Matatu

I left for Busia on Thrusday and decided to do it like a local and get a matatu. A matatu is minibus that locals use to get around. Matutus go anywhere, and you can get off anywhere you like. They pack them till they're bursting, and the drivers are notorious for driving drunk, stoned, or high on the local drug miraa. The Lonely Planet recommends travellers don't use matatus, but of course, I'm stupid so I decided to go ahead and give it a go. Plus matatus are much cheaper than actual buses and they get to their destination a lot quicker.

According to my Lonely Planet, the trip from Jinja to Busia was supposed to take me 2 hours. So I figured 2 hours in a matatu would be no problem at all. I had to pay extra for my pack, but it still only came to the equivalent of AU$4.

This isn't my matatu. This is just a random pic of the matatu stand, but you get the idea. I was too scared to take my camera out and take a picture or our van for fear of being robbed. Our matatu was called "Bismallah". It was good to know the van needed to be blessed by Allah...

They have the strangest names for matatus around here. I've seen vans called "Big Brother", "No pain no gain", "Jesus is Lord", and a bright pink one called "Shakira".

The drive was crazy. At one point we had about 25 people in a van that would carry a maximum of 8 people in Australia. That's not including babies, goats etc. There was one stretch of road that was so bad we had to drive on the dirt strip on the opposite side of the road, and then swerve when vehicles came in the opposite direction. The radio was on full blast with rnb numbers pumping whilst we all clung on for our lives. Apparently the government started to fix this road back in 2001. Somewhere along the line they forgot about it and have never started up fixing it again.

At one stage we stopped at some random town and I was the only one left in the van. The conductor said that we'd have to wait for more people to get on before we can continue the journey. I suspect to justify the petrol... Some guys started hassling me - saying stuff in Swahili and looking at my chest. It was a little awkward. I would've got out and slapped them one but I didn't want to leave my pack in the van by itself. Eventually a young girl got on the bus and said "Are they disturbing you?" and they left me alone. Juhiyo was going to the next town to collect some medicine for her grandmother who was sick. Her mother was the doctor in her town (she told me the name of it, but I can't remember). She was a cool chick. I'd say she was about 12 years old but she had attitude. The guys gave her a hard time too but she told them where to go. What a cool little girl.

The conductor kept packing people onto the van even when we were obviously full, and eventually a guy in the back cracked the shits and started yelling obscenities at the conductor and the driver. What dramas! Everyone (all 25 people) in the van decided to get involved in the argument and there were Swahili and Luganda swear words flying left right and centre. It was pretty amusing.

We finally reached Busia at about 5pm and then I had to get a bicycle taxi (with my pack) from Busia Uganda to Busia Kenya. I felt sorry for that guy... I had to sit so close to him cos I had my pack on my back, I could smell his body odour.

I got picked up at the border by Mama Grace - the mother of Betty who is part of the Books for Kenya project in Adelaide.