Taxis

I always enjoy taxi rides, especially from Bambili to Bamenda which takes about 40 minutes (for loading and unloading of passengers) to head into town. The ride usually costs 300cfa and if you don’t have exact change, you need to tell the driver before getting in the car so he will know to have change ready. To signal for a taxi, you extend your pointer finger in front of you and just wait on the side of the road. A passing taxi will slow down enough to hear you announce your destination and if he’s going in that direction, he’ll honk the horn for you to board. If not, he’ll just drive away without saying anything. No offense taken. Make sure to greet the passengers to be courteous when you board. It’s usually a simple “morning” “afternoon,” or “evening.”

There is something neat about sitting in a car and briefly sharing someone’s company, then parting for different destinations. I look out at the mountainous landscape (it is all downhill from Bambili) at the people on the side of the road, selling oranges, dozing off at MTN call-boxes, pushing a wagon or carrying rice bags bursting of produce. Friends greet each other with a hearty handshake. People are skewering the day’s soya to grill. Mommies are frying beignets or arranging tomatoes to sell. Small children in bright uniforms are walking to school, the older ones holding the hands of their younger siblings. Each time I head into town, I notice something new. Plus, it’s a chance to listen in on the latest gossip in a mix of English, local dialect but mostly pidgin.

Besides looking outside, it’s very entertaining to observe how a taxi’s interior is decorated. It is fun enough to be squeezed inside a car with four people in the back, and three people in front (with babies and small children the number can be up to 10 )… but crazy decorations are even better. I’ve seen stuffed animals hanging from the rearview mirror, fake flowers carefully placed on a furry spread on the dashboard, dangling second-hand Happy Meal toys, and lacey cloth covering the ceiling. I’ve also seen a plastic skull as the stick-shift knob, and a sticker of Spiderman by the speedometer. There are also stickers on windows ranging from “I love Cameroon” to “Jesus Carries Me” to a smiling Malaysian girl with quotes about friendship to angry-looking green bulldogs. Nearly all taxis have flashing colorful lights in the evening and I’m absolutely positive that no two taxis in Cameroon that are the same.

While I am riding in a taxi, I also read what is written on the bumpers of other taxis while they zip past or cut us off. Taxi-drivers personalize and “jazz up” their vehicles by painting sayings like “Praise Be To God” on their bumper. I’ve come up with a tentative list of the ones I’ve seen:

“Love”
“Les Beaux Sont Tous Rares”
“Shame to Mr. and Mrs. Wicked”
“Plan with God”
“There’s Time for Everything”
“Active Boy”
“Chop with Long Spoon”
“Thanks be to God”
"Bishop"
Well Done
New York City
Even Ballam Cannot Reverse God's Blessing
Baby Take Care
Victory Only Comes from God
Jesus is Lord
The Young Shall Grow
Cover Me with the Blood of Jesus

... so anyone can get their daily dose of advice or philosophical thought from the back of a taxi!

I’ve had to take time to learn and ask the prices to certain locations. Sure, several times the taxi I was in nearly collided head-on with oncoming traffic but … the driver was swerving to avoid the enormous pothole. One time I was in a slow-moving traffic jam and the front right wheel of my taxi fell off, and all the passengers had to continue walking to find another taxi. While this was happening a herd of cattle was coming down the road towards me, making the traffic jam worse. Thank God the wheel fell off when the taxi was moving slowly. All the passengers including me, boarded the same empty taxi up ahead. Oh how taxi rides are an unpredictable adventure.