Matatus and Chickens (for real)

Recipients of Elspeth’s journals are already familiar with matatus and chickens. Matatus are the private minivans that provide the majority of the public transportation in Central Asia and Africa. They operate between defined locations but not necessarily along a predefined route. The destinations are painted on the sides along with the other key piece of information - the passenger capacity. No mention of luggage/cargo limits, which in many cases would be equally significant. Needless to say the limit is “advisory”. A matatu is never so full that it can’t pick up more passengers.

We recently made the trip to Ganze, about 35 kilometers inland from Kilifi. Ganze is one of the poorest places in Kenya. In addition to being the site of a number of farms already supported by the organization it is also the location of a new experimental farm (more of that later – back to mutatus!).

The trip out was uneventful, particularly as we had snagged the premium seats – the two front seats. The front seats being available, however, indicates one may have quite a wait. Economics dictate staying put until commercially viable to move, usually about 80% full. No schedule here. With gasoline at over $4 a gallon and the fare for the 35km trip over punishing roads running around $1.20 it’s easy to understand the rationale. The first stop outside Kilifi was for an elderly woman complete with, yes you guessed, a large pile of bags and live chicken. One of the bags took two of us to load and as we unloaded it in the middle of nowhere I have no idea how she transported it home. Returning late in the afternoon we departed half empty. Not for long. Not counting driver and “conductor/passenger procurer” and not including babes in arms, of which there were two, we figured that ultimately there were 23 passengers.

Between times we had assisted preparations at the experimental farm. The fields are on relatively steep, rolling hills. The soil is predominantly sand and doesn’t look capable of supporting much beyond the scrub they were cleared of. The area looked as though it had received a fairly heavy downpour overnight. More than a couple of millimeters down, though, it was bone dry. The plots had previously been cleared of brush and small trees that characterize much of the scenery in this part of Kenya. The task for the day was to mark out the planting grids for the three crops currently being studied – sunflower, jatropha and eucalyptus. Eucalyptus and jatropha have already been planted on the first 150 farms. The experiments are to determine the most effective planting and maintenance strategies. The variables include differing plant clones, size of planting hole, amounts and types of fertilizer, pesticide and water, followed by varying levels of pruning.

At the end of the day a cold beer and cold (although never truly cold, as the water tank sits on the roof heated by the sun all day) shower never felt so good.