I Survived the Bus

When the taxi pulled up to place where the bus was parked, I knew right away that we had made a mistake. A friend and I were trying to return to Musoma after spending a few days in Nairobi. However the bus I normally took was not running that day so we followed a recommendation to take another bus headed to Musoma. I had never heard of this particular bus but seeing as it left at the time I wanted and was going in the direction I needed I figured it was worth a try.

At 8pm at night we arrived at a part of Nairobi I had never been before, slightly sketchy and off the main road from where the other buses were parked. The taxi driver told us to be careful as we got out and lugged our suitcases to the bus. I briefly considered trying to take another bus but figured we were committed and that we would survive one trip on a ratty looking bus. If only I had known.

We got going and I settled down for my night on the bus. About an hour out of Nairobi the bus pulled over the side of the road and ground to a halt. Seeing as we weren’t picking up or dropping off people I realized something was wrong with the bus. The driver and few others grabbed some tools and started playing around under the hood of the bus. It refused to start multiple times until at last they coaxed into starting. I had never been so happy to hear the noise of the engine.

As the bus resumed I settled back into my seat, only to be disturbed 20 min later by the bus pulling over again. And this time it wouldn’t start. No matter what they tried, including bringing in a mechanic from a nearby town, it refused to start. Around 3 am we realized we were truly stuck and would have to find a way back to Nairobi.

Throughout this process my friend and I had mostly remained on the bus while others had been standing outside. Many people were angry because this company had no other buses and would not return our money. In fact, the guy who collected money from people as they got on the bus, ran off after a mob of angry people confronted him. Some tried to catch other buses going by, although buses were few and far between at that time. We decided to stay on the broken down bus until early morning and then call a taxi from Nairobi.

When we finally got back to Nairobi it was 7am and we were exhausted. We went back to the guesthouse where we had been staying and collapsed. That night we attempted to take the bus to Musoma again, only this time going with a well known bus line. We made it back safely with no problems. I’m very thankful that God protected us during that adventure and brought us back to Musoma with no further incidents.