Kenya

Money & costs

Costs

Costs

Travelling in Kenya can cost as much or as little as you like, depending on what kind of standards you’re happy with. In general, for the midrange traveller staying in small hotels with a decent level of comfort, eating the occasional Western meal, using matatus and taxis, taking in the odd museum, and treating yourself to a beer in the evening should cost around KSh3500 per day. Budget travellers could get this down to as little as KSh1000 by foregoing private bathrooms, eating in Kenyan canteens, walking or taking local buses and skipping the booze, while top-end types can find themselves paying anything from US$300 upwards for a taste of the high life. Accommodation is the biggest single expense, and staying in Nairobi or on the coast will push costs up sharply.

On top of this, you’ll probably want to allow some extra cash for more expensive tourist activities such as trekking, diving and other excursions. The biggest outlay for most visitors will be visiting the national parks, whether on a safari or independently.

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Money

The unit of currency is the Kenyan shilling (KSh), which is made up of 100 cents. Notes in circulation are KSh1000, 500, 200, 100, 50 and 20, and there are also new coins of KSh40, 20, 10, five and one in circulation. Old coins are much bigger and heavier, and come in denominations of KSh5 (seven-sided) and KSh1. The old 50¢, 10¢ and 5¢ coins are now pretty rare, as most prices are whole-shilling amounts. Note that most public telephones accept only new coins. Locally, the shilling is commonly known as a ‘bob’, after the old English term for a one-shilling coin.

The shilling has been relatively stable over the last few years, maintaining fairly constant rates against a falling US dollar and a strong British pound. Both these currencies are easy to change throughout the country, as is the euro, which is rapidly replacing the dollar as the standard currency quoted for hotel prices on the coast. Cash is easy and quick to exchange at banks and forex bureaus, but carries a higher risk of theft. On the other hand, travellers cheques are replaceable, but are increasingly less widely accepted, and often carry high commission charges.

ATMs

Virtually all banks in Kenya now have ATMs at most branches, but their usefulness to travellers varies widely. Barclays Bank has easily the most reliable machines for international withdrawals, with a large network of ATMs covering most major Kenyan towns. They support MasterCard, Visa, Plus and Cirrus international networks.

Standard Chartered and Kenya Commercial Bank ATMs also accept Visa but not the other major providers, and are more likely to decline transactions. Whichever bank you use, the international data link still goes down occasionally, so don’t rely on being able to withdraw money whenever you need it.

Black Market

With deregulation, the black market has almost vanished, and the handful of moneychangers who still wander the streets offering ‘good rates’ are usually involved in scams of one kind or another. The exception is at land border crossings, where moneychangers are often the only option. Most offer reasonable rates, although you should be careful not to get short-changed or scammed during any transaction.

Cash

While most major currencies are accepted in Nairobi and Mombasa, once away from these two centres you’ll run into problems with currencies other than US dollars, pounds sterling and euros. Away from the coast, you may even struggle to change euros. Play it safe and carry US dollars – it makes life much simpler.

Credit Cards

Credit cards are becoming increasingly popular, with old fraud-friendly, fully manual swipe machines slowly being replaced by electronic systems. While there’s less chance of someone making extra copies of chits this way, the connections fail with tedious regularity. Visa and MasterCard are now widely accepted, but it would be prudent to stick to up-market hotels, restaurants and shopping centres to use them.

Moneychangers

The best places to change money are foreign exchange or ‘forex’ bureaus, which can be found everywhere and usually don’t charge commission. The rates for the main bureaus in Nairobi are published in the Daily Nation newspaper. Watch out for differing small bill (US$10) and large bill (US$100) rates; the larger bills usually get the better rates.

Banks also change money, but they charge large commissions and there’s a fee per travellers cheque, so you’re better off carrying larger denominations. The rates for travellers cheques may be better than at the bureaus, and you’ll have the added bonus of being able to put your money away in the secure setting of the bank foyer. American Express (Amex) has offices in Mombasa and Nairobi, where you can buy and sell Amex travellers cheques.

International Transfers

Postbank, a branch of the Kenyan Post Office, is the regional agent for Western Union, the global money-transfer company. Using its service is an easy way (if the phones are working) of receiving money in Kenya. Handily, the sender pays all the charges and there’s a Postbank in most towns, often in the post office or close by. Senders should contact

Western Union

(USA 1800-3256000; Australia 1800-501500; New Zealand 0800-270000; UK 0800-833833; www.westernunion.com) to find out the location of their nearest agency.

Tipping

Tipping is not common practice among Kenyans, but there’s no harm in rounding up the bill by a few shillings if you’re pleased with the service in a cheap restaurant. In tourist-oriented businesses a service charge of 10% is often added to the bill along with the 16% VAT and 2% catering levy. Most tourist guides and all safari drivers and cooks will expect some kind of gratuity at the end of your tour or trip. As fares are negotiated in advance, taxi drivers do not need to be tipped unless they provide you with exceptional service.

Travellers Cheques

Travellers cheques are accepted if they’re in US dollars, British pounds or euros. High commission charges are common, and bureaus that charge no commission will often give a rate substantially below the cash rate for cheques. Charges vary widely, from 1% to 3% per transaction, to flat fees of up to US$15.

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