Matatus!

Riding a matatu is the main way to get around in Mombasa.  They are mini buses that people use to scoot around town.  Here's the wikipedia link:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matatu.  They're super cramped, dusty, and hot, but they can get you to just about anywhere in Kenya rain or shine.  Although everything many things in Africa are quite unreliable, the one thing that was very reliable was the matatu.  I don't remember ever having to wait for more than 15 minutes to catch one.

Matatu strolling through my hood.  This one was bumping reggae.  Most of the matatus have huge subwoofers in the back.  The music coming out of these bad boys is usually hip hop, reggae, early 90's dance music (my personal favorite:  Ace of Base) and late 90's/early 2000's boy bands.  I learned that Kenyans LOVE Backstreet Boys and Westlife, but when I told them I'm more of an N'Sync (go JT!) fan, they just shook they're head in disgust.  

This is a matatu conductor.  He stands outside trying to get people onto his matatu until it's full (full usually meant stuffing 16 passangers into a van made for 12 (the 12 include the driver and himself), the 16 passangers usually don't include the driver or himself).  The conductors also like to rip me off because of my skin color like charging me double what the normal rate is on most occasions.

I often got into heated arguments with these people.  Usually speaking in Swahili got the conductor to drop the price.  On the rare occasion one of these assholes didn't drop their price, I would say the most offensive thing you can to a Kenyan, "I will curse you and your entire family and your unborn children" (taught to me by volunteers that had been in Kenya for a year longer than me, cursing people goes very far here).  The conductor's eyes usually widen and immediately lower their price.

Inside the matatu.  Since matatus are the main mode of transport, people use it to carry things to town, transport LARGE amounts of produce and even move their furniture.  On more than one occasion I was forced to put random packages or two on my lap.  Usually if a lady has more than one kid, the kids are passed around to other people's laps too.  Luckily on this day, the lady in front was just carrying pillows to town to sell rather than 4 day old raw fish that stunk up the entire van (I've had this happen too, it was gag inducing).

Inside the matatu again.  The inside of the matatu are always heavily decorated.  The theme of this matatu is "Rihanna", the sultry singer from Barbados.

This matatu's theme was "Miley Cyrus" and bachelorhood.  I don't think a matatu driver with Miley Cyrus pictures posted all over the van would have any trouble remaining a "bachellor".

At night the disco lights come on, the music gets turned a little louder, and the ladies wear a little less clothing as the matatus become some of the hottest destinations for night life in Mombasa.  The bass was pounding out reggae jams so hard my hand shook while I tried to take this picture.  The green lights are from the laser show the driver and conductor were putting on.