South African moving to Nairobi

Hi there, I'm a South African and my husband and I are moving to Nairobi in September. His company is opening a branch in Nairobi and have hired both of us to run the branch. We are very excited, but nervous as we have only ever lived in South Africa. Which areas are safe and nice to stay in? I think we would be looking to move into a compound of some sort? Does anyone have any advice?

Wow, how exciting!

Re: places to live - this really depends on where your office will be since traffic in Nairobi can be very tiresome. If it's centrally located, then Riverside Apartments in Westlands are very central - Lavington is a nice residential area not far from Westlands either. North of the city centre, nice residential areas are Kitisuru, Muthaiga, Runda, Kabete. If you plan to commute into the industrial area then you might want to consider Karen/Langata.

Let me know and I'll try to advise you.

Don't worry too much about culture shock. Kenya is fairly chaotic compared to South Africa but there is a very strong South African community here, with organisations like SAWA (South African Women's Association) - I wonder if your embassy would give you their contact, otherwise google?

There is a Woolworths here - mostly clothes rather than food - sophisticated shopping centres, great schools and some good hospitals.

You will love it!!

Thanks for the info. We should be there for about a week in July to look for a place to stay etc. So I will try get in contact with the embassy then. It is very exciting and we are looking forward to the adventure! I will definitely keep in contact and let you know where we will be working etc. It is really good to be able to chat to someone who lives in Nairobi and knows what it is all about! We plan to make the most of it!