NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 24- Family is not only important, but it is also everything because it matters a lot to me, that’s how Edna Gatwiri summed her determination to travel upcountry to join folks back home for the Christmas festivities.
We caught up with Gatwiri at the Meru bus terminus in Nairobi on Christmas eve, where she was among hundreds queuing for a matatu.
“I had actually said I will not travel because of the hiked fares but then I remembered family is more important and it needs me,” she said, “I know the cost of going there is too high now but the warmth I experience when I am with my family is priceless.”
Thousands of urban dwellers have been traveling home since last week, but it is the last two days that have witnessed the largest human migration as holidaymakers made last-ditch attempts to travel.
In the capital Nairobi that witnesses the largest annual migration to upcountry at the end of the year, bus terminus were full of people queueing to get means of transport home despite the hiked fares.
While some opt to stay in Nairobi, many travel either to their rural homes as others who can afford a decent holiday head to the coast to unwind.
Local airlines and the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) were fully booked in the two weeks of year and the first two weeks of 2023, according to officials in the ticketing centres.
But for Gatwiri, even though the economy is hard and the cost of living is high, the love for her family and the time spent with them outweigh everything else.
“That’s why I must go home,” she told this writer.
Gatwiri, a business lady in Nairobi however, says that as much as she would want to stay in the village longer after Christmas, she will have to come back and continue working before the New Year.
“You know I am a hustler I cannot afford to be away for so long even if my heart wants. I will have to come back at least by 27th so that I can continue working and make something as we head to the new year,” she said.
Unlike 2020 and 2021 when the world experienced tough COVID-19 restrictions, more Kenyans have traveled for holiday festivities this year.
Major roads to upcountry were jam-packed since Friday as city dwellers traveled home for Christmas and New Year festivities.
Travelers on the Nairobi-Nakuru-Eldoret highway were worst affected as they spent hours on the road from the city.
Other routes affected include Nairobi-Thika-Nyeri and other parts of central Kenya.
Many posted their frustrations and photos of the journey on Twitter’s @Ma3route and other social media platforms.
