Kenya — Neighborhoods

The legal picture: selling sex is not itself a national crime, but Penal Code sections 153-154 criminalize living on the earnings and soliciting, and county by-laws — including Nairobi's — criminalize street soliciting, so the trade is de facto criminalized and police sweeps and shakedowns happen. The scene that exists is freelance, centred on bars rather than brothels. Nairobi — Westlands is the main nightlife district (the bar cluster around Woodvale Grove and Mpaka Road is freelancer-heavy), Kilimani has lounge bars, and CBD dives are rougher and riskier. Mombasa — the Bamburi beach-road strip north of the city, and above all Mtwapa, a satellite town with a long-documented adult nightlife economy. Diani — beach bars on the south coast with a quieter version of the same dynamic.

The dominant documented hazard is drink-spiking robbery — 'mchele' incidents where visitors wake up stripped of phone, cards and cash. Never leave a drink unattended, be wary of invitations back to unfamiliar apartments, and note most tourist hotels enforce guest-registration (ID at reception) policies for visitors.