So, I admit it- I took a night bus to Nairobi. Yes, I had heard it might be a little dangerous. Yes, I heard that you should never let your stuff out of your sight and we were going to be on a bus for 12.5 hours. Yes, Nairobi is sometimes nicknamed Nai-robbery… BUT I didn’t want to miss another day of work and I wanted to get there in time for services, so the night bus it was. And if I had known what I know now, I would have gone BOTH ways on the night bus! So there! This is not to say that there weren’t some interesting adventures- but that’s the whole fun of the 15 HOURS-right? (15 hours?? You say… just you wait)
Shockingly enough, we left pretty close to on time- Africa time was running pretty close to actual time. Not shockingly enough, the traffic getting out of Kampala was a mess! Around 11pm Erin and I are starting to drift off to sleep, (there was not many people on the bus so we each got our own two seats to stretch out in) and the bus stops. Now the bus had made some stops before to let people off, but this time we were in the middle of a road just stopped. It turns out a truck had toppled over in the middle of the road ahead of us taking over the entire road and leaving us stranded. The driver took the people on the side of the road’s advice and ventured our huge bus into what can only be described as a woodland village. It was pitch black and we were bouncing around woods and small huts for a few minutes before we stopped in front of two small columns where I was sure we were stuck. There is no way the bus can fit through there, I thought and said out loud to Erin, hoping the bus driver would hear me and turn around. Weirdly enough, he ignored my comment and proceeded to push through the gate slowly while Erin and I held hands and sucked in our breath hoping it would make the bus a little skinnier. After three seconds we heard a huge bang, but the bus kept on trucking and we all made it out ok.
It wasn’t until we got to the next town when we realized that the bang had been a huge dent made in the bus by our excursion, which made it impossible to close the door the whole way. At around 2:00 in the morning in Kisumu, Kenya, our bus driver and co-bus driver spent an hour and a half hammering the bus on the inside and out trying to get the dent to go away so they could close the door. This did not work so they tied the door shut with a rope and continue on the journey. Although I am in pants and a long sleeve shirt- it is freezing and I spent the next 8 hours cuddled up with my bag and eventually just put a t shirt over my head so my nose wouldn’t fall off!
The border was pretty easy. We were clearly the only Muzungos for miles around so we took the longest getting through. The border patrol men were delighted with us, and kept asking us questions about what we do in America and what we are doing in Uganda. Meanwhile, we were getting pretty nervous since the bus drives through the gate without you and we had to walk through by ourselves at 12:30am through what, in my mind, must be a swamp (but I have no idea since it was pitch black out) only to have to pee in a pit latrine (a small hole in the ground) for 10 cents. While I was yelling at Erin that I couldn’t do this and she was saying encouraging words through the wall, we realized the walls were paper thin when we could hear the other outside laughing at my discomfort! Nairobi had a ton of traffic as well and we ended up getting into town around 10:30 when we thought we would get in at 7. What a delightful 15 hours of my life that I am so glad I get to share with all of you!
The bus ride back was meant to leave Nairobi at 7am so we got there around 6:10 to buy tickets. The ticket counter didn’t open for a while and then we found out there was technical difficulties with the bus. Due to my awesome roommates complaining, we got upgraded to the royal bus instead of the executive which we paid for. (I know, that works in Kenya too, who knew?) The difference in price was not much but apparently there was more room on the bus and they served breakfast. Unfortunately, since we did not actually sign up for the bus, we did not get the breakfast, but we had delightful snacks of popcorn, peanuts, and pretzels… One of the best finds in Nairobi was that they had pretzels! Sure, they were spelled brezels and had a slightly funky aftertaste, but gosh, how I missed them! Somehow, without the traffic leaving Nairobi, or a car dent, or traffic in Kampala, we still managed to have a 15 hour trip back to Kampala complete with three pit latrine stops (I got better at it, I know you were all worried) and some fries in a bag. (a little bit of salt, a little bit of unidentified “sauce” it was delish!) We didn’t sleep as much as during the night which made the trip feel even longer than the 15 hours it took us.
We did pretty fine on the beginning of the trek. We slept, we chatted, we had a Glee music listening session… (ok, that last part is a little embarrassing, but if you had 15! Hours, you might do that too) but as night began to fall, we started getting REALLY antsy! Even though it was night time, the bus was stifling and the girl behind me kept closing the window every time I tried to open it- RUDE! They then started to blast Rush Hour with Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker on a screen and when that was down a weird Nigerian movie where a little boy pretends to get run over by a motorcycle because his father wont teach him how to ride a bike AND when THAT was over, some African stand- up comedy which I apparently was of the only people on the bus to not get the humor!
The border was a delight this time since we knew what to expect and the men at the border even remembered us! “Shira, you have come back” (ok, I know this sounds like they would say that to anyone, but I swear, they were waiting for Erin and I) Kampala traffic was pretty easy but by the time we got back home around 11:30pm (almost an 18 hour day) I have never been so happy about my cold shower and mosquito net before!
Since that was so much just about the journey, I think I’ll give you and my fingers a little break. I’m just getting started and haven’t even gotten to Nairobi yet and the adventures there- so stay tuned… I wish I could give you a little preview, but I don’t know how to upload pictures yet, so you’ll just have to take my word for it!
Don’t worry, I didn’t tell my parents it was a night bus until I got there, so hopefully no one was freaking out all night.
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