How ordinary people live in Kenya. How ordinary people live in Kenya

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Work in Kenya and the standard of living in this area are quite specific. Not every European will be able to quickly adapt in this African country. However, this does not mean at all that Kenya lacks the necessary conditions for normal living.

Amboseli National Park in Kenya

However, by African standards, Kenya is a fairly cheap country. To live with dignity, working here, you must comply with a number of conditions:

Don't stay in expensive hotels. In this country you can find a hotel with a good combination of "price - quality".
You should eat in establishments of an average, not high level.
It is not recommended to use taxi services daily. Preference should be given to public transport.

If a person who comes here follows these simple tips, periodically visits local attractions and allows himself to relax in a bar once a week, then his daily budget will not exceed 48 US dollars (approximately 3.5 Kenyan shillings).

If you regularly afford expensive tourist activities, then the costs will certainly increase. This applies to safaris, diving, excursions to exotic parks, etc.

Learn more about prices in Kenya in the video below.

The standard of living of Kenyans cannot be called high. Aboriginal people live on no more than $1 a day. Despite this, Kenya is considered one of the safest countries in Africa. Therefore, not only tourists come here, but also workers.

Prices

For the average European, prices in Kenya are reasonable. Here is a table of the cost of some products in Russian rubles and Kenyan shillings.

Fruits are sold on the streets of Kenyan cities, mainly bananas and mangoes. During the season, their prices go down.

1 liter of Kenyan gasoline costs from 100 shillings. For 1 pack of cigarettes, a person who comes to this country will have to pay a minimum of 115 shillings.

As for clothes, they are quite expensive in Kenya. For example, average price jeans - 8,000 shillings (approximately 2,500 rubles).

Almost all shops in Kenya are open 6 days a week, from Monday to Saturday. Shops close at lunchtime.

Work

To get a job here, you need to apply for a visa that will give you the right to work and live in Kenya. The Migration Service can issue such a visa, but it is not easy to obtain it. It's all about the popularity of the state. More than 40,000 foreigners are on the waiting list for a Kenyan work visa, according to official figures.

Matatou are private minibuses with a capacity of 14 to 24 people.

A significant disadvantage of bus transport in Kenya is the time of their work. They don’t want often, so if a person urgently needs to get to a certain destination, he should use a taxi or minibus.

Online marketing manager Olesya Leontieva has been living in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, for almost a year, where she left after her husband. At our request, she spoke about the cost of living in an African country.

My husband is a construction engineer. After a few years of career in Moscow and getting an MBA degree, he thought about moving. Suddenly he was offered a place in an interesting project in Nairobi. By the way, the capital of Kenya is now experiencing an unprecedented construction boom.

The offer was financially profitable: the offered income exceeded our two Moscow salaries at the current moment. Even with the fact that I will not work in Kenya, we remained in the black. The company provided a lift in the amount of a monthly salary, paid the two of us medical insurance and gym memberships, and also pledged to reimburse once a year the cost of a flight home. Housing and car expenses fell on us.

Of course we were scared. But we decided to allow ourselves this adventure. Not every day there is a chance to change lives so dramatically, and we will definitely have something to tell the children about.

We have been preparing for the move for three months. Our biggest concern was safety. For Nairobi, the international nickname Nairobbery was fixed - from Nairobi and robbery (robbery). And horror stories from the network fueled fears.

My husband flew first "for reconnaissance" on the eve of the last New Year, and I joined him in March. After reading the forums, we equipped it, exactly on desert island, inhabited by dangerous savages: a secret bag, a printout with emergency phone numbers, a lighter (suddenly you have to cook food on a fire?), a multi-tool, an old phone (so you don’t feel sorry to give it to the robbers), etc. But the journey went smoothly.

Housing

Rent

Renting an apartment in Nairobi is not easy. As in Moscow, there are specialized sites or groups on Facebook to search for housing. But local realtors are very lazy and seemingly not interested in making money at all. Out of 10 specialists, 1-2 call you back. Just compare this with Moscow realtors, from which it is difficult to get rid of a couple of months after the transaction. Of the benefits: unlike in Russia, the rental fee falls on the landlord.

Housing prices seemed cosmic even after Moscow. Decent options start at $800 (47,200 rubles) per month. In fairness, I note that for this amount you get beautiful apartments with an area of about 100 meters with ceilings of 3-4 meters and a terrace. There are no decent options for a smaller area.

We chose the apartment thoroughly. It seemed that they found a great option, signed a contract, made an advance payment, but on the first evening they discovered that it was absolutely impossible to sleep in a new place. There was a ditch outside the window, and after the rain the frogs and cicadas that inhabited it arranged such a concert that it seemed as if a locomotive was passing right above you. Lucky we got our money back!

It is not recommended to save on housing, otherwise unpleasant surprises cannot be avoided. The cost of an apartment is determined by the well-being of the area, and it is better not to save on safety in Kenya. A slum may be found next to a cheap house, or in a day you will have interruptions in electricity or water. More expensive options include an on-site swimming pool, walking area, gym, central gas supply, apartment maintenance, and furniture.

In Moscow, we rented a small one-room apartment in the north of the city. It was a rather modest option, which cost us 30,000 rubles a month.

Public utilities

In Nairobi, the cost of housing does not include the cost of public utilities which are more expensive than in Russia. In Moscow, we paid for electricity and water according to meters (an average of 2,000 rubles), the rest Communal expenses fell on the landlord.

