Nairobi

[QUOTE=Luvemblack;1157372]On the stories front yes most are complete lies. When I was "new" I believed them. Now though I mostly don't. ...[/QUOTE]Same here! And when you have learned your first lessons, then mongering makes more fun and is much cheaper as well! Or am I wrong?

Cheers!

Hesekiels

[QUOTE=Willyboy;1157494]It's amazing how dumb some white men there who swallow the lies of those girls. They invest the money gained simply more white men to snare. I laughed my a break when I see everything. One visit they sit at the bar and the next visit with one another. They do not know where they should keep their heads. I laugh myself to death. . Love your fellow Co-sponsorship of hands if you're not in Kenya. It's really lost money. This is served in your own country.[/QUOTE]Willyboy my friend, you use google translate. Right?

I got sort of suckered (I could have just gone to the airport and given her nothing) on a marriage. I really tried to work it out but the ignorance and literal belief in the Bible got me to say: You ain`t getting a passport from a Western country for this stuff. She was from Ghana lying about how `little`the $4, 000 USD was I gave her for the divorce. Thank Stanley it went to her father. He used it pay her entire 4 years university tuition (1200 USD per year) She lied it was not enough money. She also lied she would never get married again and got married easily within the year. Even after the divorce, she was still trying to hit on me for money. Private message me if you want her name just in case to avoid her. When I told her I could have gone to the airport and not give her anything she said ``I will get you! ` Sick. This was in Ghana but post is relevant here I hope.

[QUOTE=Luvemblack;1157372]On the stories front yes most are complete lies. When I was "new" I believed them. Now though I mostly don't. I have a select few girls I am friends with. A couple are working girls and the stories they tell are amazing. One has a boyfriend in Germany who send her money every month. She feeds him lies that amaze me. He pays for everything and only sees her twice a year. Another has a kid with a mzungu who send her $2. 5k every month. She drives a nicer car than mine.[/QUOTE]

I am making my first trip to Nairobi in about two weeks and have a reservation at the Crowne Plaza downtown. I know it is close to the action, but I have no idea whether it is girl friendly. Of course, I first RTFF but there is not much mention of this place.

I got some great advice from RTFF about Chester House, but my company wants me in the Crowne Plaza.

What do you fellas think? Are there significant drawbacks to the Crowne Plaza? Should I go to the Chester House anyway? Are there other western hotels in the area that I can try to substitute for the Crowne Plaza without drawing too much attention to myself?

My number one priority is safety, second is girl friend friendly, third is comfort. What do you fellows suggest? Sorry to clog the forum on this issue, but since the Crowne Plaza is rarely mentioned, I would like your advice.

Thanks!

This is my first post on this board after years of lurking. I am pleased to say I'm booked for my first trip to Africa. I land in Nairobi about July 15 and stay for 3 weeks. I have researched this site exhaustively and wish to thank the many posters for their excellent information. I probably wouldn't attempt this trip without your kind help.

I live in Canada and have always wanted to go to Africa. I've been to DR numerous times and once to Thailand. I promise to post a trip report. I have some additional questions for you. Please feel free to pm me if you wish.

1. My plan is a week in Nairobi, then a week in Mombasa, then a week back in Nairobi before flying out for a total of 3 weeks. Is this a good plan? What is the train between Nairobi and Mombasa like? Is the train the best way to go? Should my Mombasa stay be longer. I guess I'm asking for an assessment of the relative merits of Nairobi vs Mombasa and where, assuming my primary focus is women, will I have the most fun?

2. I'm booked in Chester House in Nairobi in a one bedroom apartment; thanks to the great advice on this board for recommending this. Where should I stay in Mombasa?

3. Is it safe / secure to bring a lap top? I wouldn't want it stolen and lap tops seldom fit into hotel room safes, to the extent there is one.

4. How do you handle finances? Do you travel with lots of easily convertible currencies like dollars or euros? Do you exchange these in banks or are there easy to find cambios? Do you use travelers cheques? Are ATMs easily available?

5. What is the rough budget for a day in Kenya; excluding hotel – but including food, drinks, taxis, general sight-seeing and, most importantly, girls? In DR, for example, I would spend an average of $150 a day excluding hotel. This seems high for Kenya; is it?

Many thanks in advance. I promise a very detailed report.

