Nairobi4 min read
When to visit Nairobi, and what to pack
Nairobi sits at 1,800 metres on the equator, which makes its weather far milder than most people expect. The seasons, and what they mean for a stay.
People pack for the equator and arrive to find themselves cold in the evening. Nairobi sits at about 1,800 metres, and the altitude does more to the climate than the latitude does. It is mild almost all year, and it can be genuinely chilly after dark.
The short answer
There is no bad time. Temperatures move within a narrow band — broadly the low twenties by day, dropping to the low teens at night — and the real variable is rain rather than heat.
- January and February — the warmest and driest stretch. Bright days, dusty by the end of it.
- March to May — the long rains. Rarely all day; usually a heavy afternoon downpour that stops as suddenly as it started. Everything is green.
- June to September — cool and often overcast. July is the coldest month of the year, which surprises everyone.
- October to December — the short rains, lighter and less predictable, with plenty of sun between them.
Rain matters less for what you can do than for how long it takes to get there. A wet afternoon adds a great deal to a cross-city journey — which is the strongest argument for staying in the neighbourhood you actually need to be in.
What to pack
- A jumper or light jacket. The single most forgotten item. Evenings are cool year-round, and June to August genuinely so.
- Layers rather than heat-proofing. Mornings are cold, middays warm, evenings cold again — often in the same day.
- Something waterproof between March and May. An umbrella is more use than a raincoat, given the downpours are short.
- Sunscreen. Thin air and equatorial sun. It catches people who did not think it was hot enough to burn.
- A plug adaptor. Kenya uses the UK three-pin, 240V.
Business travel has its own calendar
Weather is rarely what decides a work trip. Two other things do: Nairobi is quiet over Christmas and the New Year, when a good deal of the city takes leave, and it is very busy during the larger conferences, when hotel rates move sharply. Booking ahead matters more then than at any point in the rainy season.
If you are staying several weeks rather than several nights, the season barely registers at all — the practicalities of a long stay matter far more than the month.