There are also meters here, but the average bill for water and electricity is about $80 (4,720 rubles). The landlord pays for the protection and cleaning of the territory - this is about $ 100 (5,900 rubles). There is no central gas supply in most houses, gas cylinders help out. Filling a 13 kg balloon will cost about $20 (1,180 rubles).

Transport

Personal car

Walking the streets of Nairobi is extremely unsafe. Even locals often find themselves in unpleasant situations, because the percentage of the poor is very high. And the almost complete absence of sidewalks, roadsides, which after rain (and they are not uncommon in Kenya) turn into clay pools, do not have a promenade. So it’s better to move around “on wheels”, even if we are talking about a distance of a kilometer.

A car is the main means of transportation for a more or less wealthy population. Traffic in Nairobi is very busy, and the roads are completely dead. We did not take the risk of buying a car with local mileage, but chose a car with mileage exclusively in Japan (most cars are imported from there).

The traffic police are not as strict as ours, for a small bribe you can even drive without insurance, MOT or rights. However, in case of an accident, problems cannot be avoided. In general, proper car maintenance is about 1.5 times more expensive than in Russia.

At home, we spent about 3,000 rubles a month on gasoline (the average price of gasoline in Moscow is 40 rubles per liter). In Kenya, a liter of gasoline costs $1 (59 rubles), and it is available in only one type (there are no “our” options 96 or 98), the alternative is only diesel.

Public transport and taxi

Urban transport in Nairobi is represented by minibuses (they are called “matatu”, the fare is 30 rubles), buses and motorcycle taxis (boda-boda). They are used by locals, others prefer private cars and taxi.

The taxi service is well developed, there is even an Uber. A 15-minute trip around the city will cost 200 rubles.

One trip by metro or ground transport in Moscow will cost 36 rubles. For those who constantly use public transport, it is more profitable to buy a monthly pass - 60 trips for 1,765 rubles or unlimited for 2,075 rubles. A 15-minute taxi ride with Uber, Gett or Yandex.Taxi will cost 200-250 rubles.

Products

There are several supermarket chains in Nairobi: the local Nakkumat, which is now on the verge of bankruptcy, the Indian Foodplus and the French Carrefour. Plus a network of specialized stores with vegetables, fish, pastries, healthy foods, etc. The most democratic prices in Carrefour, there is a wide range of household goods and imported products. Even with a careful attitude to money, we spend about 10,000 rubles on a weekly purchase of products.

The most expensive items in the check are fish, cheeses and sweets. The cheapest are fruits and vegetables. But I will disappoint you: in spite of warm climate, the assortment of fruits here is more modest than in a Moscow chain store. We lack our peaches, plums, fragrant melons and watermelons (they are here, but not so tasty), cherries, persimmons. The choice of dairy products is also poor.

What is quite surprising is that there are no high-quality Kenyan teas or coffee on the shelves either. Only poor quality tea bags are available, and to enjoy a real quality drink, you have to go to the plantations where tastings are held. That's where tea and coffee is really beyond praise!

Cafes and restaurants

In Moscow, we liked to go out to the city for dinner, in our favorite Starlite Diner most often fit into 1,500 rubles. Here in a decent restaurant we leave about 3,000 rubles (salad, main course, soft drink and dessert). A set of rolls, sushi and salad costs 1500 rubles. A cup of Americano - 150 rubles.

Mediterranean, Indian and Japanese cuisines are popular in Nairobi. Of the national dishes, ugali is most often served - thick corn porridge with local sukuma grass, a portion costs 600 rubles. According to tradition, it is eaten with the hands: flat cakes are made from porridge and scooped up with sauce or stew.

Locals often eat in street cafes, which essentially consist of a plastic table, an umbrella and a couple of stumps. The cost of lunch there, of course, is several times lower, but as with housing, it is better not to save on food, otherwise you can get poisoned by low-quality products.

Internet and mobile communications

The main local cellular operator is Safaricom. A minute of conversation costs about 60 kopecks, 3 GB of Internet - 600 rubles. You need to study the terms of the contract very carefully, and it is better to buy package tariffs, otherwise the operator debits money from the account for each downloaded megabyte at the general rate, and a thousand rubles can easily burn out after ten downloaded Internet pages.

Moscow has spoiled us with unlimited flying Internet from the Onlime provider with a subscription fee of 600 rubles. I used to freely download movies, music, without noticing the moment of connection. Package rate mobile communications with 3 GB of Internet in Moscow costs from 250 to 500 rubles, depending on the operator.

In Kenya, the Internet is extremely expensive and terribly unstable. We have changed several providers. So far, Safaricom has turned out to be the most comfortable: connection is free, an unlimited tariff for 20 Gbps costs 3,000 rubles. For comparison, the large provider Faiba asks 8,000 rubles for connection, while the Internet from other providers crashes every 20 minutes and gives the actual speed several times lower than the declared one.

household expenses

Kenya - dear country, and if you are a European, be prepared to pay twice as much for everything. Cheaper than in Moscow, here only local fruits and human labor. The cost of services of housekeepers, porters, mechanics after Moscow is ridiculous. For example, a nanny for 24 hours with the functions of a housekeeper and a cook will cost no more than $200 (11,800 rubles) per month.

Everything else is very expensive and of extremely dubious quality. Products come across damaged, clothes do not withstand even a couple of washes, and relatively inexpensive furniture (a la IKEA) falls apart after a couple of months. For example, we bought a refrigerator for 30,000 rubles, which leaked after a couple of months, a blender for 1,500 rubles broke after a month, a bed for 10,000 rubles dried up after six months.

Now we buy only the essentials and are waiting for a trip to our homeland to update our wardrobe. Sales local retailers do not favor. On Black Friday, for example, each store gives a discount on only a couple of products and rarely more than 15%. E-commerce is practically non-existent. Parcels from foreign online stores stray around the country and are often lost. Plus, no one has personal mailing addresses - you need to rent a cell.

There are no branded clothes as such in Kenya. The local market is focused on the Indian consumer: gold, rhinestones, lurex, etc. From more or less department stores, I found Waikiki (analogous to Terranova) and the local Zara, on the trading floor of which only products of this brand are presented, although there is not a word about this on the signboard.

Entertainment

We spend little on entertainment, there are not as many temptations here as in Moscow. On weekends, like most, we walk in the local park or go to shopping center, where there are cafes and restaurants (although almost everywhere the same), playgrounds and cinemas. A movie ticket for an evening session is 400 rubles, an average portion of popcorn is only 60 rubles. For comparison: at home, you can go to the cinema for the same 400 rubles, but you will have to spend about 300 rubles on popcorn.

Kenya is beautiful in nature - tourists from all over the world come here on safari. An hour's drive from us is a farm with giraffes. The most popular Karura Forest park is paid. The ticket price depends on the availability of a local document. We do not have it, and we pay about 600 rubles (entrance for two and entry by car). There are also free parks, but they are not safe, as well as on the streets.

Findings:

Life in Africa is expensive, and Kenyan prices are not the limit. At the same time, many of the expats I met have been living here for more than five years and do not plan to return to their homeland. For Europeans, life here is very comfortable. Lots of sun, comfortable climate with almost year-round summer, amazing nature, calmness and lack of stress. The special attitude of the local population is touching: they are ready to help you.

Compare the cost of living in Nairobi and Moscow. For example, let's take renting an apartment with utility bills, 60 trips on public transport and a taxi ride twice a week, buying a grocery basket three times a week, a good dinner at a cafe twice a week, monthly payments for Internet and mobile communications and a hike to the movies with popcorn twice a month. We get:

Nairobi: 98,000 rubles.

Moscow: 55,448 rubles.

The salary

The local population has very low salaries: service personnel receive 5-6 thousand rubles a month, office workers - about $200 (11,800 rubles). The income limit for a local manager is $1,000 (59,000 rubles). Expats, who are actively poached into leadership positions, have incomes at least 2-3 times higher.

The average salary in Moscow, according to the latest data from Rosstat, is 69,847 rubles.

My husband - Construction engineer. After a few years of career in Moscow and getting an MBA degree, he thought about moving. Suddenly he was offered a place in an interesting project in Nairobi. By the way, the capital of Kenya is now experiencing an unprecedented construction boom.

The offer was financially profitable: the offered income exceeded our two Moscow salaries at the current moment. Even with the fact that I will not work in Kenya, we remained in the black. The company provided a monthly allowance, paid the two of us for health insurance and gym memberships, and also undertook to reimburse the cost of flying home once a year. Housing and car expenses fell on us.

My husband flew first "for reconnaissance" on the eve of the last New Year, and I joined him in March. After reading the forums, we equipped it, as if on a desert island inhabited by dangerous savages: a secret bag, a printout with emergency phone numbers, a lighter (suddenly you have to cook food on a fire?), a multi-tool, an old phone (so that it would not be a pity to give it to robbers), etc. .d. But the journey went smoothly.

Housing

Rent

We chose the apartment thoroughly. It seemed that they found a great option, signed a contract, made an advance payment, but on the first evening they found out that it was absolutely impossible to sleep in a new place. There was a ditch outside the window, and after the rain the frogs and cicadas that inhabited it arranged such a concert that it seemed as if a locomotive was passing right above you. Lucky we got our money back!

In Moscow, we rented a small one-room apartment in the north of the city. It was a rather modest option, which cost us 30,000 rubles a month.

Public utilities

In Nairobi, the cost of housing does not include utility costs, which are more expensive than in Russia. In Moscow, we paid for electricity and water according to meters (an average of 2,000 rubles), the rest of the utility costs fell on the landlord.

Transport

Personal car

The car - the main means of transportation for a more or less wealthy population. Traffic in Nairobi is very busy, and the roads are completely dead. We did not take the risk of buying a car with local mileage, but chose a car with mileage exclusively in Japan (most cars are imported from there).

At home, we spent about 3,000 rubles a month on gasoline (the average price of gasoline in Moscow is 40 rubles per liter). In Kenya, a liter of gasoline costs $1 (59 rubles), and it is available only in one type (there are no "our" options 96 or 98), the alternative is only diesel.

Public transport and taxi

Urban transport in Nairobi is represented by minibuses (they are called "matatu", the fare is 30 rubles), buses and motorcycle taxis (boda-boda). They are used by locals, the rest prefer private cars and taxis.

The taxi service is well developed, there is even an Uber. A 15-minute trip around the city will cost 200 rubles.

Food

Products

The most expensive items in the check are fish, cheeses and sweets. The cheapest are fruits and vegetables. But I will disappoint you: despite the warm climate, the assortment of fruits here is more modest than in a Moscow chain store. We lack our peaches, plums, fragrant melons and watermelons (they are here, but not so tasty), cherries, persimmons. The choice of dairy products is also poor.

