consider the mutatu

called different names in different countries, the mutatu is the dominant force on the streets of east africa. they are basically 14 passenger vans that end up fitting 20 (record for my mutatu was 23 with one baby) and heed no rules of the road (somtimes even the road itself is too constraining and they drive down sidewalks or the side of the highway)

i think this version of public transporation is fascinating, and the informal (often gang-run from what i understand) market of mutatu lines would be real interesting to study.

ultimatley i feel the mutatu is a pretty good metaphor for urban kenya (in my limited experience) - informal, loud, corrupt, diverse, and disorganized, with a whole bunch of people crammd together and just welcoming enough to foreigners to get their money.

and yet the system works, and it seems to work pretty well. and if you look at it the right way, its kind of charming, too.


some tidbits:

1 - mutatus are perhaps the most powerful form of cultural transmission in kenya. in the front of hte bus there is usually a big television screen that blares popular american rap, raggae, kenyan music, or gospel (i quickly learned to pick my mutatu wisely based on music taste - especially with traffic, an hour of really loud keswahili gospel could kill a man). a lot of this music is also looped, so you here the same songs again and again - a great marketing device.

1a - the decorations of mutatus deserves a blog unto themselves. my favorite (enough time in nairobi and you start to recognize certain ones): one labeled "great democrats", with a list of democratic politicians (carter, biden, obama, b+h clinton, michelle obama, and jfk) and huge emblem of barack obama with lots of bling and gangster clothes on the back. i yearn to ride this mutatu but it goes to a place locals call "little mogadishu" given the prevalence of somali immigrants, who apparently dont like whitey so much.

2 - the psuedo-efficiency of the mutatu process boggles my mind. ostensibly, mutatus have numbers that indicate which locations they go to. in reality, these numbers can rarely be seen and many mutatus dont go where their numbers say they should. you pick up mutatus going to different places at different streets in nairobi, but there are no signs anywhere telling you where those places are. basically a bunch of mutatus drive up to the side of the road, and one dude who sits in the passenger compartment starts yelling in kewshaili about his (only one female person ive seen working on mutatu) destination, price (changes depending on apparent level of wealth - i estimate that my haggardness has saves me about 10shillings a ride) and whatever selling point his mutatu has. apparently this works out well for everyone or everyone is used ot it, as ive heard few complaints.

3 - i am told that all mutatus must pay fees to the mugiki (local gang) and police (im discovering they operate like a national gang of sorts) or they will be pulled over or hijacked or robbed or get into an "accident". as of yet, i have no discovered how to tell which mutatus are payin their dues, but my working theory is that the nice looking mutatus and religious mutatus are my best bet.

4 - you wait in yoru mutatu until it fills up. somtimes 15 seconds, sometimes 20 minutes. i have not discovered how to shut my mind off like most kenyans do for their trip, which means youll usually find me opening and closing the window, dancing to the music, or tryin to read while everyone else stares straight ahead.

5 - im told that you arnt supposed to go into a mutatu unless there is woman or child in the mutatu (and definitely not an empty one). im also told that mutatu drivers pay women to sit in the mutatu for exactly that reason. i remain concerned.