WHERE DID THE REAL CHRISTMAS GO?

The scene at Machakos Country Bus Station can at best be described as chaotic. Touts are shouting themselves hoarse as they seek to outdo each other in an effort to attract the attention of travelers to the various buses lined haphazardly in the packed station. The drivers of these vehicles don’t make the situation bearable with their incessant honking on the vuvuzelas fixed on either side just above their windscreens.

Hawkers are equally having a field day hoisting small plastic basins atop their now hardened shoulders. They vend toothpaste, groundnuts, soda, padlocks, belts, wallets, handkerchiefs, water and any other thing that one can ask for. They are equally part of the shouting match as they jostle among the sea of humanity in search of customers.