Transportation in Nairobi
Since we arrived in Nairobi five days ago, our group has spent quite a bit of time on the road. Those roads are very different from Boston or my home in the Silicon Valley, CA. The first, and most obvious difference, is that Kenyans drive on the left side of the road, so everything is already switched and difficult to navigate for someone used to driving on the right. That difference you can see before you get in the car, since the driver’s seat is on the right. Once you are in the car and on the road, the next difference in driving and transportation becomes more obvious.
Driving in Nairobi looks frantic and crazy. I’m so impressed with our bus driver, Charles, since there are cars, people, and animals constantly swerving in an out of the road. Our primary form of transportation is a bus that the entire 24-person dialogue just barely fits in. When we aren’t taking the bus, we’re walking. Since a lot of streets in Nairobi don’t have sidewalks, every morning when we walk to the University of Nairobi for classes, we always need to be on the lookout for cars and animals. The roads in Nairobi are patchy and there aren’t very many traffic lights or signs. I’ve seen many policemen directing traffic at busy intersections, but most are very chaotic. What really surprised me is that even though there are cars pushing passed each other going every direction, there really isn’t a lot of honking and I haven’t seen a single accident.
Most people seem to walk, or ride in cars, buses and on motorcycles. There are very colorful buses, called matatu, all over the roads with flashy names and advertising. These matatus and the boda boda motorcycle taxis are the only form of public transportation in Nairobi. There are no government run transportation systems in Nairobi and probably all of Kenya, so getting around in the city can be difficult.
I’ll have to get real comfortable in the bus since we’ll be taking day long drives across the country in the upcoming weeks. Luckily, staring out the window and watching Kenyan life go by is always fascinating.