Products	Nairobi	Moscow, "Crossroads"
Milk, 1 l.	80 rub.	68 rub.
The cheapest fish, 1 kg.	500 rub.	118 rub. (pollock frozen)
Cheese Cheddar, 100 gr.	200 rub.	RUB 87.5 (0.5 pack. 200 g)
Eggs, 15 pcs.	100 rub.	75 rub. (1.5 pack. 10 pcs.)
Bread	100 rub.	28 rub.
Juice, 1 l.	200 rub. (freshly squeezed)	82 rub. (in the package)
TOTAL:	1 180 rubles	459 rubles

Cafes and restaurants

Mediterranean, Indian and Japanese cuisines are popular in Nairobi. Of the national dishes, ugali is most often served - thick corn porridge with local grass sukuma, a portion costs 600 rubles. According to tradition, it is eaten with the hands: flat cakes are made from porridge and scooped up with sauce or stew.

Internet and mobile communications

Moscow has spoiled us with unlimited flying Internet from the Onlime provider with a subscription fee of 600 rubles. I used to freely download movies, music, without noticing the moment of connection. A package tariff for mobile communications with 3 GB of Internet in Moscow costs from 250 to 500 rubles, depending on the operator.

household expenses

Kenya - an expensive country, and if you are a European, be prepared to pay twice as much for everything. Cheaper than in Moscow, here only local fruits and human labor. The cost of services of housekeepers, porters, mechanics after Moscow is ridiculous. For example, a nanny for 24 hours with the functions of a housekeeper and a cook will cost no more than $200 (11,800 rubles) per month.

Entertainment

We spend little on entertainment, there are not as many temptations here as in Moscow. On weekends, like most people, we walk in the local park or go to the shopping center, where there are cafes and restaurants (although they are the same almost everywhere), playgrounds and cinemas. A movie ticket for an evening session is 400 rubles, an average portion of popcorn is only 60 rubles. For comparison: at home, you can go to the cinema for the same 400 rubles, but you will have to spend about 300 rubles on popcorn.

Drum for Peace Festival, Karura Park

Ekaterina Dyachenko about life and work in the capital of Kenya.

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Africa - unique continent that inspires energy and entrepreneurial enthusiasm. I probably would never have decided to do business if I had not come to South Africa. For the first time I had a chance to visit there while still a student in 2000.

In 2005, I again went to South Africa, but at the initiative of the employer - the international company McKinsey. The business trip was for three months, but in the end I spent almost five years in Africa.

Three years ago I retired. But, of course, she did not plan to sit idly by, but opened her own business. Its main task was to bring Russian non-commodity products to foreign markets, including African. By this time in Africa, I had a lot of business and friendships.

House in Nairobi

There were several reasons for moving to Kenya. Kenya is a sub-Saharan hub with a growing economy and an absolutely heavenly climate. Nairobi is the most decent place on the continent after South Africa. Of course, Johannesburg and Cape Town are much more comfortable to live in. But by 2014, the economic activity of South Africa subsided, stagnation and crisis set in.

In Kenya, the weather is almost always the same: +28 ºС during the day, +16 ºС at night, all year round the sun rises at 6:30, sets at 18:30. Moscow time. It's much more convenient than Thailand or Miami because the time zone has a big impact on how close you are to your people.

In Nairobi, I settled in the city center, in the Lavington area. My house is a separate building, which has everything you need for life and work. On the ground floor there is a living and dining area where I receive visitors during the day. Bedroom on the second floor, office on the third. There is a swimming pool.

I also have a traditional office, but I don't go there every day. In Africa, it is perfectly normal to arrange business meetings at home, simply by properly organizing the public area of a residential building.

Standard of living

Life in Nairobi is twice as expensive as in Asia. Therefore, our compatriots prefer Asian rather than African countries. Some visitors are surprised by local prices.

Real estate in the capital of Kenya is quite expensive. For $1000-1500 per month you can rent a comfortable apartment in the city center. There is no transport, so you only travel by your own car. The costs obviously depend on whether the car is a brand new Mercedes or a used Toyota. Gasoline is about twice as expensive as in Russia: about $1 per 1 liter.

As for food, the average bill in a restaurant is $20-30. In supermarkets, meat, vegetables, fruits cost about the same as in Russia. On the street you can buy bananas, mangoes. In season it will be very cheap. But detergents or stationery in stores are more expensive, since everything is imported, and in small volumes.

For Russian citizens, a visa to stay in Kenya is valid for 90 days. Now you can pre-order via the Internet and get a document at the border.

A visa for work and residence is issued through the migration service. It's not easy to get it. Kenya is now so popular that, to my knowledge, 40,000 foreigners are queuing for work and residence permits.

But most of the Russians are in Kenya without any residence permits. What's more, it's not required. You can simply leave for neighboring countries and return every 90 days. If necessary, pay a small fine when leaving the country.

Salaries and income

In Africa, expats live with more comfort than in Europe. The British, Germans, French are interested in Kenya, because the companies take on many expenses. There are corporate programs: payment for school, car, housing. If a family of foreigners who work for Siemens or Procter & Gamble comes, they are rented a big house with a swimming pool, which costs $3,500 a month. And in Europe, for example, they live in small apartments.

I have not seen Russians who would come to Kenya just to live. In addition to IT, geology and engineering, compatriots work for the United Nations (UN). Kenya has a very large complex of regional offices that are members of the UN (humanitarian missions, NGOs).

I also met Russians who are employed in international corporations like General Electric, Coca Cola, Unilever. They are sent to work in Nairobi as part of a corporate rotation. The experience of the 1990s - early 2000s, when the market economy in Russia was just getting started, is considered by international companies to be useful and interesting in relation to East Africa. And Nairobi is the capital of the whole region.

