Most use rucksacks strapped to their backs. These can be purchased locally for about 500Ksh (about �5). I bought a small version for 300Ksh. They are not specially made and have no compartments that can be used to separate different items. They do have pockets on the outside but these again are not purpose built and are used as best they can e.g. for small tablets, paper and pens, knives etc. The shopkeeper claims they are waterproof but the paravets wouldn't agree. Nor is the material very tough.

Inside the rucksack everything is packed haphazardly in a plastic bag and dumped in the rucksack. Although glass bottles are protected in a cardboard box, they are not easily held upright and so liquids can easily leak out. Syringes are kept in plastic bags with the needles kept separately in the plastic box in which they are bought.

Apparently some carry their equipment in boxes strapped to the back of their bikes but I didn't see any using that method. They did experiment with trailers but they didn't prove to be popular because of more punctures, often generated by children taking them into the fields to play.

The paravets reckon they can carry about 70 kilos on a good, flat road but most of the time 50 kilos is the maximum (the weight of a bag of cement). Women tend to carry less, averaging about 25 kilos.