HI - Nairobi - Nairobi International Youth Hostel

I stayed here with friends a few times throughout the spring of 2000 when I was participating in a study abroad program. It was a good location and had fairly clean grounds and rooms. It was impossible to get into the smaller rooms (three to four person and one to two person rooms) -- they were always full. I felt safe there, but still slept with my money under my pillow to be sure. A couple of the times I was there the water was not working -- the toilets would not flush and the sinks and showers did not work. This was extremely disgusting -- have a big water bottle and hand sanitizer with you. I, very unfortunately, ate some bad food somewhere on that particular day and let's just say it was absolutely revolting to not have working toilets and sinks. The other times, when the water did work, there were hot showers -- something we did not have at the school -- so we were in heaven. Please don't go to Africa thinking that everything will be convenient and to your liking like in North America or Europe -- expect the worst and then you'll usually be pleasantly surprised! If you want perfection, go stay at the Hilton -- and even then there are no guarantees. I loved Kenya and wouldn't trade my experiences for anything in the world.