Things we take for granted

Some of the things we take for granted, such as power, postal service, internet etc. are pretty important and contribute quite significantly in the quality of life. We just expect them to be there and you may not pay much thought to them, but when they are missing or unreliable you start to realize the importance of those things.

Electricity

Blackouts are fairly common in Nairobi as the city battles an electricity shortage, some days we've seen 5-6 outages that luckily typically are quite short (minutes or tens of minutes, not hours). Electricity supplies are prone to periodic blackouts, particularly during and after heavy rains. No rain, on the other hand, can also result in power rationing.When power is reconnected, there is often a sudden voltage surge, which can damage sensitive electrical equipment such as stereo systems and computers. Consequently, we've purchased a large amount of voltage regulators or ‘spike protectors’ to protect our electronics and appliences. For computer and internet I've also bought UPS's, or power back-up systems that will keep the equipment running during power outages.

Most houses have a generator or an inverter. The inverter, or battery back-up system protects all electric outlets in the house and provides power during power outages. Of course the drawback with inverters is that during long outages the batteries will eventually run dry and then your out of power. You should also avoid using heavily loading equipment such as washing mashine or dryers while on battery power. The other alternative is a generator, which of course can provide power as long as it keeps on running. The generator switchover is automated so that you don't really even notice when the generator kicks in. The drawback here is that it runs on diesel and you have to keep on filling it up during long breaks. Also, it does not protect the house from power spikes.

Our house does not yet have a generator, but the landlord is working on it. For now we've accepted the daily power outages, and thankfully we have not had long ones or outages after dark.

Postal Service

I like receiving mail, it's like a mini xmas or birthday everyday checking out what's in the mailbox and not knowing what the mail man brought. No mail delivery in Nairobi, bummer.

There's no postal delivery service to private homes or other physical addresses in Kenya. In order to receive mail, you have to rent a lockable P.O box in one of the post offices from which you can collect your mail.

The problem with this arrangement is that there are no available P.O boxes, and the waiting time to get one is extremely long especially if you want it near your home and not in some of the less nice parts of town. I heard a story that someone waited for years and only got the box after returning back to his home country.

Having said that, I'm going to use the company P.O box (like everyone else) and get my mail delivered to the office.

Internet

I think we got spoiled with the lightning fast internet service in the U.S. If I remember right we got 18Mbps, and everything downloaded in a snap. Here you have to have patience as the experience is not quite the same.

As there's practically no fixed infrastructure, most internet services are provided wirelessly into your home. WiMAX is the predominant technology for this, especially if you'd like a montly unlimited internet service with guaranteed speeds. I get up to 128kbps during the day, and in the evenings and weekends up to a whopping 1Mbps. Of course as most of the content is coming elsewhere, the actual speeds are less than the maximums. It is not cheap either, for my service I pay 6000 Kenya shillings per month (roughly 70$ or 50€).

3G is actually pretty good. The 2nd 3G network was launched yesterday, and they support 21Mbps. Unfortunately since the houses are made out of stone and concrete, indoor penetration is not that great. Data is cheaper over 3G though, you can get 2GB that's valid for 3 months for a few thousand shillings. I have a 3G modem, and I'm planning on using it as alternative for the fixed WiMAX service. And who knows, if I can find a good signal inside the house maybe I'll make it my primary internet service.As 3G becomes more available I'm sure it'll drive the cost down and improve the performance, so I'm eagerly looking forward to that.

I'm glad it is 2011 though. The first under sea cable was laid a few years back and prior to that internet was available over satellite. Compared to that I think this is a big improvement.

Payment of bills

I'm not yet quite sure how this works in practice. However in some cases, like electricity, I believe you can only pay with cash in person at some shopping malls or power company offices. Easy pay or direct debit does not appear to be available, and sending cheques due to unreliable mail (although it seems to be not better than it apparently used to be) may not be ideal either.


Well, another thing to figure out I guess. I'll have to update my experience with bills when I'm more experienced with it.

Recycling and garbage collection

We are so used to recycle everything, that not having apparent recycling system is a big shock. It feel so bad to throw everything away, so there's a great business opportunity for someone here. On a positive note everything, even garbage, seems to be of value to someone. The stuff we are used to throwing away is like new to some people here, and the garbage collectors go through the waste to see if there's something worth taking.

I have not found out how garbage collection works either. It is included in our service charge so I don't have to set it up, but I believe we just leave the garbage on the curb and magically it gets collected on Mondays. I've been told that the garbage collection services provided by Nairobi City Council have dwindled in recent years to an unreliable weekly service covering only a handful of residential areas. There are private garbage collection companies, and the vast majority of residents subscribe to one of these.

I have no clue what happens to all the garbage, and don't even want to think about what it can mean to the environment. I hope though it is managed properly, but you never know.

It is important to appreciate things we take for granted. I've certainly noted that already, so this is all good.