There are also Russians who married Kenyans. They, as a rule, are engaged in tutoring or small-scale business: they teach children to draw, weave beads, and so on.

The income level of employees of international corporations in Nairobi is the same as in Moscow - minus living expenses. If we talk about entrepreneurs, everything is not so clear for them. Everyone decides for himself what expenses and level of comfort he can afford. For example, Australian entrepreneurs rent an apartment for $1,000 and live at very low costs.

Kenyans themselves are divided into two large groups. Some do not have a permanent job, they get temporary jobs for $2-3 per day. These are about 50% of the population. Those who have a permanent job, receive an order of magnitude higher. Income of office employees: about $500 per month, managers - $1000-2000, managers, heads of offices, departments - about $5000.

Taxes and investments

Corporate tax in Kenya is 27-28%. But in doing business, it is not the tax base that is more important, but the burden in the form of social obligations. In several African countries (for example, in Tanzania, where socialist traditions have been preserved), it is very difficult to fire a person. It's easy in Kenya. I paid the employee a salary for two weeks or a month - and that's it.

The decision to open a business is motivated by the size of the market, growth rates, demand for services, and competition. Income-related issues are more important than costs. Kenyans are entrepreneurial people, and there are not many jobs. They are spinning, creating something, not relying on state support.

In the past few years, Kenya and a number of countries in Africa have received a lot of foreign investment. Thanks to them, the African market has become more attractive. A new major project is opening - many local companies are emerging.

If, for example, Coca Cola entered the market, a number of marketing agencies appear that receive large orders for digital, SMM, SEO, outdoor advertising, and so on. If a major infrastructure project is being implemented (for example, a power plant is being built), for five years there will be a lot of new work related to logistics, cleaning, food delivery, building materials.

Basically, the new business is servicing large projects, processing and exporting agricultural products. But the digital sphere is also very popular. Kenya was the first in the world to actively engage in mobile payments (50% of GDP in the country is served through mobile services). For example, I do not have a bank account and a card: I pay for everything through the phone.

The media sphere and blogging are actively developing. The demand for new professions related to the Internet is high. Representatives of these areas earn more than small entrepreneurs with traditional businesses. The average copywriter in a marketing agency earns about $600 a month, which is a high salary in Kenya. The rest are ready to work for $100.

Medicine and social obligations

Kenya has income tax. It is about 30%. There are no social taxes as such. Social protection is not provided. There is no pension system.

There is also no state medicine in Kenya. But there is private medicine, several good networks of hospitals. They serve at low prices and very high quality. For example, a doctor's appointment costs $30-40.

Once I rode an ATV, cut my eyebrow and broke my nose. My eyebrow was sewn up so that not even a scar remained. Usually in Kenya, serious diseases such as cancer are not treated (although the level of care is higher than in Russia). But they perform heart operations, take birth.

It is pleasant to be in private hospitals, they are beautifully decorated. The level of service is higher than ours, and there is much less bureaucracy. For example, I recently spent several hours in a Moscow clinic to get vaccinated against yellow fever (the vaccine has expired). In Kenya, I would have had it installed in five minutes - with the same result.

Working day

In Nairobi, my working day is different from Moscow. In Africa, it is considered normal to schedule a work meeting at six in the morning. And at seven in the morning everyone should definitely be in the offices. The working day ends at 16-17 hours. It is indecent to call on business matters after five in the evening. The first half of Saturday, somewhere before 2 pm, is also working.

The work schedule is tied to the length of daylight hours. The sun rises and sets at the same time all year round. Kenyans tend to finish at four or five and be at home by six when it's completely dark. This is how they live and work almost everywhere in Africa.

During a business trip to South Africa, it was very unusual for me to arrive at work by seven after a fairly common practice of arriving at the Moscow office around 10:30 in the morning. For me, this mode was a kind of challenge: to leave at 6:20 to arrive in Pretoria by 07:00.

Business connections

In Africa, it is a shame to work "for an uncle." All locals consider hiring a temporary measure: to gain experience, save money and be sure to start their own business. Africans are very enterprising people, because the state has never created large infrastructure companies. There are no industrial giants in Africa like Shell or Gazprom, not even Cadbury or Mars. No big companies - no work. There is no work - it means that you need to create it yourself.

Entrepreneurship is everywhere. People are constantly selling: themselves, their products, services. And it's very inspiring. You see living energy, drive, which is no longer in Europe and which in the USA remained only in Silicon Valley.

In Kenya, they are mainly engaged in agriculture, tourism and financial services. Agriculture is 60% of the economy. The entrepreneurs who own real estate, are engaged in development and hotel business, and logistics live best of all (it grows by 6-7% every year in Africa).

Africans do not produce their own technologies, they do not have their own research centers. But since the richest study abroad in England and America, they set standards at the level of the British and Americans: if you import, then only the best.

Africans have always lived under capitalism, and this is a fundamental difference from Russia. They are well aware that money is not distributed - it is earned by hard work and in conditions of fierce competition. “To stand still, you need to run fast,” said Lewis Carroll. Therefore, despite the outwardly deceptive relaxed atmosphere, Africans are very hardworking and active.

In Russia, every second adult is an engineer in mind: he needs step by step instructions and clear causal relationships. It's not like that in Africa, and many of our entrepreneurs can't get used to it.