[QUOTE=Ellington; 1159510]This is my first post on this board after years of lurking. I am pleased to say I'm booked for my first trip to Africa. I land in Nairobi about July 15 and stay for 3 weeks. I have researched this site exhaustively and wish to thank the many posters for their excellent information. I probably wouldn't attempt this trip without your kind help.

I live in Canada and have always wanted to go to Africa. I've been to DR numerous times and once to Thailand. I promise to post a trip report. I have some additional questions for you. Please feel free to pm me if you wish.

1. My plan is a week in Nairobi, then a week in Mombasa, then a week back in Nairobi before flying out for a total of 3 weeks. Is this a good plan? What is the train between Nairobi and Mombasa like? Is the train the best way to go? Should my Mombasa stay be longer. I guess I'm asking for an assessment of the relative merits of Nairobi vs Mombasa and where, assuming my primary focus is women, will I have the most fun?

2. I'm booked in Chester House in Nairobi in a one bedroom apartment; thanks to the great advice on this board for recommending this. Where should I stay in Mombasa?

3. Is it safe / secure to bring a lap top? I wouldn't want it stolen and lap tops seldom fit into hotel room safes, to the extent there is one.

4. How do you handle finances? Do you travel with lots of easily convertible currencies like dollars or euros? Do you exchange these in banks or are there easy to find cambios? Do you use travelers cheques? Are ATMs easily available?

5. What is the rough budget for a day in Kenya; excluding hotel – but including food, drinks, taxis, general sight-seeing and, most importantly, girls? In DR, for example, I would spend an average of $150 a day excluding hotel. This seems high for Kenya; is it?

Many thanks in advance. I promise a very detailed report. [/QUOTE]150 dollar / day is not bad. If you now that workers from Kenya having 5 dollar / day (end paying rent from this money) 3000dollar or 20 days in Kenya (without accomodation) Good enough to distroy marktprices for adder mongers. Where is this company where you work? I will ask for one job!

[QUOTE=Willyboy;1159566]150 dollar / day is not bad. If you now that workers from Kenya having 5 dollar / day (end paying rent from this money) 3000dollar or 20 days in Kenya (without accomodation) Good enough to distroy marktprices for adder mongers. Where is this company where you work? I will ask for one job![/QUOTE]I would never destroy a market place. Such a thing is against my interest.

[QUOTE=Ellington; 1159510]This is my first post on this board after years of lurking. I am pleased to say I'm booked for my first trip to Africa. I land in Nairobi about July 15 and stay for 3 weeks. I have researched this site exhaustively and wish to thank the many posters for their excellent information. I probably wouldn't attempt this trip without your kind help.

I live in Canada and have always wanted to go to Africa. I've been to DR numerous times and once to Thailand. I promise to post a trip report. I have some additional questions for you. Please feel free to pm me if you wish.

1. My plan is a week in Nairobi, then a week in Mombasa, then a week back in Nairobi before flying out for a total of 3 weeks. Is this a good plan? What is the train between Nairobi and Mombasa like? Is the train the best way to go? Should my Mombasa stay be longer. I guess I'm asking for an assessment of the relative merits of Nairobi vs Mombasa and where, assuming my primary focus is women, will I have the most fun?

2. I'm booked in Chester House in Nairobi in a one bedroom apartment; thanks to the great advice on this board for recommending this. Where should I stay in Mombasa?

3. Is it safe / secure to bring a lap top? I wouldn't want it stolen and lap tops seldom fit into hotel room safes, to the extent there is one.

4. How do you handle finances? Do you travel with lots of easily convertible currencies like dollars or euros? Do you exchange these in banks or are there easy to find cambios? Do you use travelers cheques? Are ATMs easily available?

5. What is the rough budget for a day in Kenya; excluding hotel – but including food, drinks, taxis, general sight-seeing and, most importantly, girls? In DR, for example, I would spend an average of $150 a day excluding hotel. This seems high for Kenya; is it?

Many thanks in advance. I promise a very detailed report. [/QUOTE]I also live in Canada. I was in Nairobi for 3 days 2 yrs ago, and enjoyed it. You could fly to Mombasa. I think prices are reasonable. I rented a car and drove across the country. Pretty hairy experience. Use your extra time to safari in Amboseli (backside of Kilimanjaro) , or better, go to Masai Mara (SW of Nairobi). Awesome trips. Hotel costs vary widely in Nairobi. I stayed in Hilton downtown, very pricey. Lots of girls. Meet them on Tagged. Have a great trip.

