Kibera Guided Walking Tour from Nairobi: Meet Mama Tunza

Bones from the butcher turn into beads at a factory tucked inside Kibera's narrow lanes.

A guided walking tour of Kibera, the informal settlement on Nairobi's outskirts, led by someone who grew up there. You walk for 2 to 3 hours through the neighborhood, stopping at an orphanage and school run by Mama Tunza, a bead factory where discarded bones are crafted into jewelry, a resident's home, and a biogas center with views across the settlement. Hotel pickup and drop-off within Nairobi CBD are included, along with drinking water and an English-speaking guide.

Step-by-step itinerary

Explore Kibera Slum and Local Sites

• Visit orphanage and school
• See bead factory using reused materials
• Tour typical Kibera house
• Visit biogas center and viewpoint

The Experience

The tour starts with a pickup from your hotel in Nairobi's central business district. Your guide is someone who was born and raised in Kibera, which means the stories about daily life there come from lived experience, not observation. The walk itself runs 2 to 3 hours across the settlement's paths and alleyways, moving between stops that show how the neighborhood sustains itself through reuse and community effort.

You'll visit Mama Tunza's orphanage and school first—a place built by her own hands and vision. Meeting her directly is part of the tour; she's there to talk about the work and answer questions about how the children's home operates. From there you move to the bead factory, where the reuse that defines Kibera becomes concrete: bones from local butchers are cleaned, shaped and strung into beads that get sold. It's the kind of detail that stays with you—nothing wasted, everything transformed into something else.

A typical Kibera house comes next, and you're invited inside as a guest. The person living there answers questions about what a day actually looks like in the settlement. The tour ends at the biogas center, which sits high enough to give you a full view of Kibera spreading out below—a vantage point most visitors don't find on their own. The whole experience, including travel time, takes around 3 to 4 hours. Drinking water is provided throughout.

What’s included

• Hotel pickup and drop-off within Nairobi CBD.
• a guide born and raised in Kibera who speaks English.
• drinking water throughout the walk.

Good to know

Easy physical levelInfant seats availablePublic transport nearby

Operated by PERFECT WILDERNESS TOURS AND SAFARIS

Is this one for you?Book this tour if you're staying in Nairobi without a car and want to understand Kibera through someone who actually lives there—the guide's knowledge and the direct access to residents and their work settles the question of how to spend a morning or afternoon learning about the settlement itself, not just passing through it.

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Top questions

What exactly is Mama Tunza's orphanage and school?

Mama Tunza's children's home is an orphanage and school built and run by her within Kibera. You meet her during the tour and see the work she does with the children there; she's available to answer questions about how the facility operates and what the children's daily lives look like.

How does the bead factory work if everything is reused?

The bead factory collects bones from local butchers, cleans and shapes them, then strings them into beads for sale. It's an example of how Kibera residents turn waste into products—nothing is discarded, and the bones become jewelry.

Will I actually go inside a house in Kibera?

Yes, the tour includes a visit to a typical Kibera house where a resident welcomes you inside. You can ask questions about daily life in the settlement and see how people live in the neighborhood.

Does the tour include food or meals?

The tour includes drinking water, but food and drinks are not part of the package. You can arrange meals separately if you'd like to eat during the tour.

How do I get picked up, and where does the tour start?

Hotel pickup and drop-off are included for any hotel within Nairobi's central business district. Your guide will collect you from your hotel at an agreed time and return you there after the tour ends.

What's the biogas center, and why is it worth visiting?

The biogas center is a facility in Kibera that produces biogas from organic waste. It sits at a high point in the settlement and offers a panoramic view across Kibera—a vantage point that serves as a picture point and gives perspective on the neighborhood's scale and layout.