Sapphire

We are visiting Kenya in July and will have a day in Nairobi at the beginning and an overnight at the end. My husband and I are flying into the Nairobi International airport around 6 am and have a connecting flight out of Wilson airport around 5 pm. We are meeting up with two other travelers who are arriving on Virgin Atlantic around 8 am and who will also take the 5pm Kenya Airways flight from Wilson.

Assuming that our flights arrive as scheduled, what would you recommend doing with our time between flights? We will be going to Masai Mara for a few days toward the end of our trip so I'm not sure about going to Nairobi National Park, but that might be a possibility. I have seen some posts on this forum which mention some people and/or companies who are good at arranging a day trip in Nairobi but it would be helpful to know what you might suggest in this time frame.

At the other end of our trip, we will arrive at Wilson airport and need to spend a night in Nairobi before catching our flights home. Is it easy to get transportation from Wilson to a hotel like Fairview or the Sarova Stanley? And from the hotel to the International airport the next day? (Two of us have flights scheduled to leave at 9:50 am and the other two leave at 9:55 pm,)

I was in Kenya last September but just spent one night in Nairobi at the Sarova Stanley hotel and then driving out of town....

JenyMagy

Hi,

There are many day trips you can explore in Nairobi. Last year we had a city tour in Nairobi me and my friends and since you have given permission for company recommendation i would recommend Inside Africa Budget Safari.

Here are a couple of places we were offered as option, ofcourse you cant visit all of them you will have to choose
-DAVID SHEDLRICK WILDLIFE TRUST 2HRS
-GIRAFFE CENTRE AND KAREN BLIXEN 3HRS
-MAMBA VILLAGE 3HRS
-CARNIVORE RESTAURANT LUNCH / DINNER.
-BOMAS OF KENYA STARTS FROM 02:30 DAILY.
-NAIROBI NATIONAL PARK 4HRS

As for the transportation from wilson airport to your hotel and back again to the airport the next day, the travel agency i mentioned above can handle that for you since they did all our transfers while in Kenya. Nothing is impossible.

Hope this will help.
-

JenyMagy

Actually it is Inside Africa Budget Safaris not safari just confirmed

sandi

Where are you going at 5pm from Wilson?
Strange departure time for any destination.

As to what to do in NBO... those listed above is a good start. Your tour operator can arrange for you to have guide/vehicle for the day. And, on return to Wilson (from where), meet you for transfer to your overnight hotel and next morning/day transfers to JKIA for homebound.

atravelynn

There is also the National Museum and snake park next door. You can do one or the other or both.

ShayTay

Kennedy Muthoka of Waymark Safaris is an excellent Nairobi guide. Several of us have used him with great success. He will take good care of you there.

Calo

I second ShayTay's recommendation of Kennedy. He was wonderful with us on our 2008 trip. If you're interested in shopping, Kazuri Beads and Utamaduni are 2 of my favorites. You can eat your lunch at Utamaduni where the food is very good.

Sapphire

Many thanks for your helpful input! Sandi, we are flying to Kisimu from Nairobi (on business) and do not have a tour operator, but we will have a little time in Masai Mara at the end. Sounds like there are lots of good ways we could spend our time between flights!

sandi

Ok, Kisumu makes sense... just that the 5pm threw me.

Well then, contact Kennedy and see what he can arrange.

Patty

Kenya Aiways flights to/from Kisumu use NBO (Jomo Kenyatta Intl) not Wilson.

Sapphire

"Kenya Airways flights to/from Kisimu use NBO (Jomo Kenyatta Int) not Wilson."

Really? That's great news! (In fact, that is what our flight itinerary says, but someone had said that all the local flights go out of Wilson....)

I have been looking to see what our luggage allowance is. From Abidjan to Nairobi, it is one piece of luggage weighing no more than 30 kg. One is also allowed 10 kg of hand luggage.

From Nairobi to Kisumu, it looks like it is the standard 15kg as with other flights within Kenya. (I found this on the Kenya Airways website after much searching: NB: LAU / KIS and MYD are restricted to 15kgs for all classes.)

Does this mean that all checked luggage and hand luggage together are to weigh 15 kg or less? Our Kisii host said that we would be allowed to have the same amount of luggage that was allowed on our flight into Nairobi, but perhaps I misunderstood. Since the Kisumu airport was being improved when we visited Kenya last year, we traveled by car instead of commuter plane so this part is new to us.

We may have things we needed in Abijan that we will not need in the Kisii area. Are there any luggage lockers in the NBO (Jomo Kenyatta Intl) airport?

I will try to arrange for Kennedy to help us see some of Nairobi if the rest of our group is up for it.

Thank you all!

Kavey

I'm guessing that you won't have that much time in Nairobi once you account for time for your 8 am friends to collect their luggage and come through customs plus travel time into town from the airport and then factor in what time you need to get back to the airport and subtract travel time from that too.

