Where is Katani?

Well, Katani is in Machakos County, Mavoko area (which has nowadays come to be known as Athi-river area). It is not far from Nairobi – it is probably less than 30 Kilometers from Nairobi CBD, though the roads to the deeper parts of Katani can be tricky, making it look as if it is too far away.

Coming from Nairobi City center and going to Katani, the road you need to take is Mombasa Road. You move along Mombasa road, past Belle Vue, past GM, past Cabanas and past Kapa. As you approach the Mastermind plant, you start preparing to turn. Then you turn left at the Syokimau junction and go along that road for about 7 kilometers in order to get into Katani area. So, basically Katani is the area that is 'deeper' past Syokimau.

Lately, Katani has become urbanized, as more and more people buy plots of land and build their houses there.  It is one of the few places around Nairobi city where one can still find reasonably priced plots of land. The area called Katani and Syokimau previously used to be Kamba community ranches (Syengo). The Syengos were then taken over by cooperative societies, but over the years, the original owners of the Syengos have subdivided the land and sold it off or built modern houses on it. Presently, there is very little cattle rearing taking place in Katani, save for the remotest parts where -- with luck -- you ocassionally still come across a big herd of cattle. For the most part though, the Katani of today is mostly a residential estate for the middle class.