I feel these stories deserve their own separate thread as they can help many aspiring homeowners. Enjoy!



Smart lady. Bought a plot in Kiserian at Oletepes, (dustbowl county of course) Did not want to rent nor wait to have all the money to build because money to build is hard to come by.

Bought a block making machine and built the house. Her advice: Build the basic structure with roof, move in and finish slowly. Her parting shot (paraphrased); "Don't worry and get depression about having a place to stay. Building a house is so easy."


#DustBowlRising

A homeownership journey from some time back. This couple was not serious.

They built a beautiful home in dustbowl, moved in, then "suddenly" discovered living there was impossible . How now? A few questions for them.

1) When they were going through the process of construction, didn't they encounter the traffic on MSA rd back and forth? Surely they cannot claim they found out msa road traffic is bad after they moved into their house! Why didn't they realise at this point (during construction) that the commute was "too far"?
That msa rd commute is agonizing 2-3 hours a day is not a joke. You end up with all manner of back problems, get late or miss appointments, you leave early and get home so late you can't spend time with kids.

2) They are talking about "lack of access to medical facilities" as if Nairobi hospital or Karen hospital are located in Turukana. These hospitals are just a mere few kms away from dustbowl towns bordering Nairobi.
"lack of access to medical facilities" means there are particular doctors/hospitals that you are used to, you can't trust just everyone. Nairobians were socialized into particular places where treatment was effective-you avoided GoK facilities unless it was an emergency. There are some particular Indian doctors and dentists that used to be highly recommended. I still use the same facilities coz I trust their competence-blame my parents for this.

3) They speak of "missing their social life" having grown up in Nairobi. What a reason! Create your social life where you are. If you need to be in Nairobi to have a social life then perhaps your social life is severely in need of drastic changes.
Social life ya dust bowl is not sophisticated ni bars and basic restaurants tu, hakuna movies halls, coffee houses, golf clubs, libraries, night clubs where you can meet decent people(remember you posted a video of people stripping some girl because of her attire-wtf!!). Nairobi you can sample all manner of cuisines swahili dishes, indian, ethiopian, chinese. There are business networks that thrive in the nairobi social life. Those are the guys who tell you about job openings, deals, consultancies, they recommend you and your services to their networks.

4) As for the kids, I understand how they want to spend more time with them. That is their right. This is the only sensible reason they gave.


5) As for water I almost fell on the ground laughing at that one. Which place in Nairobi does not have water issues of some sort? These guys were just making excuses tu.
Honestly the water issues in dust bowl are legendary. Maji ya chumvi is not really what you want to consume or that flouride that makes you teeth brown/green. nairobians learned to cope with water shortages you have reliable water trucks guys.

Moral of the story; if you are addicted to Nairobi, it rules your social life, you want a posh hospital within 2 metres of your house, and you can't stand traffic for a mere few hours a day (if you have to commute), do not build in and move to dustbowl!
It's not addiction it's hard to duplicate the nairobian way of life. It's an ecosystem that developed over time when gava & kanjo services failed and it works in its own peculiar manner. From mama mboga, to local shopkeeper, to Omosh the mechanic, the mama wa kufua nguo, the taxi guy. You can always call even at midnite, the doctor friend the lawyer friend those are city networks and you won't find in dustbowl!! Kila nyani na starehe zake