Diaspora Kenyans (KT’s) and Africans getting ready to fly home for the December migration commonly known as Christmas holidays, call your bank or credit card provider and give them your travel dates, especially if you plan on using your debit card to withdraw cash or using your credit card for purchases. This could save you the headache of having your transactions not go through as the bank might be concerned about fraud.
For Kenya, you probably should consider carrying your American Express card too. There was this post by Bankelele from April last year about Amex being available through barclays bank – I would presume then that you could withdraw cash from barclays ATM’s in kenya with ease, there will still be a transaction fee of 2%.
Please chime in if there is more you can add, thanks.
Update: Kenya is still VISA country – Thanks Bankelele.
Haiya I had forgotten about this post
A year and a half later, thsi is still Visa country – and cash can be drawn from almost all ATM’s across the country. I am yet to see anyone use an Am Ex card though.
thanks for the clarification!
Amex is only accepted in the US and in establishments worldwide that cater for business travelers. In the US, some places don’t accept Amex.
If going to Kenya carry cash, which can be easily exchanged at the numerous bureaus. You get a better deal in downtown than in tourist hotel and banks. If you have a huge amount you can negotiate the exchange rate up front if you convert it all at once. Since many establishments accept Visa/MC, I usually end up returning with my dollars.
I’ve never used TC’s but some people prefer them to carrying cash.
The one thing about using cards is the length of time it takes to process transactions. As late as October this year I saw a payment I made at Java way back in January get posted. Most of the transactions were posted within a week of making them, but about 5 or so took almost 5 months on average to post. So this time I will try and use cash everywhere, resorting to the card only as a last option.
Nice new design Afro:
Two tips:
- sign up for Skype/Vonage or some other internet service for $10-19 or so a month with a new number and forward your calls from your regular number to your new internet service number. Get a head set with a mike and you can then use any PC in Kenya to make calls to the US/rest of the world for free or stupidly low rates. I used this service to call my credit card company’s 800 number for free when they decided to freeze my account.
- buy a cheap used 900Mhz GSM phone like a Nokia 6100/6610 on eBay, take it with you and use it there. Good phones are expensive in Kenya. For comparison purposes, a 6610/6100 costs maybe $40 (Kshs 3500) on ebay vs. $110 (Kshs 8500) in Kenya. A “crackberry” 7100 costs $80 on eBay (Kshs 7000) vs. atleast $250 (Kshs 18000) in Kenya. You can use the phone to check email, blog or even hook up a laptop to the net via GPRS.
Also, for those transiting through London, you might want to call the British Consulate, moreso for those changing Airports (eg. Flying into Heathrow and departing from Gatwick) in order to get a temporary VISA. This could save you inconveniences and delays once you get there.
great tips everyone! keep them coming, i will edit this later by grouping them including all your suggestions. So far the categories will be
– Jogging pants – the ones with polyester on top and cotton lining were indispensable for me when i ventured out to Samburu land!
1. Money
2. Phone
3. Visa’s – Britain and links to the Kenyan embassy in DC.
4. I am tempted to include clothing but i will face the Ire of many a KR
5. I have a gift guide but that will be a whole other post (rather long)
And for KTs from the old world aka Europe: my Maestro debit card and Master Card work perfectly well with Barclays.
As for the mobile phones: there are some GPRS phones available in Kenya starting from ~ 4.000 Ksh, but if u want to connect them to a computer/notebook, make sure it has bluetooth and/or comes with a data cable. As Steve put it – getting one via Ebay might be “the better option” as long as it supports the GSM900 network which is used in most parts of Europe as well as in Kenya.
GPRS via Safaricom is about 10 bob / Megabyte, Celtel 20 bob (??). Checking your mails via GPRS on the phone’s internal wap browser costs around 11 CENTS (if pictures are switched off).
Like the new blog design. Very white. Or is it off-yellow?
For KTs in the formerly fascist USo’A, Kudrinketh gave an excellent tip [here] on using a Bank of America debit card in Kenya/Africa to avoid fees (and to avoid using Western Union/Moneygram). Check lower down in the comments.
My own additions:
- do not buy power adapters (plastic thingies that allow US cords to plug into Kenyan sockets) in the US – even assuming you can easily find them, they’re cheaper in Kenya! Although JKE aka kikuyumoja might have better perspective on the quality of these. They work fine for me. YMMV…
- wanna buy inexpensive gifts for the folks in the Motherland? Go to Walmart if you have ‘em, or better a 99-cents store, to stock up on plenty of low-cost goodies. The kids will LOVE you for this. Do they even have 99-cents stores in Europe?
- if you’re taking a laptop, load up as much music as you can on it. Not only good to have some comfort-food for yourself, others will be interested in hearing different music. Believe-it-or-not, I got so many Kenyan friends hooked on Trip-Hop and Nu-Soul, sounds they had never heard before. Funny, considering that these genres are heavily influenced by African rhythms.
Very useful post, AfroM,
Carry only two cards — one debit card for cash and one credit card for purchases. Leave all your other cards behind.
The best option, though, is to open a separate checking account with your bank, transfer a maximum of $1,500 (or however much youâ??re gonna need for the entire trip) into the account, get one of those debit cards that also function as a credit card attached to it, and carry/use ONLY that one card during your travel. Its safer and easier to keep track of your spending. Leave all your other cards behind.
Iâ??ve also found American Express TCs (Travellers Cheques) to be very convenient.
Write and keep the phone numbers of your bank, VISA/MC, and Amex in a separate pocket from your wallet â?? in case you lose your wallet.
Keep receipts of all transactions and pore over your statement when you return or online everyday if you have a secure computer. Easier to catch unauthorized transactions.
Iâ??ve found Barclays bank foreign currency counter at Queensway branch the most helpful.
Use cash in most places (gas, food, drinks, simple shopping) — lessens exposure to fraud — only use your cards for major purchases. And when you go to the ATM, withdraw large amounts (instead of small, frequent amounts, which cost you more in fees) and leave most of it at home when going out. Usually Iâ??ll withdraw about $400 each time and that lasts me about a week as opposed to going to the ATM everyday.
If you travel often (twice or more per year), you ought to just keep an account with a Kenyan bank and spend money from that account when youâ??re at home.
Ntwiga’s phone recommendation is perfect.
Sorry for the long comment.
@E-Nyce: yes, there are 99 cents stores in Europe
@USA folks: 110 VOLTS! I shall blog this soon asap i get a decent picture, yani my friend KP from Taiwan told me yesterday that his folks there found a jua kali solution to produce 220 V out of 110 V sockets: they just connected to power sockets in series with a simple cable. Aaaaahhhhhh……..
Wonderful reminder about not waiting 10 years to experience Europe. It is a magical place, to be visited always as soon as possible..