Today I Took a Trip

Today I took a trip to a town called Embu. It’s about 50 km (30ish miles) from my town. Another volunteer, Daniel, lives on the way, so we made plans that I would come to his town and then we’d go the rest of the way together. The primary method of public transportation here (and in a lot of East Africa) is called a matatu. The Rough Guide to Kenya describes them as “death traps on wheels” or you can Google them to get an idea. It is a 15-passenger van/minibus that is kind of like a bus and a taxi and a plane in one. It’s like a bus in that you go to the matatu stage (like a bus depot) and find one that’s going either to the town you want or in the general direction you want to go. In Nairobi they are numbered and drive set routes just like a bus, but the more rural you go, the more flexible they are. It’s like a taxi in that you have a little leeway with where you want to get off, and in that the fare depends on where you’re going, though it’s set ahead of time and not metered. It’s like a plane in the seating arrangements, as you have seats with a set amount of space and leg room and passengers with varying amounts of bulk and baggage, so it’s not exactly comfortable most of the time. And then the comparison to familiar modes of transport ends and the rest is purely African. Mainly this applies to space and timing issues. Our language/culture manual makes the statement that “a matatu is never full.” Until there is absolutely no way to squeeze one more child onto someone’s lap, the matatu will accept more passengers. Also, a matatu has no set schedule. There is a driver and there is a person called a tout who manages the customers and takes the money. You tell the tout where you’re going, he tells you the fare and collects it (sometimes ahead of time and sometimes after you’re on your way). Once the driver starts going, the tout lets him know when to stop to let people off by rapping on the ceiling. Once people start getting off, the tout will also start picking up people that are waiting on the side of the road to fill the empty space. But initially, an empty matatu will be at a stage. It will have a sign saying where it is going. You show up, talk with the tout, and then get in. And then you wait until enough other people are going with you that the tout decides it’s filled enough (never full, remember) to go. Some matatus are fitted with a tv screen from which blare either reggae or Christian music videos to keep the passengers entertained. I go back and forth between thinking matatus are an innovative solution to moving people in this society or the hugest mismanagement of time and resources I could imagine.

Let me describe my trip to Embu to give you a better idea. Around 9 am I walked to my office (because everyone works a half day on Saturdays) to get one of my coworkers to help me on my way. Since I needed to go to meet Daniel in his town, I knew I would need make a couple transfers: Mukurweini (my town) to Karatina, Karatina to Kutus, and Kutus to Kugio (Daniel’s town). We walked to the matatu stage in my town and found a car going to Karatina. I got in the backseat to wait for the car to fill up. It only took about 20 minutes to find five other adults and two children also going to Karatina, so the eight of us plus the driver squeezed in and were off. About 25 minutes later we were in Karatina and one of the women passengers of my car walked me to the matatu stage for Kutus. I got in to wait again. This time I only waited about 15 minutes. We set off and drove for about an hour. In Kutus I got out and was directed to the other end of the stage to go to Kugio. I managed to jump in a matatu that was just leaving, so I didn’t have to wait at all in this transfer. Another 20 minutes and I was in Kugio and saying hello to Daniel, the first white person I’ve seen in two weeks. We found a matatu heading for Embu and got in. We left after about 20 minutes and drove for about 40 minutes. At that point, our matatu pulled over on the side of the road where another matatu was idling and they had me and Daniel switch into that one. I think that the matatu we were in didn’t want to stop in Embu just for us because everyone else was going elsewhere, so they transferred us to the other matatu. Strange, but I’m over asking questions most of the time. So then about another 30 minutes of driving got us to Embu.

Travel time: 3 hours 50 minutes

Total matatus: 5

Total cost: 280 Kenya shillings (about $3.60)

Once we got to Embu, we walked around town for a little bit to see what was there, then had a moderately overpriced lunch (beef stew and fries). We explored the two department stores in town and then wandered around a little more. It was hot and crowded and almost four o’clock, so I was ready to head home. We’re supposed to avoid traveling after dark as much as possible, and since dark falls around seven, I wanted to make sure I had time to get home by then.

Since there appeared to be a more direct route home than how I had come, Daniel and I split up. I needed to go from Embu to Karatina and Karatina to Mukurweini. I found a matatu for Karatina and got in to wait. Twenty minutes later we left. We drove for about 50 minutes back to the Kutus stage and dropped some people off, then kept going for about another 20 minutes. We got to a town called Kerugoya and everyone got out. I asked the tout what was going on and he said they weren’t going to Karatina after all, but then brought me to another matatu that was. I got in and waited. And waited. And waited. An hour later, we finally took off with 22 people loaded into this 15-passenger vehicle. In 30 minutes we were in Karatina where I was directed to a matatu to Mukurweini. I waited in that matatu for about 15 minutes. We got on the road and drove for 25 minutes. My house is directly on the main road about a mile before the matatu stage, so I happened to be sitting next to the driver and asked that they drop me off there so I didn’t have to walk in the dark (because by then it was after 7). So after the driver invited me home for dinner (which I declined as I knew a marriage proposal wasn’t far behind) he let me out a few hundred yards from my gate.

Travel time: 3 hours 40 minutes

Total matatus: 3

Total cost: 180 shillings (about $2.30)

So, to sum up, I spent seven and a half hours traveling, rode in eight different vehicles, spent about a day's pay in travel costs (my PC salary averages out to about 500 shillings per day), all to travel the equivalent of a trip to Target (before the one in Amsterdam opened). Karibu Kenya!