Best choice of 4WD and info on home phone/internet providers

Ok, ive been a regular reader of your blog and missing Kenya since i left, been away six years and soon on my way back, yay
Anyway since i last lived there some things may have changed? can anyone tell me which would be the best choice of 4WD to buy/import, one that's not a current target for carjackers/thieves, etc, when i last lived there (98-2004) it was wise to stay clear of Toyota Land cruisers and Corrollas, i had an old Range Rover and never had any problems, any thought on a 6-7 year old Land Rover Discovery?

Is it still a costly bureaucratic nightmare getting a landline and then all the headaches that come afterwards, are there now any cheaper and less toublesome alternatives for home phone/internet.

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help and i am really looking forward to coming back.

Hello again, i was hoping someone might have given me some info by now, cmon everybody, i am sure someone in Nairobi must have had some experience with these issues.

On another related subject, can anyone recomend ( used) a good vehicle shipping agent from UK to Kenya and also a reliable clearing agent anybody has good experience with in Mombasa, i just know someone will answer this question pretty quickly!

Thanks R.

I wouldn't bother with a landline, especially since lines have a way of being cut, the headache is probably not worth it. You can get a wireless house phone from Orange/Telkom Kenya (and other providers - i think Zuku also offers) if you want to have a "house phone".
Most people use the mobile providers for phone service as well as internet. Both Safaricom and Orange offer 3G internet connectivity via USB modems - speeds aren't fantastic by UK/US standards, but I have been able to Skype without too much of a lag. For an example of price, I recently bought a Safaricom internet bundle 999Ksh for 600MB of data. I'm getting about 29Kb/s as a download rate. If you want a higher speed connection, there are other alternatives, but you will pay a lot more for them.

MamaNaomi, thanks for the reply, i had almost given up on the forum!, unfortunately there dont seem to be many other useful Kenya forums either!

Anyway good to know that telecomunications have improved, being able to use Skype was one of my concerns, i shall give the guys at the providers a call when i arrive, getting near now, hopefully mid January

I remember being one of the few with a mobile phone in the late 90's, before Safaricom and the others arrived on the scene, there was a huge deposit to pay (never did get it back ), everybody would stare when i used phone, like i was from another planet!

Then there was the Landline, another nightmare, always cut off, someone stole the wire several times and of course i had to pay to get it back, the last staw was a huge bill, it seems Somali refugees in Eastleigh had somehow been using my line during the night to call relatives all over the world, well i hope i dont have to go through all that again!

Thanks R.

Things have definitely improved in the mobile market - even in the past couple of years with the spread of the 3G networks. Safaricom is the largest provider with something like 16 million subscribers, so you won't stick out for using a mobile phone. There has been increased competition from other providers recently, which has had the benefit of dropping the price of calls - down to 3Ksh/minute on Safaricom (and even to call the US is just 3Ksh/minute), so that's nice. You can get a pre-pay sim card for 100Ksh and credit can be purchased just about anywhere. There are also post-pay options with most providers which may or may not require a deposit similar to what you mentioned - i'm not sure about that.

Have a safe trip!

Toyotas (any model!) are still sought after by car thieves. A Range Rover or Discovery would be good but I'd go for a Japanese brand. The internet scene is improving but not as rapidly as one would have expected. Safaricom 3G modems are good. Access Kenya has the best fixed internet access in Nairobi. Stay clear of other service providers (especially Zuku!).

thejoker wrote:Toyotas (any model!) are still sought after by car thieves. A Range Rover or Discovery would be good but I'd go for a Japanese brand. The internet scene is improving but not as rapidly as one would have expected. Safaricom 3G modems are good. Access Kenya has the best fixed internet access in Nairobi. Stay clear of other service providers (especially Zuku!).

Why do you say avoid Zuku? We are moving to Nairobi soon from the US and need the intel.

I had a Zuku connection and had to literally beg them to set it up weeks after I paid my deposit and monthly fees upfront. When they finally set it up, the speeds were dismal and the connection was down for hours each day. Customer Service at Zuku is horrible. Safaricom on the other hand has decent speeds and is generally very reliable. Access kenya is another good option.

Thanks for the info!

Thanks to everyone for all the replies on this, i think i now have a much better idea of what i need.
I havnt been on here for a while, Christmas/New Year/still packing etc, my arrival is also slightly delayed and is now looking like early March, well, at least it gives me more time to prepare and pick peoples brains!

Hi there, sorry for the delayed reply.

Don't worry about car jacking too much. It is not as common as you might think and if (God forbid) you are ever caught out then it will be down to bad luck rather than the car you drive.

My husband just used the shipping company Trans-ami to bring a car into Kenya from UK. The process went well and only took a couple of months tops. You do have to pay the heafty duty on arrival though (unless you are UN or diplomatic exempt) but it actually sometimes still works out cheaper, even once you have factored in shipping etc. There are rules on newly imported cars not being more than 10 (or 5?!) years old - though - you may need to check all that out with the shippers.

Good luck and travel safely here in March!

Admin! wrote: There are rules on newly imported cars not being more than 10 (or 5?!) years old - though - you may need to check all that out with the shippers.

The vehicle can not be more than 7-years old at time of import.
Hope you've arrived safely.

I would not factor car-jacking in too seriously to your car purchase. Many people swear by 4x4 Toyotas (Prado/landcruiser) and it's easy to get spare parts for them in Kenya. Landrovers are also v popular and easy to get parts for, but I find they break down more often....