The Dala-Dala experience

As forewarned, we were packed like sardines, the journey was much longer than what could have been, it was dusty enough to have a layer or two of dust accumulated in my t-shirt and I developed a cramp on my legs since my upper body was swayed to one side and my legs were pushed to the other side making me absolutely immobile. But I was fine with all this.
The thing that shook me was a woman that entered the dala-dala with a live rooster and held it by its legs tied with a piece of cloth. She sat just two seats away from me and the eyes of the rooster and more importantly its beak faced directly one of my knees. Thankfully, the rooster was extremely calm and I tried to match it with my composure, except for once, when the woman specially manhandled it. The rooster shrieked and I jumped out of my seat. Cramps gone. I looked around and to my surprise, no one was making fun of me. People in the dala-dala started shouting loudly in Swahili, and rooster, as though a simple non-living object, was passed from hand to hand (avoiding mine of course) to the front of this African bus… to my deep relief.