For example, if they said: “Tomorrow we meet at ten,” then it seems to our compatriots that the meeting will take place exactly tomorrow and exactly at ten. And Africans don't have that in mind. They may say so out of politeness. This does not mean that they are trying to deceive everyone. Just a different type of thinking, a different education, a perception of the world, much less black and white - with shades of gray.

Friendship and dating

In over ten years in Africa, I have made a huge number of friends and business contacts. I personally know many presidents and officials, well-known businessmen in different countries continent and feel very good in this community. Of course, relationships with them are not built overnight.

The favorite pastime of all Africans is to have a barbecue with family and friends at home or go to someone's house. The English barbecue format, when you prepare in five or six weeks and invite three or four friends, is not popular here. The African format is when you send SMS in the morning that you are doing a barbecue, and then up to 50 friends and acquaintances come to visit all day until late in the evening - with their friends or relatives.

You never know how many people will come. You meet many at home. Of the 35 people who came, you may not know even half.

Africa is characterized by socialization at large events. If in Europe it is typical to quickly go to dinner with two or three friends, then in Africa, when a wedding is going to, 1,500 people come. People arrange big holidays to keep in touch with friends and business contacts. Funerals, Graduation, Others important events in life - an occasion to meet. Here the scale of networking is much larger. During my life on the continent, I have traveled everywhere for such reasons: Cameroon, Uganda, Nigeria, Mauritius, Zanzibar.

From Russia to Africa

It is difficult for a Russian entrepreneur to open his own business in Africa. Russians are accustomed to a much larger market and less competition. The competition is great, because all entrepreneurs, and desperate ones at that.

Of course, there are examples when our entrepreneurs prospered. Mainly in mining, trade in precious metals and stones. Many people from the CIS countries invest in the gambling business, open casinos and lotteries. There is great interest in IT companies that provide various software, offer automation - for example, fuel accounting.

In terms of services, engineering is the most in demand on the continent. Africans are happy to hire Russian engineers to conduct feasibility studies (feasibility studies). Quite a lot of Russian geologists and geophysicists work here.

In terms of the popularity of Russian goods, there is a demand for specialized measuring instruments (laboratory equipment, sensors, meters, data processing systems, Internet of things), where we are very competitive. The Chinese are not trusted in these areas, and the prices for our goods are two times lower than in Japan or Canada (taking into account comparable quality).

I think that great prospects from Russian manufacturers and in the dissemination of industrial Internet technologies. Almost all fuel cards, fuel measurement and control systems, taxi services in Africa are supplied by Russian IT companies. Mechanical engineering is also in demand.

Beauty of Kenya

In Kenya, the most beautiful things are outside of Nairobi. The beaches along the Indian Ocean have a Maldivian quality: +29 ºС water and air temperature almost all year round, white coral sand and azure water. There are conditions for kiting in the Indian Ocean, because the wind is very stable and blows from left to right for half a year, and vice versa for half a year.

The best way to get around the country is by small plane. There are airstrips everywhere. Getting a flight permit is very easy and fast.

I love Lake Naivasha national park), which is located 80 km from Nairobi. Surrounded extinct volcanoes, it is very picturesque. You can ride a boat, look at hippos and birds. All wildlife is at your feet.

Masai Mara - the eighth wonder of the world the best place where you can see animals. The secret of a safari is that one or two days of rest with wild animals is equivalent to two weeks at sea. For a person living in the constant stress of big cities, being in wild nature, away from technology is incredibly useful.

There are many in Kenya national parks. In addition to the famous Amboseli and Lake Nakuru, there is also Mount Longonot, Susva Volcano, Lake Turkana and other rarely visited by tourists, but no less interesting parks.

Traveling around Kenya is very interesting. Resort town Lamu, located on the border with Somalia (and the island of the same name) is just a fairy tale: a beautiful beach with yellow sand, beautiful architectural structures. Donkeys walk around the island of Lamu, because the movement of cars is prohibited on it. When you arrive at the airport, a taxi driver on a boat meets you and takes you to the hotel. This is amazing.

It was sad to leave this beautiful country. “I wanted only one thing,” Hemingway wrote, “to return to Africa. We have not yet left here, but waking up at night, I lay, listened and already yearned for her ... Now, living in Africa, I greedily tried to take as much as possible from her - the change of seasons, the rains, when you do not have to move from place for place, the inconvenience that you pay to feel it in its entirety, the names of trees, small animals and birds; know the language, have enough time to delve into all this and take your time. All my life I have loved countries: the country is always better than the people.”

About travel, hitchhiking and a little bit about Africa

Sun 21 Dec 2014

Notre vie est un voyage

Dans l'hiver et dans la nuit

nous cherchon notre passage

Dans le ciel ou rien ne luit.

Traveling is easy and pleasant, just close your eyes.

I go out onto the highway through the city, no matter where, in China or India or Burma - people are busy with their daily affairs, evening, sun, road, trees grow along the roadsides, I go on the roof of a truck, the wind in my face, I close my eyes.

1997 - two weeks I get alone to the capital of Tibet - Lhasa from Chengdu on the most high mountain road in the world: on foot, in the back of a truck, wind, rain, cold. Finally, I get to Jokhang, the main monastery in the center of Lhasa. All day I sit at the entrance, watching the people passing by me. Overnight - right there on the square in a sleeping bag. In order to get to Tibet for the second time in a year, my wife and I go around the Chinese post near Golmud, at night we try to catch a ride - some kind of drunken company of Chinese - probably only they could stop us in such a place. Hello Lhasa - we are going west to Ali, Kashgar, we have lost rugs, it is hard to sleep in sleeping bags in the open air in Tibet without them, then we still traveled without a tent, sometimes we walk 50-60 kilometers a day - there are no cars. Before Kashgar, we are driving in a convoy with the military, the mudflow destroyed 30 km of the road, rain, nearby is Mount K2, a mountain river, we make our way along the slopes of the mountains, our hands are torn to blood, it is very dangerous to walk, we rejoice at the corn cakes burnt at the stake, two days and we are in Kashgar , Chinese visa expired, stop to Urumqi, sleep on the lawn in the city - lost camera, film and shoes - sorry for the photo - barefoot on the highway to Khorgos.