So definitely recommend booking a car and driver guide to help you make the most of the time you have.

I too can recommend Kennedy, having spent a really wonderful day with him back in 2008.

I know shopping seems kind of lame but I really, really enjoyed our visit to the Utamadumi Craft Center where we also had a lovely lunch. Also very close by are the Giraffe Centre and Kazuri Beads, both worth visiting. You can talk to your guide about whether you should limit to 2 or do all three (or combine whichever one interests you with someone else, such as the Blixen museum).

For me, Utamadumi had a really excellent selection of products in all price ranges, provided a very nice relaxed shopping experience, and as I said, a lovely lunch in the gardens, with birds flitting all around us.

Sapphire

Kavey, thank you very much for your input. Utamadumi Craft Center sounds like a good option for lunch and shopping. We had very little opportunity to shop on our last trip since we only made it to the stores at the airport.

I have just heard that the flight we are taking from Abidjan, Ivory Coast to Nairobi left 5 hours later than scheduled when a friend of our made that same flight a couple of weeks ago. So I am beginning to realize that we may end up with a small window of noon to 3:30 pm to leave the airport and get back again. (Our flight to Kisumu leaves at 5:05 pm.)

Having experienced the traffic jams in Nairobi, we might be lucky to get to 2 places. Would it be better to just stay put at the airport if we are delayed?

ShayTay

Even noon to 3pm would give you time at Utamaduni, with lunch at their restaurant. I think Kazuri Beads is close by, as well. I'd also recommend Amani ya Juu and their cafe for lunch. It's a women's sewing project with a lot of beautiful sewn goods as well as crafts that women in a nearby market have produced. Their cafe is in a garden setting and serves "Mexi-Kenyan" fare (Tsavo Tacos, anyone?)

Will you have cell phone service in Kenya? If so, get Kennedy's cell number so that you can stay in touch with him. Even 2 or 3 hours away from the airport would be nice. He'll know the traffic patterns and problems and will get you back to the airport for your flight. If he thinks that you'll have a time crunch, I'm sure he'll let you know.

Sapphire

Excellent advice, ShayTay. Thank you!

Sapphire

We are working on our itinerary for a tour with the folks at African Spice Safaris. (I couldn't get a hold of Kennedy and tried one of the other contacts people recommended.) We will be a group of 8 arriving between 6-8am on 3 different flights - if all the flights are on time. We will have a 5pm flight out of NBO to Kisimu. At this point we have confirmed that we would like to go to Utamaduni for shopping and lunch. If we are getting picked up at the airport around 10 am and going to Utamaduni, would we have enough time to do one of these as well?

Kazuri Bead Centre
National Museum
Quick tour of the downtown area (parliament buildings, city market, etc.)

It would seem that the National Museum might be the hardest to add on because it seems to be northwest of Nairobi and Utamaduni is south of center city. Any thoughts?

Also, when should we be back at NBO to check in for a domestic flight? I know that I saw this information several weeks ago, but have forgotten it.

Many thanks! My husband and I are going to Cote D'Ivoire first and we leave in 5 days so I hope to get this tour sorted out ASAP!

aowens

Sapphire - Love Love Love African Spice!! They did our whole trip for 14 in 2008 and did a fantastic job. Patrick Masila was our guide and is a dear friend of mine. You cannot go wrong and won't be disappointed I promise!!!!

Ann

Sapphire

Thank you, that is good to know. Looks like we will only have time to go to Utamaduni Craft center for shopping and lunch and perhaps make a quick stop at the bead center, but it will be good to get out of the airport for a bit before we fly to Kisimu.

Do you know whether hotels typically provide/offer transportation to and from the airport? We will have five needing to get to the Sarova Stanley hotel for one night at the end of our trip - arriving early evening and heading back to the airport in the morning. I have just asked Karen at African Spice whether they could help with this and what it would cost, but I haven't called the hotel about it yet. What would you recommend?

Thanks!

sandi

Either hotels or agents can offer transfers at a price. See what each offers and then decide. Remember though you need vehicle/s with sufficient room for all passengers' luggage.

Sapphire

Just want to report that African Spice Safaris did a great job of meeting us at the Nairobi airport and giving us a lovely tour. We actually managed to get all 7 of us arriving in Nairobi within 2 hours of the others, even though some were coming from Bangkok, some from London, and some from Abidjan. And we were delighted to find our cheerful guide and the driver waiting for us!

We had a quick tour of downtown Nairobi first - while traffic was moving well - and then went to Utamaduni for lunch and some shopping. On the way back to the airport we made a quick stop at a place where they carve ebony. Our guide was very informative and we enjoyed getting his perspective on life in Kenya.

The airport transfers at the end of our stay also went smoothly. We had different people for these quick trips between the airport and the hotel but it all worked out. I would definitely recommend using African Spice Safaris for a city tour and airport transfers.