Voi is a large town in the Southern Rift Valley region of Kenya.

Understand

History

According to local history the name of town comes from a slave trader called Chief Kivoi, who settled near the Voi River about 400 years ago. Before colonization, the village served as trading center for the local Taita people and other Kenyan tribes and Arabs. The town started to grow at the end of the 19th century when the Uganda Railway was constructed. People started to move in to work on the railway and the nearby sisal estates. However, township status was not granted until 1932.

Economy

Voi is a marketplace for the agricultural and meat products from the fertile Taita Hills as well as other surrounding areas.

Language

The most common language used is Swahili, but majority of the locals know English and to a lesser extent French, German, and Italian.

Get in

By train

• 1 Voi Train Station. This station is the junction of the feeder railway line to Taveta, Kenya and Arusha, Tanzania with the main line between Nairobi and Mombasa. 

By plane

Voi is served by the Ikanga Air Strip.

Get around

By taxi

Taxis can be found in the town center. Fares are negotiated, not regulated.

Eat

• Red Elephant Bistro, Mombasa Road, Voi, Kenya, ☏ +254 721 244004. (updated Aug 2018)

Sleep

• Afrika Lodges - Voi Lodge, Mombasa Road, Voi, Kenya, ☏ +254 714 423591. (updated Aug 2018)
• The Joy Guest House, ☏ +254 722 295281. 

Go next

• Taveta
• Arusha
• Mombasa
• Nairobi