America, San Francisco, if you choose a place of residence, of course there, although not - now I will choose Africa. Working for a cleaning company, working at an AIDS hospice, because sometimes people die. Hitchhiking with west coast to the east - from San Francisco to Miami, Key West, NY. Night, truck driver plays harmonica and steers his car with his feet at a speed of 120 km per hour, he must be a little crazy, a woman is a driver of a huge truck "No guns, no drugs." Night on the lawn at the supermarket, we are not visible, next to a black man selling drugs, he saw us: What are you doing here? Did you see anything? Nothing, man. Kay West is the most south point USA 90 miles to Cuba, we code at night so that the police do not burn, we spend the night under benches in a summer cinema, during the day we move around the city with a stroller from a supermarket so as not to carry backpacks. A woman every day goes out on the track near her town, sits and waits for something or someone, sometimes someone gives her a ride, but she always comes back. A year later, work again in the same place in San Francisco, some money and again a trip - already to Mexico, Guatemala - the pyramids of Teotivacan, Palenque, Tikal, the sun, the ocean, Sol beer, Corona, dancing, small Mexican towns with a church on central square, evening, people walking. In Palenque - children's costume competition, a little boy in a rabbit costume is crying - took last place, rabbits are not popular in Mexico, a German brings us to the waterfalls there - twenty years ago he went to Mexico for a month and stayed there forever - now he bought a paraglider , rolls people over waterfalls. Back in San Francisco, when there was one dollar left for two, New York - my wife and I and two of our friends from Moscow simultaneously and independently of each other ended up in this city. One works as a dancer in a strip club, the other is a programmer. Friends meeting, night - we go by car to Niagara Falls, a couple of cases of beer, fell asleep on the lawn near the waterfalls, morning - tourists around, lying on the grass, hangover. It’s better to look at the waterfalls from Canada, we leave the USA, we go across the bridge, the Canadians turn us back to the USA - they don’t have their Canadian visa, well, okay, but we looked at the waterfall from the bridge, it’s beautiful ...

India - 100 rupees ($ 2.5) per day for three - my wife and I and our friend - his first trip abroad. Three months hitchhiking: India, Nepal, again India, Pakistan, Iran, Azerbaijan, Russia. In Allahabad, once every 12 years, people gather for the Kumble Mela festival to swim naked in sacred river Ganges. At the same time, hundreds of thousands of people from all over India gather in the city, it is impossible to pass, the roads are blocked, people hang even on the roofs of trains. We got there by chance, one guy at the Main Bazaar in Delhi asked us: did you come to Kumble Mela? So we learned about the holiday and went there. Then Varanasi, it's not far. Crowds of people walk through the streets, there are too many people in one city, bread is distributed for free, tea is poured, this is important for us, there is less and less money. From time to time people run past, on stretchers they carry the dead to the shore to be burned. strange city . Then we go to Kathmandu, then to Darjeeling. Toy train to Darjeeling - we spend the night with the team of workers of this train, they offer to ride it in the morning, thank you, no need, too slowly 70 km in 10 hours, stop faster, mistake - we enter Darjeeling at the same time in the evening on a truck with gravel, we sit in body on stones, mountains, beauty, you just need to hold on tight so as not to fall. We stopped to Calcutta, before the city we boarded an electric train, at the station my wife faints, it's too stuffy, I pour water on her, my friend yells - that's all, damn it, your savings, okay, we'll take a hotel for the day, my wife - no need, got better. Puri, the temple of the sun, the ocean, a tent on the shore, a week of rest, at night - the sound of waves, an obsession - like water is approaching, at night a wave can cover us ... At night, my wife wakes me up, makes me count the number of steps to the water. We decide to celebrate the last day on the ocean in a cafe, by the way, for the first time in India, before that we cooked on the primus stove ourselves, okay, we are chic, we choose the fish that they will cook for us for a long time. We stop back to Delhi, in one town we spend the night on a railway platform, in the morning they found a dead cow near us on the rails, it was already swollen, but does not interfere with the movement of trains, the locals, “suddenly”, also notice it, fuss for a long time to raise the carcass to the platform, we are preparing breakfast on the stove and watching a pleasant sight. Obtaining a visa to Iran in Delhi, visiting our embassy, to receive a letter of recommendation for the Iranian embassy, ours extort money, I demand a meeting with the consul, it’s okay for you to be a consul - some person comes, I say - the consul, although he is just a clerk at the embassy, I say (yell): What do you think that we are idiots? I need a consul - okay wait. While the screaming continues - my wife and our friend are sleeping quietly and peacefully in chairs in the hallway - weary after a stop from Puri. The consul comes - okay, give us your passports, we will make you letters of recommendation - wow! what are your last names? Yes, your relatives in Moscow are looking for you, there was an earthquake right there, we didn’t know anything, a week on the ocean in Puri. That's how we were found. Cool. By the way, in our embassy in Nepal the same thing, where we received a letter of recommendation to the Pakistani embassy for a visa. Amritsar, the Golden Temple, is eaten at the same time by hundreds of different people who find themselves in this place. You pull two hands, and a warm and tasty cake falls on your palms. For us, free food is simply a necessity - for a month and a half of travel through Pakistan and Iran, only $ 50 was left for three. We live for several days in the Golden Temple - a magical place. Pakistan - for a month of traveling in this wonderful country, we spent the night in a tent only a couple of times, we didn’t need money at all, oriental hospitality works. A small town near the Afghan border, we spend the night with the police, late in the evening - shooting, the police blow up and leave for the mountains, the shooting subsides, they return, the police chief to us - it’s good that I dissuaded you from going there in the evening, you’re lucky, you’ll go in the morning when it’s calm , reads us his poems in English before going to bed. Iran. Night highway, our truck rushes along it, the driver asks my friend - what do you work for? - also a driver, but in Moscow - great, then get behind the wheel - changed - the Iranian sits next to me, takes out a small stove, puts it on my knees, lights it, glows a knitting needle, a small ball, through the handle we inhale opium in turn with him, the driver to my friend - try to slow down - it doesn’t work, what the hell? - do not be afraid from the third pitching the brakes will work - damn it, you need to warn! A few years later, I return with my one-year-old son and wife to this country - super!

