Boda boda dudes

These are the guys at the end of our road. They are called 'boda bodas'.

Now, my understanding is that the name 'boda boda' came from people who worked near the border of Kenya and Uganda. This particular group of people had bikes which they would use to taxi people to the border. To advertise themselves, they would call out 'boda...boda' [to the border or to the [i]boda[/i] as our British friends like to say]. And so the name stuck and refers to any bike (motor or pedal) which is used as a taxi to ferry people around.

'Our' boda boda guys wait for people to get off buses and other public transport at the junction where the main road meets our smaller feeder road. For a few shillings (don't ask me the price), they will bring you to your house.

But they do have their downside. Most of the bike riders have not had any real schooling in the art of motorcycle riding. In fact, most guys teach other guys and then go and get their licences. As a result of this, the bikes are a complete nuisance and there are accidents all over town. I believe Maryanne and I have both had near misses with these guys (well, not 'our' guys but others like them) on the roads in the past month.

I could go on and on but allow me to stop here. I am not all that happy with the shot but it marks a bit of a shift for me. I want to start to do some portraits of people rather than flowers. I am nearing 1 year having taken and posted a shot every day and find that I really want to stretch myself by taking portraits of strangers. It is so scary!

Take these guys, for example. I was far away from them trying to get a shot of the enormous bougainvillea which covers their waiting area. It is really a site. And then I struck up conversation with them and they said no problem if I take a shot. I got so flustered that I took in a hurry with bad lighting and all that and had to do some tricks to get it into this condition. But in the end, they were happy that I took their snap. Perhaps others will be equally willing. Let me try...