What's a dala dala?

Dala dalas are privately owned vans that provide public transportation. They have four rows of seats in the back as well as a bench in front that seats the driver and 2 other passengers. Although they have a maximum capacity of 17 people (including the driver) this is generally overlooked and as many people, supplies and even livestock are packed in as possible. It's not uncommon to see women and children sitting on laps or men holding onto the sides of the van. I think the record for the most people fit inside a dala dala is 27 according to a volunteer I met in 2012. My personal record is 20 people, a goat, and 2 hens. As I'm sure you can imagine, the vans can get extremely fragrant, especially in the afternoon. Mmm body odor and animal feces...

The routes the dala dalas run are marked by a colored stripe on the side of the van. I take the black one from the hostel in Nijiro to Arusha and the yellowish orange one from Arusha to St. Ds in Sakina. The commute takes about 45 minutes and 1,400 shillings (84 cents) round trip. Apart from the stripe, the dala dala owners have the creative license to decorate their vans as they wish. Some decorations are political, others religious, and some downright hilarious. I've seen dala dalas decorated with stickers of American rappers The Game and Rick Ross. I've also seen a few with pictures of Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein. Thank you Al Queda sympathizers for stopping for me, but I think I'll catch the next one.

photos taken from inside a taxi