Travellers

Travelers at the Coast Bus terminus in Nairobi on December 22, 2021. The number of people leaving and entering the city for Christmas and New Year festivities has been on the rise. 

| Jeff Angote | Nation Media Group

Bus travel: A tale of class divide

What you need to know:

  • The country buses have always been viewed as a means of transport for the low-income earners.
  • There are those who cannot dare enter them because legend has it that they are often dirty and infested with bed-bugs.

There are buses, and then there are country buses. The unwritten rule of the Kenyan transport system is that the country buses, which pick up and drop passengers from the farthest stages of Nairobi, are a reserve of the poor while the well-off travel by the other more organised bus companies.

Some view the country buses as a riskier way of travelling to and from the countryside as they are known to cruise at break-neck speeds.  

There are those who cannot dare enter them because legend has it that they are often dirty and infested with bed-bugs, with passengers crammed to the brim, not to mention the risky nature of the paths to the stages where they are boarded, security-wise and traffic-wise.

As Kenyans throng home for the festivities, the “economy” buses are registering booming business.

But how do their customers like them?  Various individuals interviewed by the Nation had divergent opinions on the country buses. 

Mr Daniel Otieno Ocholla likens conventional bus companies to gated communities or some exquisite furnished apartments where people keep to themselves. 

To him, country buses are the slums — where fairly low-income earners reside and, on the other hand, are friendlier and take life positively.

Mr Ocholla also feels the management is usually greedy and barely cares about the plight of the poor travellers. 

“They are into making quick cash. They have the same driver mandated to ply the same route as fast and as many times as possible for maximum profit generation,” he says. 

Asked if he would opt for the latter, his answer is an emphatic No: 

“I would rather be in a non-friendly environment and reach my destination safely minus drama, than be in a friendly one where I end up being drugged.”

Travellers

Travellers at the Machakos Country bus terminus in Nairobi on December 22, 2021. The number of people leaving and entering the city for Christmas and New Year festivities has been on the rise. 

Photo credit: Jeff Angote | Nation Media Group

Some however see them as more friendly and the passengers are not full of themselves. 

But as a traveller, would you go for a boring comfortable ride in a conventional bus company or persevere some discomfort to experience an adventurous trip that would leave you with a story to tell?

The country buses have always been viewed as a means of transport for the low-income earners, but some well-off people have always used them to cut on costs.

For instance, university or high school students who are given money to book other vehicles or shuttles, have always settled on country buses where they pay almost half the fare.

At the Kisumu bus park or the infamous Machakos bus terminus in Nairobi, you will always find country buses charging Sh500 to Sh800 compared to Easy Coach or Guardian who charge between Sh1,200 and Sh1,400.

The journey starts on the busy and dusty road to Nairobi’s main bus terminus, Machakos Bus station christened “Airport” because of its busy nature owing to the vehicles that depart and arrive ferrying passengers to their various destinations outside the overpopulated city.

Others carry with them furniture including beds and sofa sets, God knows for what reason or whether the return journey would be the same effort. 

Most of these are usually bundled on the bus carrier which can go higher to almost the height of a mini-bus.

Mr Nelson Otwoma prefers country buses because they can take as much luggage as they want to.

“These other buses only allow minimum luggage unless you want to pay under certain arrangements,” said Mr Otwoma.

But drama greets to-be passengers more than 100 metres from the station, when more than five or so red-eyed touts swarm them to try and lure them into boarding their vehicle.

Travellers

Travelers at North Rift Matatu terminus in Nairobi on December 22, 2021. 

Photo credit: Jeff Angote | Nation Media Group

At this point when you have children and many bags, you are likely to lose your bags. 

Many times one or two grab the hands of your children while the others grab your bags. 

You are caught up between following your luggage or child.  If you are lucky, they will settle on the vehicle you are boarding and you get both.

As you approach the station, you are attracted by wooden boards with a list of destinations, in different fonts and colours, mounted on the windscreen of the buses.

The entertainment and adventure inside these buses would even make a passenger forget the discomfort he is subjected to when he sits either on the designated seats or crates of sodas always placed on the aisle by unscrupulous touts to who cash in on excess travellers.

After settling for one, which is almost full, you will be certain that you will be departing to your next destination any time soon. Or maybe not.

On many occasions, you will find that the people occupying various seats are planted to hoodwink passengers that the vehicle is almost full.

That aside, you have to contend with various hawkers selling products that can offer a one-stop shop for any shopper with a range of products.

When the bus starts leaving the station, is when you notice that the person seated next to you was a preacher, citing verses and ending with a request for an honest tithe.

As opposed to some company buses where the stopovers are controlled, in these country buses the majority pass a vote that they are pressed. 

Travellers

Travelers at the Coast Bus terminus in Nairobi on December 22, 2021. The number of people leaving and entering the city for Christmas and New Year festivities has been on the rise. 

Photo credit: Jeff Angote | Nation Media Group

The bus will be stopped even in the middle of a bush to have people relieve themselves before the journey proceeds.

Mr Moses Riaga says there are usually those burly women who travel with four children who she struggles to have them accommodated in a three-seater. 

Without caring for your comfort, she will tell you to help her carry one or two kids and at some point ask you to open the window for the young ones to relieve themselves.

He, however, feels those who travel in them are friendly.

“Those who like country buses are friendly unlike the other ones where most occupants are less likely to talk to each other,” says Mr Riaga.

To Maurice Okoth who used to travel frequently from Nairobi to his home town in Siaya, the long journey almost gifted him a spouse.

This sometimes usually starts with a woman playing hard to get and keeping to herself, but moments after the bus passes Limuru and some kilometres towards Naivasha, she will start conversations or rather starting dozing off on the neighbour’s shoulders. 

Before you know it, you have a good rapport and things get heated.

“Machakos Bus Park was fun. I would spot a beautiful woman and ask if I can sit by her side, the rest of the journey was jolly all through. By the time of alighting, we couldn't accept the fact that we we're parting ways,” said Mr Okoth.

So nice was their short-lived dalliance that when the bus broke down, the “couple” wished it took even longer to repair it for them to savour every second they could get to spend time together.

He, however, feels the choice of the country buses depends on your choice of ride to your destination, affordability, class and age bracket.