[QUOTE=Ellington; 1159510]This is my first post on this board after years of lurking. I am pleased to say I'm booked for my first trip to Africa. I land in Nairobi about July 15 and stay for 3 weeks. I have researched this site exhaustively and wish to thank the many posters for their excellent information. I probably wouldn't attempt this trip without your kind help.

I live in Canada and have always wanted to go to Africa. I've been to DR numerous times and once to Thailand. I promise to post a trip report. I have some additional questions for you. Please feel free to pm me if you wish.

1. My plan is a week in Nairobi, then a week in Mombasa, then a week back in Nairobi before flying out for a total of 3 weeks. Is this a good plan? What is the train between Nairobi and Mombasa like? Is the train the best way to go? Should my Mombasa stay be longer. I guess I'm asking for an assessment of the relative merits of Nairobi vs Mombasa and where, assuming my primary focus is women, will I have the most fun?

2. I'm booked in Chester House in Nairobi in a one bedroom apartment; thanks to the great advice on this board for recommending this. Where should I stay in Mombasa?

3. Is it safe / secure to bring a lap top? I wouldn't want it stolen and lap tops seldom fit into hotel room safes, to the extent there is one.

4. How do you handle finances? Do you travel with lots of easily convertible currencies like dollars or euros? Do you exchange these in banks or are there easy to find cambios? Do you use travelers cheques? Are ATMs easily available?

5. What is the rough budget for a day in Kenya; excluding hotel – but including food, drinks, taxis, general sight-seeing and, most importantly, girls? In DR, for example, I would spend an average of $150 a day excluding hotel. This seems high for Kenya; is it?

Many thanks in advance. I promise a very detailed report. [/QUOTE]I'm Kenyan, born and' bred. Yours sounds like a good plan. Starting with Nairobi, mongering abit and' heading for the coast. After your week in Mombasa you'll be in a better position to see if you'll come back to Nairobi or extend your stay.

$150 a day, you are sure to have yourself some fun. Currency is easy to convert and' readily available. Banks and' bureaus. You'd be wise to avoid black market money changers. Banks do take Traveller cheques too. At a cost ofcourse.

Transport in Kenya is a tourist attraction in itself. Cheap and' memorable. And' grounds for mongering. Taxis all over.

Don't fret too much about your laptop. If it can't fit in your hotel room safe then have the reception take care of it for you.

Karibu Kenya

[QUOTE=Johnympole;1160033]$150 a day, you are sure to have yourself some fun. Currency is easy to convert and' readily available. Banks and' bureaus. You'd be wise to avoid black market money changers. Banks do take Traveller cheques too. At a cost ofcourse.[/QUOTE]$150 can cater for hotel, food, local transport and GF, excluding flight, safari other extras. Traveler cheques can not be changed, maybe a single bank in Nairobi and 30 % commission. Take some cash to exchange and don't depend last minute on ATMs. There is only one ATM working at the moment, at Nakumatt and Mtwapa ATMs are down, the one at Barclays in Bamburi is the only ATM functioning on north coast at the moment.

[QUOTE=Expat Kenya;1160081]$150 can cater for hotel, food, local transport and GF, excluding flight, safari other extras. Traveler cheques can not be changed, maybe a single bank in Nairobi and 30 % commission. Take some cash to exchange and don't depend last minute on ATMs. There is only one ATM working at the moment, at Nakumatt and Mtwapa ATMs are down, the one at Barclays in Bamburi is the only ATM functioning on north coast at the moment.[/QUOTE]So you are recommending that I bring cash only? At 21 days@$150 (not counting hotels and safaris) that's more than $3000 in cash. That doesn't sound very secure. Are you sure cash only is what I need to plan on?

[quote=ellington;1160180]so you are recommending that i bring cash only? at 21 days@$150 (not counting hotels and safaris) that's more than $3000 in cash. that doesn't sound very secure. are you sure cash only is what i need to plan on?[/quote]last time i spent about 45 days mostly in kenya with about 10 of those days up in uganda. for that trip, i took $9k usd in cash with me, mostly benjamins (100 dollar bills) , but also a good number of grants (50 dollar bills). i placed this in my concealable money pouch that i carried in a variety of places (i. e. in appropriate place on my person and in my backpack in a nicely hidden place). during that trip, i never used a safe at all and none of my cash went missing. i never let anyone know from where my money was coming from and i varied (according to my pre-planned routine. that way i couldn't forget where i placed it) where i stashed my money bag. anytime i went out, i only carried the amount of cash i needed for fun. nothing more. i prefer to not use atms due to the fraud one can encounter nowadays. and i definitely do not go through the hassle of getting travelers cheques. i think the last time i did that was around 2001. and i regretted it since i discovered i didn't even need them. but i always carry a credit card i can use in a pinch to obtain a cash advance, but so far in all of my international travels, i have never had to use it for that purpose. so my recommendation would be to get one of those money pouches you can either carry on your person and conceal around your neck, waist, or legs) or a money belt (that is if you are a belt wearing person). just remember that if you conceal your money on your person and you are flying to your destination and happen to have to go through one of those backrep001ter machines, you will have to quickly and discreetly stash it into your carryon (i never, ever place my money clip, wallet, or any monetary instruments in those bins wide open for all to see. and possibly steal) and then after clearing security, go into a bathroom stall to put it where you want it for your arrival to that country or else you will get patted down by the security folks. when i fly through europe, i just stash it in my carryon, and then just prior to landing at my final destination, i will hide it on my person.

[QUOTE=Ellington;1160180]So you are recommending that I bring cash only? At 21 days@$150 (not counting hotels and safaris) that's more than $3000 in cash. That doesn't sound very secure. Are you sure cash only is what I need to plan on?[/QUOTE]Not all cash, but for at least a few days in case ATMs aren't working and don't wait till the last day when you need to withdraw new cash. You can withdraw with credit card too when ATMs have network problems or at the counter of a bank. At the moment many ATMs are down on North Coast, its common here ATMs are empty or power failure. If you stay in the same hotel in Nairobbery, pay on arrival and take a safe if possible. Traveler cheques are very hard to change.

Cheers!

[quote=jiggydus;1160189]last time i spent about 45 days mostly in kenya with about 10 of those days up in uganda. for that trip, i took $9k usd in cash with me, mostly benjamins (100 dollar bills) , but also a good number of grants (50 dollar bills). i placed this in my concealable money pouch that i carried in a variety of places (i. e. in appropriate place on my person and in my backpack in a nicely hidden place). during that trip, i never used a safe at all and none of my cash went missing. i never let anyone know from where my money was coming from and i varied (according to my pre-planned routine. that way i couldn't forget where i placed it) where i stashed my money bag. anytime i went out, i only carried the amount of cash i needed for fun. nothing more. i prefer to not use atms due to the fraud one can encounter nowadays. and i definitely do not go through the hassle of getting travelers cheques. i think the last time i did that was around 2001. and i regretted it since i discovered i didn't even need them. but i always carry a credit card i can use in a pinch to obtain a cash advance, but so far in all of my international travels, i have never had to use it for that purpose. so my recommendation would be to get one of those money pouches you can either carry on your person and conceal around your neck, waist, or legs) or a money belt (that is if you are a belt wearing person). just remember that if you conceal your money on your person and you are flying to your destination and happen to have to go through one of those backrep001ter machines, you will have to quickly and discreetly stash it into your carryon (i never, ever place my money clip, wallet, or any monetary instruments in those bins wide open for all to see. and possibly steal) and then after clearing security, go into a bathroom stall to put it where you want it for your arrival to that country or else you will get patted down by the security folks. when i fly through europe, i just stash it in my carryon, and then just prior to landing at my final destination, i will hide it on my person.[/quote]it is very super idee to travel with kenya bus with 9000 dollar in pocket, no kredit cards end to safe in your hotel. this real top information.

[QUOTE=Willyboy;1159566]150 dollar / day is not bad. If you now that workers from Kenya having 5 dollar / day (end paying rent from this money) 3000dollar or 20 days in Kenya (without accomodation) Good enough to distroy marktprices for adder mongers. Where is this company where you work? I will ask for one job![/QUOTE]Willyboy it's nothing we can do about the prices of the hotels in Nairobi. Willyboy reccomend me a hotel thats decent and I will give it a try. I will be coming again in July!

Bulik Out