"Karibuni Kenya" Kenya by mamakenya

after many visits over the years to Kenya I found myself living there and thinking I was prepared for the realities of life in this beautiful country. Diani Beach on the South Coast was our choice. However, much as I thought I knew about actually living over there as opposed to holidaying there, it quickly became apparent that knowing about things and actually dealing with things are not quite the same thing at all. Life there for a person with a white face is a constant daily hassle. Living with on/off/on/off power cuts and quite frequently no power at all for days on end is not a pleasure. The less power we had, the more we seemed to pay for not having any. Telephone the same, out of order at least once a day, enormous telephone bills, most of the calls nothing to do with us, but this means long days and hassle in Mombasa attempting to sort such things out, of course never managing to do so. Suddenly you find you are an employer, you need help in the house and an Askari to guard you at night. Show friendliness towards anyone and you find you have people at your gate constantly, all with a problem, they are sick, their mothers are sick, their grandmothers are sick, the whole village is sick, you of course are there to pay for all this. Then of course the strange ailments that will get you no matter what precautions you take. Malaria, we learnt very quickly that there is more than one type, my husband managed to go down with malaria three times in six months, each strain different from the last. Lucky we lived next door to the hospital. I carried on sneakily taking malaria tablets, until come the day I collapsed and found myself in hospital and getting a big reprimand from the Doctor for taking the malaria tablets so long. Kenya, one very expensive and difficult place to live - why do I love it so much? No idea, but I do. However two years of living there and we realised its an impossible place to settle permanently, unless of course you are very rich and can come and go as you please. For ordinary mortals it is not so easy. Avoiding the snakes and the mosquitoes is not the problem, the problem is avoiding the huge expense that comes with everything if you want to live a reasonably normal life. Maybe the best place on earth for a holiday, but the most difficult to live in.

one of my little friends

I would return and I do whenever I can. Last year I couldn't go because of the problems and the cancelled flights. There are some lovely places to see in Kenya, so many contrasts. To go on safari is a wonderful experience first time, to go a second, third or fourth time is still a wonderful experience. Fort Jesus in Mombasa is well worth a visit, a walk round Mombasa is a real experience, but watch out for the man who appears and says 'jambo, you remember me? I am your waiter at the hotel, or, I am the man who stamped your passport' etc etc, then follows the request to borrow money. The beggars and the glue sniffers are a sad sight and not for the feint hearted. It is a bad idea to give money to beggars or children, no matter how appealing, it will guarantee you being hassled by everyone and means children will not go to school, if some tourist gives them a few coins, it encourages their parents, if they have any, to send them out begging. It's very hard, there are some truly sad sights to be seen.
Other places well worth visiting are Malindi, Shimoni, Funzi Island, Chale Island, all beautiful places.

• Pros:beautiful country, friendly people, lots of wildlife, exotic and different
• Cons:too much hassle, too many beach boys, high risk malaria,
• In a nutshell:My kind of place