Published on Jan, 2025
I had a great time with Kevin on the tour of his home neighborhood of Kibera. First of all, this is a one-on-one tour, so the $60 is well worth it for the personalized experience with Kevin as your guide. I was able to take pictures, buy stuff from shops, and visit two schools, where I was able to as questions and discuss politics (both Kenyan and American) with some of the employees. Arguably the best part was that Kevin highly respects your time; I learned halfway through my tour that I needed to return to my AirBnb before noon, so Kevin was willing to cut my tour short and drive me to a place to pick up an Uber.
That said, there are some things to be aware of about Kibera (and Nairobi more generally). First of all, Kevin arrived an hour late, though I do not hold that against him since that was the fault of Nairobi traffic; he is moving to pick tourists up from their accommodations in the future, instead of the Yaya Centre, in part to get around that. In addition, Kibera lives up to its reputation as a slum, so you obviously need to maintain hygiene practices while going there. Finally, religion plays an important part of life for the residents - both schools I visited were founded on Christian principles - so it is important to respect that.
