What a visitor's money does in Kenya: every guide rated from very cheap to very expensive, cheapest first, then the things that cost travellers money without buying anything — the ATM, the taxi, the SIM.
Kenyan Shilling (KES) · 1 EUR = 150 KES · 1 USD = 129 KES
Park fees are payable by card and often quoted in dollars. Carry shillings for tips, curios and anything outside the camp. M-Pesa is how Kenya actually pays for things, and a visitor SIM makes small payments far easier.
Avoid: relying on anything inside the reserve — there are no machines
Use: Equity, KCB, Standard Chartered (all in Nairobi)
Draw cash in Nairobi. Guide and camp staff tips are cash and add up. M-Pesa is how Kenya actually pays for things, and a visitor SIM makes small payments far easier.
A short ride in Masai Mara: KSh 300–700 across town — cheap
From the airport: JKIA to central Nairobi KSh 1,500–2,500
Much cheaper than a hotel car and the standard way to move in Nairobi.
Swahili coast food is coconut, tamarind and fish: try samaki wa kupaka, biryani, and mahamri for breakfast. Eat at the local places along Ukunda road rather than the resorts, and buy fish where the boats land at Diani beach in the morning.
Meals are at your camp and included. In Nairobi, nyama choma is the meal to have, and Kenyan coffee is worth drinking where it is grown.
The cost rating is this site's own, for a visitor, from the guides' authors and the corrections readers send in. The general rules — the conversion prompt, shoulder season, the airport taxi — are in budget travel tips.
