Boda-boda na piki-piki

• roads in Kenya, specifically our area, leave a lot to be desired
• most personal transport for Nuru is two wheeled
• boda-boda is a taxi service using piki-pikis (motorcycles) where a driver carries one or two passengers

The roads in Kenya in general aren't that great. In particular in our area, the roads are pretty atrocious. The two roads leading to Nymetaburo, where we do most of our work, are Kehancha-Nymetaburo road and Nyangiti road. Nymetaburo road is nearly impassable in four wheeled vehicles most days, especially after it rains. Nyangiti road is a little bit better although a key bridge halfway to Nymetaburo washed out and is currently being rebuilt. It makes taking a four wheeled vehicle on Nyangiti road hairy at best. Trucks, carrying maize mostly, prefer Nymetaburo road because although it's much worse than Nyangiti road, the bridge is intact and allows large vehicles to pass, unlike Nyangiti road.

There is a simple solution to the problem, don't use four wheels. It sounds a little bit silly, but you'd be surprised how many places motorcycles, known as piki-pikis in kiswhahili, can go that cars, trucks, and SUV's can't. When we need transport, we hire motorcycle taxis, known as boda-bodas, to get around. Boda-boda drivers can get you pretty much anywhere through any conditions. Sometimes, passengers may have to hop off and walk behind them in mud or through puddles because the drivers can't make it with them on board. Usually it's just a short walk with the passengers quickly hopping back on to continue the ride. It's fairly inexpensive too, $1.25 for the 20-30 minute ride from our home to Nymetaburo.

It's pretty amazing how good of drivers the boda-boda drivers are, well the vast majority of them. It's a little unnerving at first riding three deep, one driver and two passengers, on a motorcycle (125cc mind you) over dirt roads and through paths barely wider than three people abreast. Eventually, you get used to it and just trust the driver's skill. They make it look pretty easy so you might think, "Hey, I can do that!" Boy would you ever be wrong.