Bored in Nairobi Traffic

Everyone agrees that Nairobi traffic is the worst, especially in the morning and evening hours when people are trying to get to and from work. The buses, cars and the renegade matatus (an East African mini-bus taxi) stuffed with far too many people with daredevils for drivers are all trying to get into or out of City Center. There are no rules and no traffic lanes. It’s pretty much a free for all, with the right-of-way understanding that whoever’s the biggest rules. That is except for the matatus, who do whatever they want whenever they want and everyone else just tries to not get massacred by their weaving in and out of traffic, driving on sidewalks and honking their horns or hanging out the window yelling mercilessly to the rest of us.

The bad thing about traffic is, of course, being stuck, or rather trapped, in traffic! But the great thing about Nairobi traffic is there are lots of opportunities to make purchases for something you may or may not need.

The other night Roger and I were headed out to Kenyatta Airport at 5 p.m., possibly the worst time to try to get out there. (A friend recently tried to get there to catch his flight home and it took literally three hours, so we knew we may as well settle in for a long ride.) So, while sitting and waiting, what do we all do now? Yep, text or check emails or read the news. We all have our heads into a phone or iPad or something! Well, this time I chose texting my daughter to pass the time (6:30 a.m. her time), and here’s how our conversation went: