I live in Nairobi and work in Thika, which is 26 miles away (43km). It doesn't seem like a long journey but this is
Kenya and the infrastructure hasn't been developed until recently so that sends commute times through the roof! However, the highway from Nairobi to Thika is currently under construction by the Chinese (thank you Jesus!) so the long and tedious commutes will be a thing of the past! Until then, I am one of the millions of Kenyans that take public transport every day and that usually means boarding a "
matatu". A matatu is a van that carries between 10-15 passengers and picks up and drops off passengers at bus stops that are simply known as "stage" or by a landmark feature in the area (i.e Shell gas station!) . The origins of the word matatu are attributed to the Swahili word for three: "tatu" and also the 30 cents fare that was paid when matatus first appeared in the 60s.
Image via Wikipedia
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