Discovered a shortcut to southeast Asia: Kazakhstan-China (Urumqi - Lanzhou - Chengdu - Kunming) and further to Laos or Burma, then to Thailand, Malaysia, etc., it is possible through Vietnam and Cambodia. My wife and I traveled for several years in a row, for three months, usually from November to February. Kunming - Mandalay we cross the border into Burma by land - no information, but still we get to Burma from China by land, the golden triangle, Mandalay, Bagan, Inle Lake, Yangon - we spend the night in temples. I literally fell in love with this country, an ordinary truck driver gives us a ride, shows us his diary - there are his poems in English, reflections on his life, I remember “in a person’s life there are two things that cannot be acquired, they can only be spent - this is love and time ". Climbing up sacred place in Burma - a falling stone - for half a day we climb up the mountains with my wife, women are not allowed to touch the stone. In a couple of years, I return to Burma on bikes from India with a friend. We meet the New Year 2007 on the seashore, live in a tent on the beach for several days, play football with the locals, discover the local beer Sky beer - straight from the palm tree, fresh, super! Thailand - it's cool to take a break there for a couple of weeks after hitchhiking from Russia, it's very easy to stop there, probably the easiest thing in the world. The best place in Thailand is the Koh Tarutao National Park - these are several islands in the southwest of Thailand near the border with Malaysia. Setting up a tent with my wife national park near Hua Hin on the east coast, evening, sea, fire - no one, strange, only impudent dogs beg food from us, the next day we learn about the tsunami, donate blood for the victims. China, the money ran out completely, we sing Russian folk songs on the street, a few yuan for beer. Every time we make the return trip from Thailand to China in winter, usually in February, it starts to get a little colder from Kunming, it gets really bad -30 frost to Urumqi, of course, there is no money left for the return trip, like $ 10 - 20 for two for all of China from Laos to Kazakhstan, it’s hard to spend the night in a tent at -20 below zero - we use the hospitality of the Chinese or the warm buildings of the railway stations, it’s warm at night, and you can wash yourself. With food, the Chinese have the best in the world, with the notion that travelers need to be fed (delicious food) too. True, driving is not very good, a truck, a tired driver - at full speed we crash into another truck standing by the side of the road, the cabin is crushed, I fly out the front window, ... Three weeks in a Chinese hospital, my wife has a knee injury, we return home by train.

Africa. I discover this continent, instead of hitchhiking - a bicycle. Nature, wild animals. People ... until there is a clear feeling of Africa, I'm hooked, I want to return again. People are hardy, patient, benevolent, silently enduring difficulties, many children around, illnesses, people with weapons, a lot of sun. Drinking with Russian pilots in the Four Turkeys bar - the main place for picking up prostitutes in Entebbe - also fell ill with Africa, has been here for 10 years, buy a plot of land on the lake, build a house, why not? They work for the Ugandan army, fight with Joseph Kony, already on the territory of the Central African Republic, there are weapons, back - jerboas (as they call corpses), Ugandan soldiers die of malaria, drown in rivers, die in skirmishes. They want to give Josef an orange T-shirt so as not to accidentally kill him, to whom the war is, and to whom the mother is dear. Nightlife - Nairobi, Lodwar, Jinja, Kampala, Entebbe, .. Dancing until the morning, all wet with sweat, completely dissolving in a crowd of dancing people. Kenya, the small town of Lodwar in the very northwest, night club. A couple of hours ago I returned from Lokicchogio, the border with South Sudan, my companions refused to accompany me here, they stayed overnight in the guesthouse, citing fatigue. Finished another bottle of beer. Someone shouts something in my ear, I nod in response, hardly understanding what is being said. I move to the beat of the music, a local girl is trying to teach me to dance, she asks me something. A crowd of people are moving in some kind of strange dance, I am just a small part of it all.

One, two, on the count of three, I wake up. Moscow, the metro, everything around is somehow fake, gray, people are fussing around, running somewhere. I open my eyes.

door to summer

Mon 15 Dec 2014

"Anywhere you will find only what you took with you"

In the ass of the world, like Europe .. Perhaps I would not have taken so much with me there. Wouldn't fit on a plane, or a bus, or a car.