No entry last night because I went to the discotheque and returned quite late. It was a blast, and very tiring!
Today we went into Maputo again to get more vaccines. This time, the others managed to scare the heck out of me by talking about how much it hurt, most of it mockingly. But shots (and medical procedures) are really the only things that scare me - as in, really cause a physical reaction. They had me so worked up that I came quite close to passing out when I got vaccinated. They did typhoid fever and the first rabies shot today, both of which did hurt (and I'm still sore), but the anticipation was horrible. The way I'm looking at it, I'll have great immunizations for at least a few years.
What I really wanted to discuss was our mode of transportation to and from Maputo. We take buses called "chapas" which are essentially 15-passenger vans or old charter buses. The smaller chapas go quicker, but get more cramped. And I mean cramped.
There are four benches of three seats each, with a special fold-down seat on the front three. There's also one between the passenger's side and driver's side (they drive on the left here). It takes two men to operate the chapa: the driver and the conductor.
As the chapa makes every stop, the conductor will hang out the sliding door and announce the final destination repeatedly. As people leave the chapa, he collects 5-8 Met from every passenger (5 in Maputo, 8 to/from Boane). The conductor is very relaxed, and will assume whatever position he has to in order to maximize the occupancy of his bus.
Chapas are run by the government, in that the operators are paid by the state. But they are paid based upon the number of passengers, so drivers will fight over you getting on their bus. They also have no motivation to leave until they are mostly full. This may mean 12-15 people.
Every stop, you accumulate more people. Today, on our way into Maputo, we had 21, with room for more [I suppose :)]. You quickly lose all concept of personal space.
Every bus is named differently, and has a printed or painted name on the front and rear windshields. One was named "White Power". We didn't bother to point out the irony.
The smaller buses don't go too quickly. They make plenty of stops, but not as many as the large buses.
My scariest ride ever was this afternoon on a chapa - the larger variety. We all sat in the back and were witness to an accident with another chapa, several people jumping off the bus in panic as it sped away, and someone getting off, then 5 minutes later returning with a full 8' door. Yes, a door. Everyone was very helpful with the door.
From our vantage point in the back, we could see the bus swerving across the road, narrowly missing oncoming traffic. We laughed the whole time, only because we were petrified!
Needless to say, none of us will take the larger one again. it was ridiculously scary.
Peace
John
