Tanzania and Kenya are two great backpacking destinations. The hostel accommodation is fantastic, the food is cheap, and there’s plenty of hiking, wildlife and white-sand beaches to fill any itinerary.
When we were planning our time in these countries, we found researching quite difficult – so many travellers do a safari, fly to the beach, and then fly home. Which is so unfortunate, because both Tanzania and Kenya are huge countries, with a lot to offer outside of a safari and a swim.
We chose to spend our time in Tanzania exploring inland areas, and most of our time in Kenya on the coast. We didn’t go to Zanzibar island, primarily due to the price of getting there. Catching the return ferry to Zanzibar is more expensive than the Kenyan visa on arrival, and accommodation on the island is comparatively pricey as well. Kenya’s Diani Beach is similar to Zanzibar, but more competitively priced. What’s more, Diani Beach is a short drive away from Mombasa Airport, which meant we also had the opportunity to visit the amazing Lamu Island.
Our average daily cost in Tanzania and Kenya (for two people, including food, accommodation, transport, activities) was $124NZD/78USD. This total does not include our safari, which cost more than our whole month in Africa put together. Safaris (and the Kilimanjaro hike – which we didn’t do) are in a pricing league of their own.
We found the standard of hostel accommodation in Africa to be good, and on-par with many of the places we stayed in Asia. We typically stayed in hostel private rooms, and when they weren’t available, we chose guesthouses (which are similarly priced). The hostels typically had large communal areas with a good vibe, which was great, because all the other travellers we met in East Africa were amazing people.
Food in Tanzania and Kenya is nothing to write home about. A local meal will set you back 2000TSH/200KES, but it’s usually not much more than rice or chappati with a small portion of stew. Local eateries are small and can be hard to identify, and even more difficult to order. Out of all the countries we visited, Tanzania and Kenya were the hardest to ‘eat local.’ Many guesthouses and hostels offer half-board, with breakfast usually included in the room rate, and dinner available for ~5USD per person. We often chose this option, even though it was a little expensive – often it was just good quality local food being served, and it let us hang out with other guests. Most towns have a few key foreign eateries (typically pizza), with prices that range from 10,000-20,000 TSH/1000+ KES. When we ate at any of these spots though, the quality of the food was always really good. Fruit in both Tanzania and Kenya is really delicious, and really easy to buy. Avocados, mangos and bananas were available on every street corner, and fresh juices are always delicious.
Overland transport in Kenya can be a little annoying, but is more straightforward than Tanzania, where catching a bus seemed deliberately complicated. We never felt harassed in Africa, apart from at the bus stations. If you can, take someone from your accommodation to the bus station, so they can help you onto the right bus. If you can’t, which happened to us more often than not, you have to expect to be pulled and pushed onto the loudest and most aggressive tout’s bus. The long-distance buses vary from small vans packed with people, to luxury coaches. Unfortunately it’s usually the small vans that have the most aggressive touts, who will spout the typical lies (‘no bigger busses running, the bus just left etc’) to get you on their vehicle. Thankfully, even though the small busses were uncomfortable, we always ended up in the right place.
For shorter trips, small local busses (called dala-dalas in Tanzania or mutatus in Kenya) are perfectly fine, and not nearly as aggressively run as the long-distance ones. A ‘conductor’ will typically lean out the door, ushering people onto the bus and handling fares. Bringing a bag on the bus is fine – people bring anything and everything on board! For very quick trips, a motorbike taxi (called a boda-boda in Tanzania, piki-piki in Kenya) are waiting on almost every corner. They’re quick and safe – but will charge foreigners an inflated fare, so try to find out what you should be paying before you get on the bike. Bajaj (tuktuks) are also available in bigger cities, more so in Kenya.
Many people have asked us about safety in these countries. We never felt unsafe at any point in our three weeks of backpacking. We did get a bit hot and bothered at the bus stations, but even this was a reaction to the intensity of the environment, and not because we were in any real danger. As with most countries, be wary of the advice offered to you in English – whether it’s directions to a place, the price of an item, etc. If someone approaches you and starts speaking English, they’re probably trying to sell you something – if you’ve got a weird feeling about what someone is saying, try to get a second opinion from a nearby local, or just walk away. ‘Beach-boys’ as they’re known here, are the typical low-level, English-speaking street hustlers that you also find on the beaches in Asia. We found them primarily in the most touristy spots. They’re super annoying but harmless. The best way to get rid of them is to pretend you don’t speak English. The city of Nairobi has a high violent crime rate, but it also has a thriving Uber network, which means you hardly have to walk anywhere (especially important at night) – just make sure you have a SIM card for data (Safaricom is Kenya’s biggest network). All accommodations and establishments in Nairobi have guards. Finally, in every city apart from from the very safe Lamu Island, we did not walk around after dark at all, and it wouldn’t have been sensible to carry around an open purse or wave an expensive phone.
