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Possibly moving and coming for a quick look around - Nairobi lifestyle?

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Possibly moving and coming for a quick look around - Nairobi lifestyle? Empty Possibly moving and coming for a quick look around - Nairobi lifestyle?

Post  shasla Thu Jan 19, 2012 3:23 am

My husband has been offered a job in Nairobi and his future employer is flying us over from New York for a few days to look around. My husband will be in the office for a day and I believe my itinerary during that time will be seeing some housing, shopping centers, etc., but we will have a bit of time to ourselves. Is there anything residents would recommend seeing/doing as a way to get to get a sense of family life in Kenya? We have two small pre-school aged children, if that helps.

Any information is most appreciated.

Thank you! Very Happy

shasla

Posts : 5
Join date : 2012-01-19

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Possibly moving and coming for a quick look around - Nairobi lifestyle? Empty Possibly moving to Nairobi

Post  Admin Thu Jan 19, 2012 10:12 am

Oh my goodness, where to begin?!

It's great that you are coming to have a look around. It's well worth doing. Was wondering where your husband's office might be located? It's worth bearing traffic in mind when planning where to live.

I would definitely recommend a family trip to Nairobi National Park, even if you just do the small Safari Walk at the main Kenya Wildlife Service gate. It takes around 45 minutes and is push chair friendly.. You could follow this up with a trip to the Jolly Roger restaurant located behind Mamba (crocodile) village, just 10 minutes away in Langata off the main Langata road into Karen. There are bouncy castles there and a small swimming pool if it's very hot. There's a small kindergarten also located next door called Stepping Stones. Also, do go and see Karen Blixen's house if you are in that area. Again, it won't take long but there's a lovely view of the Ngong hills from there.

Many of the shopping centres host the Masai market on one day of the week. It's worth checking this out. If you can wangle entry into either the Karen Club or Muthaiga Club just to look around, then this would be worthwhile doing.

There are lots of lovely restaurants everywhere. I'd recommend Le Rustique in Westlands (only open for lunch) with the kids, because there's a bit of a garden and a playground. A nice place for coffee or lunch - in Kileleshwa, off Riverside Drive behind Prime Bank - is Amani ya Ju - it does lunches (great salads), lovely cappucino and also has a nice shady garden and playground.

Re kindergartens, there are lots in Nairobi - all very good. Kabete Kindergarten in the Spring Valley area, Green Gates - Westlands, Kensington - Lavington. Banda School and Hillcrest in Karen/Langata have kindergarten's attached as well. Not so sure about the Runda/Village Market area. The choice of British Curriculum prep schools to progress on to, is also very impressive.

Good luck with your visit - I'll continue brainstorming!

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Possibly moving and coming for a quick look around - Nairobi lifestyle? Empty Thank you!

Post  shasla Thu Jan 19, 2012 2:28 pm

Wow! Thank you so much for all of the information. It is most appreciated and I will begin looking into some of the things you have suggested. If you think of anything else do let us know.

The office where my husband would be working is in Upper Hill. We are curious as to what the commuting time would be to some of the nice neighborhoods from there.

Two more quick questions, if you don't mind. We have some business dinners planned - is there a dressing etiquette for that type of thing... I am clueless. Also, we would like to bring his potential employer a token gift. Any luxury foods or hard-to-get items that would be appreciated in Kenya?

We are very much looking forward to our trip. Thanks again!

shasla

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Possibly moving and coming for a quick look around - Nairobi lifestyle? Empty Commuting to Upper Hill & Nairobi info

Post  Admin Fri Jan 20, 2012 10:15 am

Hi again!

I know that many of the offices in Upper Hill open fairly early (7am), so that many employees beat the traffic on the way in, then leave earlier at the end of the day. Upper Hill is fairly central and located in sort of a business district - so you have employees families living in Westlands (Riverside park apartments), Spring Valley (Hill View, Lake View, Kitisuru), Karen/Langata, even Muthaiga (but that one might be trickier as it is across town) etc. all commuting in to that area. I would imagine that the average communting time is 40-45 minutes - down to 25 mins if you are travelling at a time when traffic is flowing well (ie not peak hours)

For business dinners - just whatever you might wear for a business dinner at home. Heels, silk blouse, trousers. Anything goes really -but remember to bring a wrap/cardigan/shawl - as many restaurant venues are either semi open air and it can get chilly in the evenings.

Have a look at http://kenyabuzz.com - a great nairobi information portal - whats on, whats happening, and wordofmouth.co.ke - an expat info website.

Re a gift - help, that's a tricky one as thankfully in Nairobi you can get pretty much anything here! It might be worth asking the future employer if there is anything he'd like you to bring - there might well be something he particularly wants, even if it is just bringing some of his online shopping over for him?! Even if he doesn't take you up on it, the offer will go down well. Expats get very creative about using friends/contacts to get parcels from home, since the postal system here is fairly unreliable and packages tend to go missing.

Good luck with your research!











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Possibly moving and coming for a quick look around - Nairobi lifestyle? Empty Thanks again.

Post  shasla Fri Jan 20, 2012 2:45 pm

Hello,
Thanks so much for getting back to me with the helpful information.
I am really depending on the kindness of strangers!
We look forward to our visit and exploring Nairobi.

shasla

Posts : 5
Join date : 2012-01-19

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