The fight for survival - Public transport in Nairobi

The air is filled with tension, on the small street people are packed shoulder to shoulder, and every set of eyes were focused on the incoming bus - it comes briskly, then suddenly with a jerk moving to a halt. Suddenly the tension is broken, the waiting is transformed into movement towards the door. A slightly angry conductor stands in it, trying to make space for the people in the bus to leave out onto the street, but people keeps pushing and crowding towards the door - even more angry now, the conductor slams the door in the face of an oncoming lady, and the bus suddenly jumps 10 meters down the street, causing the oncoming horde to fall down like dominos. A pushed down lady starts wailing. The door opens again, and people starts seeping out of the bus again - not cooed by the roughness of the bus, the crowd attacks again, the conductor is now virtually fighting with oncoming customers in the door.
Finally the last passenger leaves the bus, and the real fight is now on. I, together with a Dutch and a Canadian friend join the struggle, and using our elbows quite a bit we suddenly find ourselves in front of the door. A Kenyan mama with a crowd of children passes in front of us, shouting - make space for the bebes - we form a defensive line, and she enters the bus unharmed. Finally the three of us pushes ourselves up the stairs and into the already moving vehicle, as by magic getting the last three empty seats. The fight is over, the mood in the bus is cheerful, we are the victors and the spaces we sit on, are ours by conquest. I hear a man down the bottom of the bus, commenting with a smile, that never before has he seen Muzungos (White people) participate in the fighting to enter a bus. I feel the pride swell in me, knowing now that I during the last five months have become a true Kenyan :)

Smiles,
K