Arusha – 2 Nights pre-safari, one night post-safari.
Arusha is the main safari-port of Tanzania, being the closest city to both Kilimanjaro Airport and the three most popular national parks: the Serengeti, the Ngorongoro crater and Tarangire national park. Outside of starting or finishing your safari however, there’s not much to do here. We stayed at Banana Farm Eco Hostel, which was an incredible place. The owner, who is the same age as us, has managed to invent a system which powers the hostel, using the waste of just three cows. The system actually generates so much power that he allows schools and churches to bring gas canisters to the hostel and refill them for free. If you stay at the hostel, he’ll take you on a great little tour of his coffee plantation, his banana farm and his farm-to-fuel system.
For a double room with attached bathroom (hot water a few hours per day) and a fantastic included breakfast, we paid 30NZD (19USD). Dinner was an additional 5USD per day, which was tasty local fare (banana soup, rice, stew and veggies). We ate on large tables beside a fire pit, with all the other guests, as well as two cats and a dog. Beer and water were available to purchase, for less than 1000TSH per bottle.
Moshi – 3 nights
Moshi is the closest town to Mt Kilimanjaro, and is the base for most people who are starting or finishing the trek. Unfortunately, we couldn’t afford the Kili climb – but there’s plenty of other things to do in Moshi to keep you occupied.
We stayed at Mountain Bikes Hostel (32NZD/20USD for a basic double room, shared bathroom – hot water restricted, breakfast included, dinner additional $4USD). This was one of the best hostels we have ever stayed in. The guys who ran the place were fantastic, the social areas and activities they offer were great fun, and we made instant friends with the other travellers.
Every couple of nights, Mountain Bikes takes guests on a ‘Sunset Bus Ride’. The hostel owns an old school bus, now gutted on the inside, and covered in artwork. For $5USD each, we got driven out into a cornfield, climbed onto the roof of the bus, passed around local Kilimanjaro and Safari beers with the other guests, turned on the tunes and watched the sunset behind Mt Kili.
In Moshi, we also visited the Materuni Waterfall, and the Kikuletwa hot springs – each of these being a day trip respectively. For the waterfall, we enlisted the help of a guide associated with Mountain Bikes to help us get there – we went as a group of ten, which made the guide’s fees much cheaper. You can reach the waterfall without a guide, but it is a 15km mutatu (small bus) ride, and a further 6km walk – having the guide did make it much simpler. Entrance to the waterfall is 10k TSH pp, and the mutatu ride is 1k TSH each way. We each paid the guide 6USD for his services.
On the way out of the waterfall, you can stop to try some banana beer, which is a local fermented alcohol made with (you guessed it) bananas. It tastes a bit like kombucha, and a bottle costs 1k TSH.
Alternatively, the Kikuletwa Hot Springs can easily be reached without a guide. Any small bus (dala-dala) heading west on the main road (towards Arusha) will be stopping at the town of Boma Ng’ombe, where it’s simple to get out and haggle a tuktuk ride to the springs. Flag down the bus by standing at a junction, driveway or easy spot for the bus to pull over, and wave it down with your hand. The dala-dala ride is 1k TSH. Tuktuk drivers are literally waiting for tourists at the bus stop in Boma Ng’ombe. 25k TSH will get you a return trip from Boma to the springs, and the tuktuk driver will wait for 2-3 hours while you swim (the drivers will start at 40kTSH though, so haggle). We went with another girl from the hostel, which allowed us to split the cost.
The water isn’t exactly hot – more like lukewarm. There’s a strong current, but someone has kindly tied a rope across the widest section, which you can hold onto and happily float. The water is so amazingly blue, there are fluttery palms, and a rope swing with locals doing tricks. It’s a great spot.
There are a few eateries by the pools – your best option is the one on the end, serving chips mayai (local potato chip omelette) for 2000 TSH a piece.
Notable eateries in Moshi:
La Fuente Garden Mexican Restaurant – One of the best places we ate in all of east Africa, this Mexican restaurant is hidden up a back street. Epic food priced between 10k-15k TSH, drinks from 2k-8k.
