Matatu: Private Bus in Kenya

Posted by Alex in Car & Vehicle, Travel & Places on September 27, 2007 at 5:05 pm


If you’re ever in Nairobi, Kenya, you’ll see a fleet of private buses and old vans called the matatu ("tatu" is "three" in Swahili, the original fare in shillings).

Each bus or van is "branded" with its own paint scheme and individual names, inspired (mostly) by Western culture. This one above is the "Princess Diana" with the motto "Thay [sic] Shall Bow …"

Link to a gallery of Matatus - Thanks Rick Spencer!




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COMMENT

10 comments to "Matatu: Private Bus in Kenya"

  1. Pypur
    September 27th, 2007 at 5:22 pm

    If you think those are cool, you should check out some Philippine Jeepneys.

  2. Ali S.
    September 27th, 2007 at 5:32 pm

    Hehehe! You’d be also amazed by the awesome trucks and lorries in Pakistan and India with their colourful flashy looks.

  3. MM
    September 27th, 2007 at 7:43 pm

    It’s actually spelled “Matatu”

  4. Alex
    September 27th, 2007 at 9:19 pm

    No wonder I couldn’t find a lot of info on this thing! Thanks for the spelling fix, MM!

  5. Smurf Kicker
    September 27th, 2007 at 9:29 pm

    I second Pypur about the Philippine jeepneys. They’re pretty outrageous.

  6. Smurf Kicker
    September 27th, 2007 at 9:36 pm

    Here’s a decent site on Jeepneys:

    http://www.stuartxchange.org/Jeepney.html

  7. Pypur
    September 27th, 2007 at 9:51 pm

    That’s an excellent site!

  8. Dave
    September 27th, 2007 at 10:33 pm

    You don’t even want to know how many people get packed into a bus like that. And painted on the inside of each one is a sign that says “NO VOMITING”. After a short ride, you’ll know why it’s there, and that it might be difficult for some to comply.

  9. Nat
    September 28th, 2007 at 4:56 am

    They also do this in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania… when I visited last year I was almost run down by a bus named “Tu-Pac”.

  10. muerzin
    September 29th, 2007 at 5:52 pm

    i’ve ridden these things, and they scared the bejeezus out of me - people hanging out the doors going round roundabouts (ex british colony). and the sound systems are LOUD…


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