Matatu Experiences

A matatu is one of our public means of transport here in Kenya. It looks a lot like a minivan. Today I was with my friends here in Nyahururu and decided to go into town to get fresh veggies from the open market. We decided to go by matatu! =) We walked out to the road and got in one that was just beginning to fill with people. We waited till it was filled and began our journey down the road. It seemed like every few minutes we were stopping to pick up more people. Remember we didn’t start driving down the road till we were full. The vehicle only holds 14 people, but we soon had 19 adults squeezed in. My friends and I were in the very back of the vehicle. At one point in our journey we hit a large bump in the road and the tailgate sounded like it was going to fall off. Just as we got even with a gas station the vehicle died and we coasted into the gas station… slower than a turtle. Thankfully we were on a small slope and we coasted in or we would have had to all get out and push. =) The driver pulled up to the pump and had them put in a 100 shillings worth of gas, the equivalent of $1.25. That would take us the rest of the way to town and him back where he would pick up more passengers and repeat the process. We reached town and unloaded. Daniel told Kenia and me to be careful and not cut ourselves on the spare tire sticking out from under our seat. As we got out I looked down and the spare tire was already shredded with little wires sticking out. All I could do was laugh. Everyone should ride a matatu at least once in their lives. It is quite the experience!!!