cameras I no longer use. They were much appreciated as Kenya has not gone digital yet. The normal Kenyan people are some of the friendliest I have met on my travels around the world.

Transport from the Airport
If you are not on a tour or picking your hire car up from the airport try to take the airport shuttle city hopper into Nairobi. There is no train or metro link. These city hopper busses are cheap. Do not get on a mataus shared minibus taxi. They are driven by maniacs and the passengers are crammed in like sardines in a tin. They are death traps. If you are driving a hire car give them a wide berth. They do not abide by the rules of the road. They will cut you up to get where they are going too fast. Do not react to their bad driving. Just let them pass you. Be careful if you decide to take a taxi from the airport. It can take up to an hour to get into the city if the traffic is bad (which it normally is). As the meter is running all the time this small trip could turn out costing you a lot of money.

Clothing for Kenya
The mornings and evenings can be cold so take a fleece. The Rift Valley area although flat is very high. The altitude in the Valley floor in some places is higher that the tallest mountain in Britain. You may get fog as well as rain so be prepared and take a rain coat. It can be extremely hot during the day so dress sensibly. Do not expose too much skin to the scorching sun without high factor protection sun screen. Always wear a hat. The sun is above the top of your head as you are near the equator. You can get badly sun burnt along your hair parting. More mosquitoes come out in the evening so have a pair of light weight trousers and some long sleeved shirts to wear whilst you are sitting around the bar or campo fire in the evening.

Disadvantages of going on an organised Safari Holidays in Kenya
Driving my own vehicle on safari gave me the freedom to go out into the bush for as long as I wanted, as many times as I wanted. The only restriction was that I had to be back in the Lodge by night fall as per the National Park Regulations. Some tour operator companies only include one safari trip of a few hours a day as part of their package. If you want to go out of the lodge for longer you have to pay extra. An afternoon’s safari can cost you as much as £70 each.