Hiking club

I believe that 'Internations' organise hiking, but whether this is a regular thing, I am not sure.  However, there are limited hiking opportunities in Nairobi, apart from Karura Forest.  Walking around the parks in the city isn't always safe, particularly alone.   Out of the city centre many roads don't have sidewalks, so walking in many parts of the city isn't a pleasant experience.

People who like walking tend to head out of the city (at weekends) and travel to Mt Kenya, The Aberdare, Mt Longonot, or the Ngong Hills for example.  Some of those places are some distance from Nairobi.

You can also check here.  Unsure how many of these clubs are active, or trying to garner interest??

https://www.meetup.com/topics/hiking/ke/nairobi/

Thank you for your reply. I am married to a Kikuyu lady and I have a great deal of experience in Kenya.  I am looking to find hiking companions, moreover to broaden my social circle as my wife's family may be to busy to keep me amused.
I will check the link, thanks.

<<I am married to a Kikuyu lady>>

So am I Patkabura!

Cheers!

This may not be something you know about but I am wondering if you would know if the chemist in Kenya carries Omeprazole, or Prilosec for Acid reflux syndrome? on previous stays in Kenya I had my own supply, but as I will be a permanent resident I will need a ready local source. In the US these things are sold over the counter at the chemist, however I'm not sure about Kenya. Will I need a physician to write a prescription for this?

Firstly, the prescription part:  you can buy most medications over the counter without a prescription. 

You can certainly buy medication for acid reflux - Gaviscon (common in Europe) is available, branded, but Omeprazole might not be available as a branded drug (Prilosec, Losec, Zegerid) and you might have to settle for a generic medication.  There are a lot of fake medications here, so the main thing is to ensure that yours isn't.  Go to a pharmacy in a good part of town, maybe an upmarket shopping mall - you will pay more, but more likely to be given genuine products.

Costs for medication can really rack up and you will need to budget for this.

Regarding medical care generally.  Get a good medical insurance for you both.  Pre existing conditions are rarely covered, so be prepared for hefty medical bills if your stomach condition happens to flare. 

You are arriving in Kenya.  We are planning to leave! 

One of the reasons concerns medical care.  Although the facilities are first class, in private hospitals, the doctors (physicians) tend to be very money driven and this can (and often does) come before professionalism and accountability, unfortunately.  I know of a few people on whom unnecessary and expensive hospital admissions and surgical procedures were carried out, which have left them with more issues than they had before the doctor was involved.  Doctors just don't get prosecuted here and as they all know each other, the decision of a senior doctor tends not to be questioned.   Doctors are also reluctant to refer on, if ones condition falls outside their specialist area - they will attempt to fix the problem anyway!

An example:  My daughter had to be admitted to a provincial hospital for an overnight stay, recently.  A whole battery of tests were carried out, apparently to blood and urine...........but, although my daughter was drowsy, she confirmed that no urine sample was taken and we subsequently discovered that all the results were falsified, is it was impossible for a living being to bring those readings.  The clinic also tried to charge for an ultrasound scan, which was never done.  In this way they turned Ksh 3000 - 4000 into a bill for Ksh 16,000.

My wife has a medical condition, which needs monitoring, so its Ksh 5000 of so for the consultation (you can't get the tests without this), payment for the tests and a further Ksh 5000 for the doctor to analyse the results.

I am a health professional and I know enough to call into question the competence of some of the doctors.  As we get older (and until doctors in the country can be properly held to account), we feel that moving out of Kenya is for the best - its quite possible to lose everything you posses in order to meet a medical bill, while not necessarily receiving the optimum level of care because your doctor is too greedy to refer on to other professionals!

I appreciate your condor Sir.

I will be very mindful of your advice as I contemplate life in Kenya. I do love Kenya but I understand the challenges we face as your own experience so vividly illustrates. I think I should discuss this issue with my wife as I believe you raise very valid concerns.

I do think for all serious medical procedures we should return to the US, something that has actually crossed my mind before. I love being in Kenya but corruption in all segments of society presents many challenges. I have found myself on occasion while in Kenya privately cursing the locals for a multitude of sins, it sound as if I would fair just as well presenting myself to the local witch doctor.

Are there no "Western" Doctors available in the country?

How is the security in Kenya these days?

Some years ago I was forced to fight off some thugs in my home near Donholm Estates in Nairobi, however my wife and I can afford more secure areas these days.

Your advice and council is greatly appreciated.

Many senior doctors and consultants have had all/part of their training in the west and practice western medicine.  Somewhere along the way, for many, greed seems to have overtaken other considerations such as genuinely putting the patients needs first.  This, in tandem with a lack of accountability (no one has successfully sued a doctor) is, to my mind a dangerous combination.  Treatment can often be aimed at maximising income for the doctor and hospital, so necessary admission, unnecessary procedures and so on regularly occur - I heard from a friend that at least two top private hospitals will do everything they can to perform C sections on pregnant women, as its considerably more costly (to the patient). 

The cost of medical care in Kenya has become such an issue here that many Kenyans opt to go to India, or South Africa for planned medical procedures.

You say that you would return to the US for serious medical procedures, but within that, you are making the assumption that an airline would be happy to fly you (depending on the severity of your condition).

Petty corruption has been stamped on by the introduction of online government services for most things and the police are very much in focus at the moment, in terms of traffic violations (a major source of bribes).  Otherwise, corruption is largely alive and well to an extent that we are not used to in the west. 

Security;  its not too bad here in Nyeri.  Nairobi has also done quite a lot recently to make the streets safer, but you still need to be sensible, don't noticeably carry a lot of valuables, don't walk around after dark.  Crimes like carjacking seem to have reduced markedly.  Opportunist crime, such a phone theft, pickpocketing is rife......just as it is in many large cities.

I have never been accosted by thugs, but then again I have only driven past Donholm and similar areas - its a very risky place.  We have always been very careful about where we have lived.

I also love Kenya.  My wife has lived here for several years and I have been shuttling between work in the UK and Kenya, until about 2 years ago.   The healthcare concerns, plus one or two other issues will see us relocating to South Africa sometime this year, after selling our properties. 

I know a few Kenyan friends of my wife who have come home, only to leave again after a couple of years, finding it difficult to fit in (sometimes a lot of jealousy towards returning Kenyans), difficult to make money, find the 'system', less freedom of movement and lack of customer service very frustrating.

Kenya certainly presents many challenges.

I thank you for your council and frank incite. Your council certainly reminds one that youthful romantic notions of Africa should be kept in their proper sphere.

I have two stepsons in Nairobi and we wish to grow old near them and their children. This will be a much bigger challenge for me than it will for my dear wife. I shall somehow have to learn to cope with the many challenges I will undoubtedly face in Kenya.

I like challenges, for me life is either a great adventure, or nothing at all.

Also, so sorry to hear that you are leaving Kenya. I have never been to South Africa but I hope all go's well for you there.

I think it will be very important for my mental health to find some "Western" companions for those times I may need to curse the locals in the company of a sympathetic ear.

Oh yes, absolutely.  My life would have been poorer if I hadn't lived here.

Its actually my wife who is more keen to leave than me, but as I have said, her future medical care does worry me and having 'tasted' South Africa, on the whole I would prefer to be there - its cheaper for one thing, much much more developed with local services that 'work' (at least in the Western Cape) and society is much more leisure orientated than here in Kenya - lots to do in my retirement!  Also, SA seems more open to foreigners (with money) settling there than does Kenya.

Best of luck!