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On Transportation in Togo
Bush taxi, taximoto, taxi, bus… what's the difference? Togo has four main modes of transportation throughout the country, each with its advantages and disadvantages, and each with its own dangers! I'll start with the smallest and most prevalent: taximoto, or moto.
As the name implies, a moto is a motorcycle. Some are more like powerful scooters, and some are larger more full-sized motorcycles. Don't let your mind think of nice Harleys, though - these are usually old (perhaps Japanese) models without functioning speedometers or odometers. Motos are found all over Togo - in the cities, towns, and even the smallest of villages. They are the preferred mode of transportation within a city, from a city to a nearby village, and within/between villages. Sometimes, these are the only modes of transportation out in the bush. Moto drivers can be extremely reckless, and it can seem like you put your life on the line every time you ride - especially at night when you end up on a moto whose headlight doesn't work. Most Togolese can ride motos on the roughest of roads without holding on… Not me! I hold on to the luggage rack behind me with a death grip. I much prefer taking motos out in the villages than in cities - less traffic, I can see the road ahead of me, and I have the (probably false) security that falling on dirt roads will be less painful than falling on asphalt. I prefer riding on motos with a backpack, too. Though it adds weight and drag, I have the sense that the bag will help to break my inevitable fall. If it were at all possible to avoid motos, I would never have ridden on one. However, it is impossible to avoid them unless you want to walk - and walking for more than 7K in hotter-than-hell heat is NOT my idea of a good time. Now, I've been on several motos, and I no longer am deathly afraid - just extremely nervous!
The second most popular form of transportation in Togo seems to be the bush taxi. These are shared vans that travel between cities and out into more remote villages in the bush (hence the name bush taxi). In cities, one can get a bush taxi by going to one of several stations. The stations are located around the city for easy getaway access, so if you're going to the north, you'd most likely go to the station in the north of the city. There, you will find a parking lot filled with vans, people, and cargo. The cargo gets piled high on top of the vans, into the small trunk space, and shoved under the seat. The items on top are secured with ropes and netting. Bush taxis wait until they are "full" before departing the station, so there is no way to know exactly when to arrive at the station or when it will depart. The vans are generally built to hold between 9 and 12 people. This means NOTHING in Togo. Wanting to make the most money each trip, vans are packed to the brim. A van with the driver's row and 3 passenger rows (originally built to hold 12 people safely) will be filled with 4 adults in EACH row (including the driver's), and an additional row of four adults riding backwards behind the driver's row. This means that there are 20 adults in a 12 passenger van… not to mention the children! Children are treated like cargo in many ways, and they are just handed off to adults to sit on their laps… whether they belong to that adult or not. I mentioned that bush taxis wait until they are "full" before departing. Basically, they'll fill up as full as possible before leaving the station. Any space that's left (usually up in the driver's seat or riding backwards) is filled up shortly after departure by people waiting along the road, flagging taxis down. There is hardly any room to move once the van leaves the station, so try to imagine how impossible it is to move once more people are squeezed in. I have not yet mentioned the physical condition of the bush taxis. While some are better than others, most all of them are old and falling apart in one way or another. Duct tape and rope are the bush taxi driver's friends, as they often work in combination to keep the vehicle held together and running. Windows may or may not open (or close for that manner), doors may or may not close all the way. And, if they do, there's often space between the door and the main frame of the car created by metal rusting away or dents and deformities that have been created over the years. In fact, some bush taxis have conveniently worn away floor vents that allow you to see the road underneath and provide a nice breeze - just be careful not to drop anything or put your foot down in the wrong place. Have good traveler's insurance and get a tetanus shot before riding in one of these contraptions. They, too, are unavoidable, though.
**Note: When traveling by bush taxi in the rain, anything goes - Rain through the windows, through the cracks in the doors when they don't shut completely, windshield wipers that don't work. When traveling in the rain on dirt roads, expect mud to come flying up through the holes in the floor... And, when wearing a skirt, expect to get a mud shower where you don't want one ;)
Buses are few and far between in Togo. Generally running along the Route Internacionale, they serve to link the major cities in Togo. Private bus companies pack as many people as possible into the bus, even filling the aisles to earn an extra buck. Recently, the post office has begun a bus service that is much nicer - like a chartered bus at home, complete with air conditioning and a TV. It fills up quickly, and it only runs along the main route. Getting to a village off the main route is not possible on this bus, requiring the traveler to take either a moto or bush taxi anyway.
Taxis can be found in the cities, but they are expensive. They do not run on meters, which means that you have to negotiate the fare before taking the ride. Of course, fares for foreigners are much higher than for Togolese or other Africans. The only place I've taken a taxi is in Lome, a city in which I would NEVER take a moto! Roadways in Togo are kept in extremely poor condition (except in the North, which is the tribal homeland of the ruling party). The Route Internacionale, which runs the length of the country, connecting countries north of Togo with the port in Lome, is pocked with potholes. Drivers swerve from one side of the road to the other to avoid the potholes, making traveling a dangerous endeavor. At night, many bush taxis do not have fully functioning headlights, and roadways lack streetlights. It's best to get your travel done before the sun goes down, whenever possible.
I bring this blog post to a close with this thought - this afternoon I will be traveling by moto to a town about 5K from Ortencia's village. Then, we will flag down a passing bush taxi to get to a town about 60K away. The ride will take at least 2 hours. Next, we will find another bush taxi to take us on a 4 hour ride to another town only 100K away. We will be traveling on what could possibly be the worst road in Togo. Enjoy your smooth, paved roads, traffic laws, and functioning vehicles… even when you're sitting in rush-hour traffic. Be thankful that you are not in the heat of Africa, packed into a bush taxi dodging potholes, motos, oncoming traffic, and huge trucks.
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