Back in action. I figure while I have access to American keyboards and constant (or semi constant) electricity I should write as much as I can. Not too much new stuff to report. Its 6:27am and I am just getting ready to head out of Kara and make my journey down to Sokode which is my (Central) regional capital and I thought that I would take this opportunity to explain the glory that is traveling in Togo since most of you will never be able to know first hand.
So, there are two main modes of transportation. The first and most commonly used by the Togolese, is motos aka motorcycles or vespas. There is always a constant flow of motos down just about every street and every night I am shocked and thankful when I have successfully not been hit by a moto while walking through village that day. Being that there are so many motos who are constantly soliciting to take you anywhere you might want to go, one could easily hop a moto and go a short distance in an even shorter period of time. However, for liability and safety reasons PCV are not allowed to take motos unless they are given special permission and wear a gigantic safety helmet. I for example can take a moto from Koussountou to Kaboli which is where Casey lives and where I get my mail – 14 k from my house or to Tchamba which is where my other neighbor Silas lives which is 30 k away. But I do what I can to not take them because they scare me and are expensive (1,000 CFA to get to Kaboli vs. 400 CFA in a car). However, my puppy and I take them when we travel together because it’s a million times easier and faster, considering you can take a moto at any time of the day, where as bush taxis usually leave once a day…and by no means at a set time. You may be asking yourself “what is a bush taxi?” Excellent question- Bush taxis are the pride and joy of Togo. Bush taxis are basically really run down white vans of all varieties (and occasionally blue vans). They range from high quality - having a few holes in the interior to lower quality - complete and udder pieces of junk with no windows and doors that close with a wire. Almost all of these fine pieces of equipment require a push start which makes the ride that much more enjoyable. Especially when you have to stop ever few minutes…but we will get to that later.
So you show up at the station usually some time early in the morning and tell the secretary that you want to go wherever and they take your bag and put it on the top of the bush taxi, where it will rest among a huge pile of other belongings, including several live animals such as goats and sheep (the chickens usually stay in the car itself) and more often than not passengers themselves, mostly the chauffeur apprentices. Now when I say huge pile I hope that you visualize a pile of stuff at least half of the height of the van itself and at times higher than that, all supported by a net rope. And then you wait. There are four different types of cars you can take, being a 5 placer standard car, 9 placer van, 12 placer van or 15 placer van. Now one might assume that calling these cars by the number of places would mean that that is the number of passengers for each car. Not the case. A 5 placer will not leave without at least 6 passengers plus the driver (thus making it really a 7 placer). A 12 placer holds at least a minimum of 15 people, not including babies or small children who sit on laps and are not counted as places in the car. Now the Togolese have learned that they can make more money the more people they have in the car so I have been in a 9 placer that had 17 people (and my dog) in the car and 2 on top of the car. So once at the station you really just wait around until the car fills up. Which could be quickly and some days is….or there could not be enough people wanting to go where you are going that day so the car just doesn’t leave and you get there the next day (hopefully). And there are the occasional times that you show up at 8 for a car that usually leaves around 3pm and the car has already filled and left, so you get to wait until the next day to go back home. Now after hours of waiting at the station the car is “full” so you hop in, and usually being that I am white I get to sit in the front seat which is by far more comfortable than squishing in the back because usually there are only 2 passengers and the driver up front, although again I have been one of 5 people (including the driver) and my dog in the front seat which is a bit of a tight squeeze. The front seat is one of the few things that although I feel guilty taking understanding that it is exclusively because of the color of my skin, I still take advantage of because it is really pretty damn miserable sitting in the back with all those people squished together and hot and sweaty and having to get out of the car every time someone else needs to get out. But again I’m jumping ahead of myself, we will get there later. Now that everyone is in the car sweaty and gross, its time to get some gas. Now, you might be asking yourself couldn’t someone have filled the car up with gas during the hours of waiting that just occurred. Good question. I asked that question to a driver once myself and he told me that “it would waste gas to go to the gas station and then drive back to the station and then leave”. Fair enough. Although to be realistic most gas stations are within a 30 second walk from the station, and are not so much gas stations as men sitting around with bottles full of gas, who could easily walk the bottles over to the car and pour them in. But who am I to judge the system that has worked for so long in this country. I have never driven a bush taxi therefore have no right speaking about how to run things.
Ok so we are all gassed up, and ready to go. With a great push from some kind souls in the near by area the car heads out and you begin your journey to your final destination (or more often than not to the destination that will take you to your next destination because most cars don’t go everywhere that you would want to go. For example I get to take a car/moto to Tchamba to catch a car to Sokode to catch another car from Kara and then hopefully catch a taxi from the station to Susie’s house). If you are lucky the driver will have a car nice enough to include a sound system with a working tape player and all, so you can rock out to some good old fashion Togolese rap, or more likely Ivorian rap. And if you are really lucky occasionally some Ghanaian reggae so it’s in English! Now that you are all settled in the car and feeling excited for the journey ahead, the car will inevitably come to a stop. This could be for one of many reasons. The most common is that once on the road the chauffeur has stopped to pick up some more passengers. Why these people are able to just sit at their houses until a car drives by and then raise their hand for it to stop, while I have just spent 3 hours sitting a station reading and waiting I am never really clear, but the great entrepreneurial minds of these chauffeurs reminds them that the more people they have in the car the more money they make so they stop and in comes some new friends. So everyone re adjusts to allow these new passengers to come in. At times the car will just slow down enough so that people can run along side and grab a hold and climb their way to the roof and ride that way, but that is usually just with the young boys. Now, you’re off again, and the dirt is pouring in through the window leaving you covered in a fine layer of dust (especially during harmiton where everything is especially dusty, and then there is the added adventure during rainy season which I have yet to experience but have heard great things about). With a great push you continue on your way and right when the car starts picking up speed again, you stop. This time maybe because you have reached a gendarmes station so the apprentices will hop out of the car (or off the roof) and pay the gendarmes their little fee (unofficially of course), and in return the gendarme will take down the rope that is tied across the street thus forcing all vehicles to stop. And again you are off! Now this process of stops will continue adding new members to your traveling team, and paying the gendarmes their fee, and once you start becoming nearer to your destination there will inevitably be many of your team members who need to get out and leave the car early, because so few are actually going to the final destination. So now you can include stops to let people off. And of course, on those long journeys how could you assume that people could go the whole way without having to use the bathroom. So there are plenty of stops along the way for the passengers (and the driver) to take some potty breaks along the side of the road. And this is not taking into account the fact that almost every journey is plagued with at least one small break down along the way, usually just a flat tire. And on the occasion that you are fortunate enough to get a Muslim driver (which is often in my area) you may have the honor of stopping for the call to prayer several times throughout your journey.
Now you may have an understanding of why it takes about two hours to go 65 k from my village to Sokode, and that is on a newly paved really nice road. When traveling on dirt roads the adventures are tripled. And you may also understand why I am hoping to increase my ability to ride bicycles long distances – like up to 65k. Because I figure although it might take me about 4-5 hours to bike there, that’s about the same amount of time as I would spend waiting at the station and then traveling there by car. So one of my Peace Corps goals is to bike from Koussountou to Sokode. I’ll let you know if it ever happens.
So I shall now begin my walk to the station in Kara to catch my car down to Sokode. Have a great day and I’ll talk to you later!

p.s. sorry this is so long. I guess I got a little carried away! I would however like to commend anyone who has actually finished reading this. Or perhaps I should worry that you have too much time on your hands like I do.