Since a few years ago, it is no longer necessary to fill in a currency declaration form. It is allowed to enter or exit the country with a maximum of 500,000 Kshs and the equivalent to 5,000 USD. Upon exiting the country, shillings may be exchanged to US dollars or British pounds at the airport bank.

The Euro should be accepted for exchange. It is a good idea to carry cash and traveller cheques in US dollars. The most widely used are American Express, Thomas Cook and Citibank.

The most favourable change is usually found at the exchange offices, at the city center. Banks are open from 9 AM to 2 PM Mondays to Fridays, except the airport banks which open 24 hours. Some banks open the first and last Saturday of each month from 9 to 11 AM. You can exchange currency at any of the large hotels, even if you are not a guest, but only a small amount at a time (usually 100 USD). It is preferable to keep the receipts of all the exchange operations until leaving the country.

In rural areas, in addition to the National Bank of Kenya, it is frequent to find an office of the Barclays Bank, which will allow you to obtain certain amounts of cash charging to your credit card.

Restaurants, hotels, lodges and big shops accept the major credit cards. Because of the difficulties in telephone communications and occasional power shortages, lodges usually use the "offline mode". Otherwise, if they only perform online operations and at the moment of your payment the power is off, you may be requested to pay in cash or traveller cheques.

Entrance to the parks may be paid, in principle, either in shillings or in US dollars. Official fees for non-residents are usually in dollars, though the rangers at the gate may give the total amount in shillings. If you prefer dollars, it is preferable that you carry small notes. Due to falsification problems, in some parks large notes (even 50 USD) are not accepted.

Since the currency declaration was suppressed, the black market has practically disappeared. In addition, the change it offers is very similar to the official rate.

It is important to remark that, upon entering the country, you must not forget to carry 50 USD cash for the visa, if you haven't obtained it in advance.

Click here to obtain a table with the updated rates.