Union Cafe – A Moshi institution, come here for good coffee and cheesecake. 5k+ While you’re here, also check out the gift/art shop Mama Africa. It’s across the road, and run by a friend of Mountain Bikes hostel. The items inside are ethically sourced from the community, and the art is high quality.
Lushoto – 3nights (including two nights hiking)
Lushoto is the biggest town in the Usambara Mountains, which are a fantastic place to go hiking. The Usambaras are filled with small towns, with a total population of over 400,000 people. There’s tiny farms, bustling markets, and lots of chameleons in the jungle.
You can either do day-trip hikes or multi-day overnight hikes. We opted for a 3 day/2 night hike with a local guide, Siad (300USD for two people, including all food, accommodation and fees – Siad’s company is called Usambara Adventures, WhatsApp +255 756 79 65 75). He WAS going to take us to an epic viewpoint where we could see all the way to Kilimanjaro, but I got sick on the first night, and we had to call the entire trek short. However, from what we were able to do, the hiking is excellent, and the glimpse into daily Tanzanian life was really special. Small children would see us coming and shout ‘MZUNGU!!…’ (which means ‘white person’) and a bunch more children would come running to look at us, but they’d only watch us from afar. Most were scared to get too close. Women working in the fields offered us carrots and avocados. At night, five cheeky bushbabies broke into the guesthouse where we were staying, and stole some peanuts.
Back in Lushoto town, there’s not that much to do. We stayed at David Crater Homestay (44NZD/28USD for a double room, attached bathroom, great breakfast. Dinner was an additional 8 USDpp. These guys took such good care of me when I was sick.)
Notable eats in Lushoto:
Pizza Mamma Mia for surprisingly delicious pizza. Splash out for the brownie and ice cream as well.
I also believe (though we didn’t try it) that lunch at Lawns Hotel is very good.
Tanga, 1 night
I’m only mentioning Tanga here because it’s a necessary stop on the way from Lushoto to Diani Beach, Kenya. The bus from Lushoto to Tanga takes ~6h, depending on the stops – there is no ‘fast bus.’ It’s also important to know that the bus will stop at a station that is not in the centre of Tanga town, and you’ll have to change to a tuktuk. The ride from the bus stop to the centre of town should be no more than 5000 TSH.
We stayed at Dolphin Hotel. It was fine for one night. 40NZD/25USD for a double room, attached bathroom, terrible breakfast. The staff were not very helpful when we asked for information about the bus to Diani the next day.
Notable eats in Tanga:
Cuppuccino Cafe for good local fare. The passion juice is especially good. A large meal for two will set you back 7k.
Crossing the border, Tanga (Tanzania) to Diani Beach (Kenya).
When we got to the bus station in Tanga, we were told that ‘because it was Saturday, there are no big busses running.’ We looked around, hoping that a big bus might magically appear, but ended up being ushered into another tiny 8-seater, crammed with 14 people. Unfortunately East African bus stations are a mine field, but at least even the tiniest bus ends up going where it’s supposed to go.
To get from Tanga to Diani, you need to be on (any) bus bound for Mombassa. The driver needs to know that you’ll be getting off at Ukunda, which is the name of the town where you’ll find the turn-off to Diani beach.
Luckily, most of the passengers on our bus were bound for Mombassa, which meant there weren’t frequent stops to pick people up, and drop people off. It takes about 1 ½ hours to reach the border, and another hour after that to reach the turn-off.
Crossing the border is simple. First, you enter and building to pass through Tanzanian immigration/passport control, which is fairly easy. There was a small line (mainly people on our bus) but it moved fast. Then we left the Tanzanian immigration building, and walked across to the Kenyan immigration building – here’s where it takes a little longer for foreigners. While most of the Tanzanian passengers on our bus breezed through here with their East Africa passports, we had to show our yellow fever vaccines, fill out a visa application form, have a small interview (with an incredibly kind border officer), and then pay the Visa on Arrival fee of 50USD/pp. It didn’t take too long, but we were definitely the last ones back on the bus (luckily the driver waited!)
There was a small banking booth in the Kenyan immigration building that did money changing at a fair rate. You will need a few Kenyan shillings in order to reach your accommodation. Tanzanian shillings are not accepted in Kenya.
Once at the Ukunda junction, we caught a bajaj (tuktuk) for 150KES to our accommodation in Diani. There were plenty hanging around the junction, and they all knew the names of the hostels and hotels along the beach.
