Thursday, January 27, 2011

Frogger

Driving...well any type of transportation here is absolutely crazy.  Any time I'm on a road all I can think of is frogger... and how most of the time when you play that game, you end up smashed by many vehicles.  

First of all, there are no lights, stop signs, cross walks, lines one the road or any traffic laws.  There are traffic police that stand on the side of the road in white uniforms and whistles, but I really havent seen them doing anything. On the roads that are not paved (which is most of them) there are so many really deep pot holes to maneuver as well.   Most of the time there are not really sidewalks either and most people travel on foot.  Then there are boda-bodas which is small motorcyles-taxis that drive really fast, wherever they want, sometimes with 3 people on the back including the driver, or women sitting side-saddle in a skirt or anything that needs to be taken.  For example, a women sitting side-saddle holding multiple chickens, or a small cow with its legs tied sitting perpendicular on the bike with the driver behind it leaning forward to reach the handle bars (I really wish I got a picture of that one).  

Then there are mutatus, which are like our taxis except they are big vans which pick you up and drop you off wherever.  They have specific routes too so if your destination is on the way then you hop in and when you are getting close you pay, then say "conductor, stage" and he drops you off on the side of the road.  Most vans have seats for about 15 people but during rush hour its however many people can squish.  There are no seat belts either so it doesnt really matter.  

Then there are also people driving in personal cars and private hires, as well as huge mercedes-benz semi trucks.  

Put them all together with no sense of organization, laws or rules, and throw a ton of people on the sides of the roads and trying to cross the street at any given moment because they just go when they think they can get across fast enough without the cars hitting them.  

There are plenty of bikes carrying way too many jerry cans or giant bags of charcoal too.  

Basically, it is a fun time when you "move" which is what they say when you are traveling anywhere.  

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