Sunday 30 November Mobility in Nairobi

Getting around in Nairobi is relatively easy. There is no real public transport system. There are three choices though; the green city-hoppa, matatus and taxi. City-hoppa buses have some routes and schedules, but fairly limited and not very regular as far as I have heared. In the area we live I haven’t seen any. Matatus are the private owned mini buses that race through all the country stop practically everywhere, like you see in the picture I took from the Waiyaki way, the 4 lane motorway that is going straight through Nairobi connecting Mombasa and Kampala. The mini buses of type Toyota and are often packed with people. In Nairobi they have a number based route system although there is no time schedule available. They stop for you everywhere and by doing so they create dangerous traffic situations, for both other cars and people walking at the sides of the roads. When a jam is building up matatus are doing their best to create a third file in the middle or at the side of the road so to be followed by other road users. During the ride you risk be exposed to the favourite music of the driver with volume at max. Since I often carry my labtop and other things, I haven't used their services so far.

At all public places, large and small shopping centres are taxis ready to take you anywhere at any time of day, 24h shifts are usual. They often leave you their personal card, hoping you will contact them when you need their services from home. The rate is directly connected to the number of km driven, not to time, a good thing in the reoccurring jams of the city. The price is usually agreed at forehand and can be from € 0,4 per km of driving the distance twice bringing the driver to his home location. At low times, most of the time, the taxi driver is happy to wait for you a few hours if you have to go back. Regular taxi use is pretty expensive though. Using €12 -14 to get to work and back, and visiting the junction from Gigiri costs € 24, to forexample Merijns school.