Travel help and questions

Masafa is one place to book long-distance buses, matatus and shuttles in Kenya. Search a route and you see the departures of every participating Bus Company side by side — times, fares, seats left and luggage allowance — then choose your seat and pay with M-Pesa.

Masafa means “distances”. Bus Companies run their trips, seats and counters on Masafa, so the seat you choose online is the same seat on the conductor's list.

No. Anyone can search and compare. When you choose a departure, you sign in with your mobile number and a one-time code. There is no separate registration — your number is your account.

Yes. Results list every participating Bus Company's departures on your route, with the departure and estimated arrival time, boarding point, vehicle and class, seats left, luggage allowance and the full price. Filter by Bus Company, vehicle, class or time of day, and read ratings left by passengers who travelled.

Only Bus Companies that sell on Masafa appear, so not every operator on a route is listed.

After choosing a departure you see the vehicle's seat map, with every seat marked free or taken. Pick seats for everyone travelling — up to six per booking.

Your seats are held for you for a short time while you enter names and pay, and nobody else can take them meanwhile. If the time runs out, the seats are released and nothing is charged.

With M-Pesa. You get a payment prompt on your phone and confirm it with your M-Pesa PIN. The price you approve is the fare plus a KES 20 booking fee per seat, both shown before you pay.

If confirmation takes a while, the app keeps checking and tells you not to pay again. It never shows a payment as failed while the outcome is still unknown.

In the app, under My trips. Your ticket shows the booking reference, passenger names, seats, Bus Company, boarding point, departure time and the vehicle's registration. A copy stays on your phone for when you lose signal, and you can print it.

Go to the boarding point on your ticket before departure. The conductor checks your booking reference or your name against the trip's passenger list.

Cancel from My trips. Before you confirm, you see exactly how much will be refunded; the amount depends on how long before departure you cancel. Refunds go back to the M-Pesa number that paid.

If the Bus Company cancels the trip, you get everything back, including the booking fee. To travel on another day, cancel and book the new departure.

Each Bus Company sets its own free allowance, and you see it on the results before you book. Anything over the allowance is paid at check-in; the price of your booking does not change.

Yes, office to office, with Bus Companies licensed to carry parcels. Get a price without signing in, book in the app, then pay in cash at the drop-off office, where the parcel is weighed. The receiver collects with a collection code and their ID.

Anyone can track a parcel with its waybill number and the last three digits of the receiver's phone number.

Sign in to the app and choose Report a problem. Pick the trip, say what happened, and it goes to Masafa support — or, for something that happened on a journey, to the Bus Company too. You can follow every report in the app.

In an emergency, call 999 or 112 first.