My matatu experience

Hey there!
I'm Aashild, come from Norway, turns 21 in tree months and have experienced the scariest car travel ever! This is my matatu story.

When I first saw a matatu I thought; "I'm never ever going to take a matatu anywhere". It looked like they where trying to press as many people as possible inside one car, and then some more. And that is exactly what they where doing. Every local told us that the best way to get around this place was to take a matatu form that place to that place. And so the adventure began. We stepped outside the huge gate hiding our hostel from the rest of the world and not only one but several matatu came racing up the road to catch us first. "Yeah, this look save", we thought. Not only does they race up a narrow, they look like they are about to fall apart by the first bump they hit. The door barely shut, the windows are wide open, the seats worn out and the driver, if you're lucky, sober. The matatu does not only have a driver, it also have a person shouting, screaming, hanging half ways outside the car catching people like a person catching a fish with a net.

So here they came, racing down the road and the fastest car reached us. The person-hanging-outside-the-car-man opened the door and we stepped into madness #1. There are barely two free seats in the car and here we are, five persons trying to squeeze into the most smelling box on earth. Small and big, wide and tall. People of all sizes. The best part of this is that we are bringing five huge pack backs that also is going to fit inside this x-small size bus. Somehow there actually is room for us in there. Fourteen passengers sitting in seats, tree sitting on the floor/on someones lap, and then to more standing halfway out the door. You feel real safe! And if that is not enough, the matatus are still racing down the stress, passing other cars driving the same way, almost hitting a car coming towards you. When you finally makes to knocks in the sealing letting the driver know this is the place you're going off and you squeezes out of the matatu, you take a deep breath praising the lord you're still alive!


Theses are matatos lined up getting their fares. 70 percent off the whole city's traffic are matatus. You can imagine the pollution.

You're asking what i'm thinking now? "l'm never ever taking a matatu again!!"




Hi! My name is Christiane, I am 20 years old and from Norway. This is my matatu story. When we arrived Mombasa the first thing I noticed was a lot of beaten up vans driving pass us with more people inn it than it could carry. A local person told us to take a matatu to the bus station, and i was thinking "what the hell is a matatu!?" After 30 seconds I realized that it was one of those beaten up vans which I promised myself to stay far away from! Jeje, everyone does it so we got one. The man who dealt with the money tried to charge us 100 ksh, but we refused and said that we wouldn't pay more than 20 because we had talked to the locals and we weren't paying more than the locals. That's first lesson when it comes to matatus, don't get ripped off. We got in with our huge backpacks stuffed on top off us with smelly people on both sides and a driver who had a joint in his hand. I am not telling my dad about that! It wasn't a long drive but it was ridiculous. The driver drove like I expected and there's probably no speed limit here in Africa! The first ride was horrible and I was so thankful for still being alive when i got out. Now I am driving them several times a day with out any concernes, because you will get used to sitting in a van with 20 sweaty people driving like you had very angry bull behind you.




Aashild and Christiane from Norway wonderful young ladies for a 4 month adventure all over the globe. Have a wonderful time.

Location:Kenya