Getting a Driving License in Kenya

So as I've since learned the best way to get a Kenyan driving license is to pay the $15 in the US for an international one and then just pay a fee to get a Kenyan one. The second way is to pay like $150 to our "fixer" who will get you a Kenyan license. I went the least efficient way which is to just apply and take the test. All in all will have cost me $33 and 6 hours. Totally worth the experience.

So first I went to AA (which is the equivalent of the US's AAA) and they did a quick assessment to see if I needed lessons. This is where I was introduced to the concept of the "model town" which is a driving board with a big roundabout and little matchbox cars that you have to move from point A to B. It's all about what lane you should be in on the roundabout. Then they tested me on street signs which was funny as they had the answers at the bottom so I just read the answers to them. They said I did average on the signs and failed the model town and said I needed lessons. I refused, signed up for a test and bought a book.

The book is hysterical in itself. I wish I had thought to scan this but the page on road signs has a sketch of two large elephants next to the road with a "danger, beware elephants" sign. A lot of english mis-speaks or typos too. I studiously memorized the street signs but don't actually know what chevrons, trunk roads, or slip road at grade separated junctions are but if I was shown the sign I could accurately name it!

I read an article by a BBC reporter on getting his license in Nairobi and he said it took him all day. So I came prepared for the long haul. As I believe expectations are 90% of frustrations vs. enjoyment I'm glad I was so prepared. I got to the police station (in Karen which is far far outskirts of Nairobi) at 8am. By 8:15 I had my papers and counted about 50 other people - most under 22 years old. Around 9 the policeman came out. First he berated the asian guy for being in the wrong place, called him chin chin and said he couldn't understand his chinese. The did not strike me as chinese (maybe korean) and everyone laughed and the funny, powerful policemen.

He spoke to us for an hour and mostly in Swahili. What I understood from the little english phrases and the few swahili words I know is that he warned us about the responsibility of driving, lectured us on accidents, told us he was not a teacher, nor an instructor and then proceeded to teach us the basics of signs, rules, roundabouts, overtaking etc. People laughed at various points. It only ended because he got a phone call (which he took). Finally, he said we could have a 5 minute break (when I just wanted things to get started). People were called in one by one (or two by two since there were two testers) for the theory part. As I was called he proceeded to kick out the very young kid in front of me, yelling viciously- calling him an iguana, I think (I'm sure it's a swahili word I misunderstood) and taking him by the scruf of his Maine East Volleyball sweatshirt. My turn took 5 minutes. He asked me to identify the yield sign, the road closed sign, and then a sign about priority to oncoming traffic but before I could answer he got distracted and moved me onto the "model town". I completely failed the first time. He gave me another chance and then corrected me that they drive on the left side (I just confused right and left so did a little of both). I paused for like 3 minutes because they say don't move the car until you know exactly where you're going and eventually finished. He passed me. I've learned I'm not good with toy cars.

We then waited in this shack full of goats (some with some scary horns)- pictured- to get called for the driving portion. I was in the first lot. We rode in the back of a huge truck for two minutes and then the first 4 people were finished and I was called. I got in back and this young girl was told to start the car. She really couldn't remember all the steps (clutch, 1st gear, hand brake). Suddenly he asked me to step in. I started the car on a very mild hill, pulled out (without signaling), went 20 meters and then pulled over and stopped. That was it. I passed! It was about 12noon. I waited 2 more hours for paperwork and it was done. I now have to give that paperwork to another building in the center of town and wait for my license.