Transportation

Since I am current on all the required vaccines, the most immediate threat to my life would be the transportation in Kenya. Let's just say that cars have the right away...everywhere. I feel like I am playing a live version of frogger when I attempt to cross a street. Even between cars, you just push your way through traffic. Today, we went on a city tour and one of our team members joked about getting an accident on film...Sometimes there are no lane markings, so you make your own path down the street. OH! They also drive on the left side of the road...I didn't realize that until the driver got in the car on the opposite side. It has been quite the experience to either drive or walk to our destinations.

The general mode of public transportation is called a Matatu. They are 14 passenger vans that cost 10 shillings to ride. You see them all over the city. Some are just like this white van, others are decorated in some unique way, but they all have the yellow stripe around the middle to signify that they are a Matatu.
Another interesting note about transportation in Kenya is that there are 4 times as many cars on the roads than the infrastructure was built for. Therefore, there is a ton of traffic. But in addition to this, there is heavy foot traffic. For the people that live in the slums, they cannot afford to ride the Matatu to work, so they walk.

While we were driving from the airport to the hotel, there were street vendors walking between the cars. They were selling everything from a puppy (for real!) to a fake Kenyan passport to a wall map of Africa. At one point, someone we met with described Kenyans as opportunists. It is interesting to see what people find to sell and how they make their living.

So far Kenya has been full of NEW. Each moment is a moment of learning and soaking in the experience.