Diani Beach, 3 nights
Diani beach is a huge, pure white-sand beach. There’s an offshore reef, which means that the lagoon is fairly well protected and the waves are small. There are expensive resorts lining the beach, but there are a few good cheap accommodation options to choose from as well. Stilts Backpackers (40NZD/25USD for a two-person tent – with mattress and linen, shared bathroom, saltwater shower) was a good choice – mainly because the owner of Stilts also owns the beachside resort across the road, and allows the hostel guests to use the resort’s pool and beach access for free.
At Diani Beach we basically just did beach things. Lay by the pool, lay by the ocean, read our books, ate mangoes for breakfast and seafood for dinner. The in-house menu at Stilts was actually extremely reasonably priced compared to other eateries along the beach – and at 7pm every night, the hostel brings out some bananas and allows guests to feed the wild bushbabies.
In terms of swimming, Diani (like Zanzibar and other east coast beaches) gets an incredibly strong crosswind in July/August. It made the lagoon a heaven for kitesurfers but less pleasant for swimming. The foreshore of Diani is also FULL of ‘beach boys’ (street hustlers) who will approach you with anything, from trinkets for sale to promises of a good night out. They’re harmless but incredibly annoying. With access to the resort’s sheltered pool, we spent most of our time away from the actual beach.
Lamu Island, 3 nights
Lamu island is a crazy place. This tiny pedestrian-only island is situated just off Kenya’s upper east coast, and is home to over six thousand donkeys, and only three cars. Islam is the island’s major religion, and the architecture reflects that, with intricate Arabic detailing and a huge central mosque. The buildings come right down to the waterfront, and when the tide is in, people can literally walk out their front door and into the water. Despite the fact that the island is close to the Somali border, it is incredibly safe to visit – you can walk around freely at night, even as a solo traveller.
It is highly recommended by all travel advisories, as well as Kenyan locals, to fly to Lamu (we did.) The flight from Mombassa takes 45mins and is typically 45,000KES. Alternatively, the bus is 10-13h, and it drives through dangerous territories. To get from the airport (which is on the mainland) to Lamu island, you need to take a small boat-taxi – the fare is 100KESpp.
We stayed at JamboHouse, which is the only hostel-type accommodation available on the island (36NZD/23USD for a double room, attached bathroom with cold-water shower, really good included breakfast). The owner, Arnold, gave us an incredible amount of information about what to do and where to eat. His recommendations were all fantastic.
There’s no beach in Lamu town, but we did visit Shela beach, which is a pleasant 40min walk along the waterfront (you can only make this walk at low tide – at any other time, you’d have to take a boat). Unfortunately, when we visited, that July cross-shore wind was blowing, and the beach wasn’t so pleasant to lie on. So we caught a boat across the channel to Manda Island for 200KES (to catch a boat, simply wait by the shore or walk towards the small jetty – boat ‘taxis’ will trawl the beach looking for customers). At Manda Beach, we went to Diamond Beach Village, who allow outsiders to use their lounge chairs and hammocks as long as you purchase lunch there. The seafood pizza was fantastic.
To get back to Lamu Town from Manda Beach, you have to catch a boat-taxi – either by waiting on the shoreline, or asking a resort to call you one (for an additional fee). We waited by the shore and saw a guy coming in to drop off some fuel tanks, and we asked him if he would take us back to Lamu for 300KES (because he was going back anyway). Considering the price for a proper boat-taxi is more like 500KES, we got a great price. Plenty of little commercial boats pull up to the shore fairly frequently, so it’s definitely worth asking those drivers for a lift, before you opt to pay the higher price of a taxi.
Lamu town has plenty of great places to eat, and the price is really good compared to other parts of Kenya. The seafood is really fresh, and you can get anything from whole fish to crabs and prawns. Kenyans love their pizza, so the seafood pizza will be good choice from pretty much anywhere. Juices are fresh, cheap and delicious. Lamu has comparatively few ‘beach boys’ (street hustlers/scammers) compared to other places we’ve been, but there’s still a few around. One con that they’re particularly fond of here is helping people with ‘directions’ (Lamu streets are windy and easy to get lost in). They’ll ask you if you need help finding a place, and as soon as you say you’re looking for ‘Island Dishes’ (for example), they’ll take you on a wild-goose chase through the city, ending up at their mate’s restaurant. If you do need to ask for directions, ask people if they can ‘point to the direction’, ‘is it near the hospital’ etc. Don’t let anybody physically show you to get somewhere.
Notable eats:
Island Dishes – Local spot. An excellent lamb pilau for only 150KES or 200KES for fish stew and coconut rice. Large passionfruit juice was 80KES. Lunch only. Looks a bit scruffy from the outside, but the food is delicious and there’s a very high turnover. Step inside and face the chef (who stands behind the pots). He will show what he’s got, and you order from him.
Seafront Cafe – try the fish in curry sauce for 450KES. The juices here particularly good.
Diamond Beach Village (Manda Island) – a little pricier, because it’s a resort. The seafood pizza was 1200KES but was enough for two. 150 for a juice. Buying lunch gets you access to all their sun loungers and hammocks.
Umalila – 700KES for a BBQ whole fish, and a side of chips. Plenty for two people. If the chef has and brownies left (in the small cabinet beside the outdoor BBQ) definitely buy one.
Lamu Palace Hotel – 1100 for a good seafood pizza, and a nice setting to eat it in. Other dishes (such as vegetable curry) were more reasonably priced.
Nairobi – 3 nights
There’s no way around it: Nairobi is a big, ugly city. Luckily there are a few cool things you can do, and it’s got a fairly good range of international eateries, but it’s otherwise dusty and congested.
We stayed at Travellers Oasis, which is an AirBnB-type listing on booking.com (40NZD/25USD for a private room in a shared residential apartment, attached bathroom). There’s a few of these kinds of listings in Nairobi, but the one we stayed at was good, and cheaper than a hostel. It was in a great neighbourhood, and was easy for Ubers to find. Read reviews about the neighbourhood before booking in Nairobi.
You can’t come to Nairobi without visiting the David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage and the Giraffe Centre (which is separate from the exorbitantly priced and insta-famous hotel, ‘Giraffe Manor’.) Both the baby elephants and the giraffes can be seen in a day. The daily feeding of the orphaned elephants runs from 11am-12midday. Get an Uber there by 10.30 to secure a spot, entrance is 1000KESpp. Only a 15min drive away is the Giraffe Centre, where you can hand-feed endangered Rothschild’s giraffes (entrance is pretty steep at 3000KESpp). Most people will go straight from the elephants to the giraffes, but we just caught an Uber to ‘Boho Eatery’ for lunch instead. It’s trendy and delicious and situated almost perfectly between the two sanctuaries. After lunch we were able to walk directly to the giraffe centre – it’s a short walk in a good neighbourhood – and the crowds had died down by the time we got there.
We also used public transport to do a day trip Hell’s Gate National Park. This predator-free park is just north of Nairobi, and you can hire bikes at the entrance and cycle around it. There’s also a gorge in the park, with hiking guides available for hire (we just biked). Though if I was doing this trip again, I’d definitely stay the night in Naivasha (closer to Hell’s Gate), as accessing the park in a single day was a bit of a mission. But, in case anyone wants to repeat our mission, here’s how we did it.
First, catch a mutatu from Nairobi to Naivasha. Nairobi has no clear bus station – it’s more a collection of streets that the busses park on, but you’ll find the mutatus bound for Naivasha near the Oilibya petrol station. The shuttles operate under the company name ‘NNUS’. All mutatus have signs on their roofs with their destination clearly displayed. People are helpful if you ask for help in locating the right bus (just ask for ‘Naivasha’). Once you’ve found the bus, you have to purchase a ticket from a nearby booth. The driver will show you where. Nairobi – Naivasha is 250KESpp. The ride is 1 ½ hours and is strictly 8 seats (yay!)
Once at Naivasha, you need to walk from the long-distance bus station to the local mutatu station. It’s 2mins, ask locals or the driver for directions for ‘the mutatu to hell’s gate’. Do not let anyone drive you there, it’s literally 200m away.
Once at the local mutatu station, identify the bus with ‘Hells Gate’ on the roof (it’s part of a list). The bus touts here are fairly helpful. Make sure you tell the driver, not just the touts who help you, that you need to be dropped off at Hells Gate. We made this mistake, and missed the stop.
You can hire bikes from the junction the bus drops you off at – the shop is right there. It’s 600KES per bike. From the bike shop, it’s a 2km ride to the entrance to the park, where the entrance fee is 2400KESpp.
To get home, you repeat the whole process in reverse. To get from Nairobi to Hell’s Gate entrance took us about four hours, one way.
There are plenty of good places to eat in Nairobi – all of them reachable by Uber. You can find lots of international food, and most of it is good and reasonably priced.
One particularly cool place was Gecko Bar, beside the Gecko Carwash. It has cheap burgers, a wide selection of local craft beers and ciders, and live music most nights.
