Trotros, Taxis, and Buses, Oh My!

“Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.” – Albert Einstein

A good friend told me that the post about the visitor I was supposed to have was too dramatic. Maybe she’s right, but it was my reality at the time. Disappointment is like the monster under your bed. You talk yourself into believing it’s not there and that it doesn’t matter and that you will be fine. So you fall asleep, but that little monster somehow manages to creep up on you in your dreams. You try to fight off that monster: maybe you scream, maybe you swing a fist, maybe you throw a pillow. Your heart is in it so maybe the reaction isn’t always the smartest or most well thought out. That's life. You live, you learn, and you move on. People come and people go, but each person can be a true learning experience and provide something to move forward with.

Speaking of moving forward….transportation here in Ghana is a trip, actually, no, it’s a journey. Every. Single. Time. Traffic in the cities is atrocious. Construction galore is part of the problem. But it’s also the fact that the only available forms of public transportation are taxis or trotros. A lot of people do not own their own cars, so they rely solely on these public transportation options. Oh how amazing a train system would be! It would lighten the load on the roads and help people breathe better. These old jalopies clunkin’ around town are shooting out all kinds of fumes, which I’m sure is part of the reason why respiratory infections are the second most frequently diagnosed illness in Ghana. Traffic dictates the day. It can take several hours to travel 40-50 miles. For example, today, it took my bus five hours to travel approximately 90 miles. Insane!

This is a trotro. These things are everywhere. Some are rankety and covered in dust, while others are pristine with a working air conditioner. Each trotro has a mate who is in charge of collecting money and yelling the destination out the window. Stations are spread throughout a large city, or in my small town of Bechem, there is just one general lorry station as they call it. There is no schedule. People just stand and wait and hope that one shows up with an open seat. If you get really lucky, your trotro will only hold three passengers per row rather than four, or five, which crazily has happened in my presence. Most rides are tight, bumpy, and fast. The cost varies depending on distance and can be anywhere from 50 peswes to 5 cedis. These minivans don't leave until they are absolutely full, so passengers just have to sit back and relax while the mate tries to round up more riders. Trotros are not approved modes of transportation by my volunteer organization, but I’ve survived every ride, so just call me a rebel! I’m hoppin’ on trotros! And I'm having a blast!

Taxis are also everywhere. Same idea as trotros. Some are pristine, some have holes in the floor. Big difference here is that a lot of the time, in a large city especially, you have to negotiate the cost. However, from my town of Bechem, going to Sunyani is always 2 cedis and going to Kumasi is always 2 cedis 50 peswes. Some towns also have shared taxi rides where you pay a set amount and the taxi picks up passengers along the route. For example, to get from the training college in Cape Coast to the market in town is 60 peswes, every time, no matter who you are. These set prices are for the heavily traveled routes. But, for just random pick-ups, you have to barter. As a foreigner, and specifically a white foreigner, it seems the cost offered is always outrageous. Now, outrageous is relative my friends. 5 cedis to go ten minutes here is too much, but I realize in Chicago that would be a deal since it costs $3 just to sit down. Anywho….it goes like this. For a random pick up, you wave a taxi down, tell the location, ask the cost, and say yes, or no with a counter-offer. Some drivers take the counter offer, and some walk away. I think many of the taxi drivers just assume us foreigners don’t know any better, so they jack the prices way up. Just have to stand your ground! Someone is always willing to help out.

This is one of the various buses that transports people throughout Ghana. These only go longer distances and don’t operate like a public bus system in a city in the states. There’s several private bus companies: STC, VIP, MMT to name a few. Bus stations are only in the larger cities, but it’s possible for a person to get picked up in Bechem. I can go to the bus office in town the day before I want to travel, buy the ticket, and then show up the next morning. The buses will stop in the smaller towns, but only if tickets were purchased ahead of time. I’ve spent a fair amount of time on buses traipsing all over this lovely country. Some rides are air-conditioned, some utilize nature as an air conditioner, some seats are cushiony, some seats are straight up hard plastic. Like a trotro, a bus doesn’t leave until it’s full. About a month ago, I sat on a bus in a parking lot for two hours waiting for every single seat to fill up. Then, I had a four hour ride to my destination. It's not easy.

Patience: the greatest lesson I am learning from Ghana’s transportation system. It’s encouraging to see highways being constructed and roads being paved. Progress is being made, but it’s slow. So, us visitors just have to relax and enjoy the ride.