This city teems with dalladallas, which are heavily modified school buses in various states of disrepair, each manned by a fearless driver and a vocally well-endowed conductor. Dalladallas are the public transportation of choice as they cost $300 TZ shillings (approximately $0.30) for each trip and they regularly ply certain routes. Initially, I couldn’t make head or tail of the dalladalla system. Instead, I relied on the congregation of taxis stationed on every other corner to get me around.
Taking a taxi starts with a nod/shrug/wave, moves to a vigorous bargaining session and often ends with a concentrated effort of the driver and myself to find my destination. The latter has been particularly true on my trips to work. There are few street names in Dar so the taxi drivers rely on the passenger knowing the name of the building to which the passenger is going and the taxi driver knowing the location of that building. This system breaks down somewhat if the building is not well known and you have no idea where you are going. My first day of work started with an extensive discussion between my taxi driver and the QBar receptionist to determine how to get to the office and a rather scenic tour of Kijitonamia, the suburb in which my office is located. On day two, I was a bit more helpful to my taxi driver as I realized that the turnoff to my office is marked by a large billboard with a picture of a white woman lying on a carpet with a silhouette of a horse woven into it - random, but distinctive.
In the morning, the traffic on the main roads is almost bumper to bumper and proceeds on a start-stop basis at the direction of a very formal police officer. There are traffic lights, but scant attention is paid to them. On Tuesday, while waiting for the appropriate direction from the police officer, a policeman got into my taxi. He was very polite, greeting both the taxi driver and I in turn before getting down to business in Swahili. The transaction ended with the taxi ferrying the policeman across the intersection and the taxi driver surrendering his license with a promise to return after dropping me off. I have no idea what happened, but I can guess. Apparently, my taxi driver had a powerful incentive to return to the policeman, as it is extremely complicated to get a new license and the process to get a new license starts at the police station.
After my cushy taxi rides, I was determined to figure out how to get to work by dalladalla. Each dalladalla has the name of its start and end point stencilled onto the front of the bus and each start or end point has a specific colour. For instance, I have to take the Msasani-Ubongo dalladalla, which is purple and green. The colour coding makes it reasonably easy to figure out which dalladalla to take, although I had to figure out which direction I should be going, which resulted in one or two extended trips.
Before embarking on my dalladalla adventure, I consulted the ever-helpful receptionist at QBar who gave me very specific instructions on how to get from the apartment to work. He also imparted some important Swahili phrases to me, namely: “shusha _____”, which means “I want to get off at_____”, and “naomba msaada _____”, which means “please help me get to _______”. My impression is that the second phrase is more along the lines of “I have no idea where I’m going so I’m relying on you to tell me when we get to my stop”. I have liberally employed the second phrase with the conductors and my fellow passengers alike.
The morning trip to work is hectic, as every man and his dog have to be at the office by 8 a.m. and the dalladallas over flow with passengers. Funnily enough, there is always enough room for one more person. Movement inside the dalladalla is a carefully synchronised wave of arms, legs and torsos, as tightly packed bodies meld further to allow passengers in and out. I suspect the morning journey will get increasingly interesting, as the temperature rises.
The picture has nothing to do with this post, but I wanted to share the sunshine and beauty of Bongoyo Island, a small island that is approximately 30 - 60 minutes by boat from Dar (the boat leaves from Slipway and the trip costs $18,000 Tz shillings). Cristiano and I spent Sunday exploring Bongoyo, soaking in the sun and eating fresh, grilled prawns. I expect my freckles will unite in the near future to form a tan.
Taking a taxi starts with a nod/shrug/wave, moves to a vigorous bargaining session and often ends with a concentrated effort of the driver and myself to find my destination. The latter has been particularly true on my trips to work. There are few street names in Dar so the taxi drivers rely on the passenger knowing the name of the building to which the passenger is going and the taxi driver knowing the location of that building. This system breaks down somewhat if the building is not well known and you have no idea where you are going. My first day of work started with an extensive discussion between my taxi driver and the QBar receptionist to determine how to get to the office and a rather scenic tour of Kijitonamia, the suburb in which my office is located. On day two, I was a bit more helpful to my taxi driver as I realized that the turnoff to my office is marked by a large billboard with a picture of a white woman lying on a carpet with a silhouette of a horse woven into it - random, but distinctive.
In the morning, the traffic on the main roads is almost bumper to bumper and proceeds on a start-stop basis at the direction of a very formal police officer. There are traffic lights, but scant attention is paid to them. On Tuesday, while waiting for the appropriate direction from the police officer, a policeman got into my taxi. He was very polite, greeting both the taxi driver and I in turn before getting down to business in Swahili. The transaction ended with the taxi ferrying the policeman across the intersection and the taxi driver surrendering his license with a promise to return after dropping me off. I have no idea what happened, but I can guess. Apparently, my taxi driver had a powerful incentive to return to the policeman, as it is extremely complicated to get a new license and the process to get a new license starts at the police station.
After my cushy taxi rides, I was determined to figure out how to get to work by dalladalla. Each dalladalla has the name of its start and end point stencilled onto the front of the bus and each start or end point has a specific colour. For instance, I have to take the Msasani-Ubongo dalladalla, which is purple and green. The colour coding makes it reasonably easy to figure out which dalladalla to take, although I had to figure out which direction I should be going, which resulted in one or two extended trips.
Before embarking on my dalladalla adventure, I consulted the ever-helpful receptionist at QBar who gave me very specific instructions on how to get from the apartment to work. He also imparted some important Swahili phrases to me, namely: “shusha _____”, which means “I want to get off at_____”, and “naomba msaada _____”, which means “please help me get to _______”. My impression is that the second phrase is more along the lines of “I have no idea where I’m going so I’m relying on you to tell me when we get to my stop”. I have liberally employed the second phrase with the conductors and my fellow passengers alike.
The morning trip to work is hectic, as every man and his dog have to be at the office by 8 a.m. and the dalladallas over flow with passengers. Funnily enough, there is always enough room for one more person. Movement inside the dalladalla is a carefully synchronised wave of arms, legs and torsos, as tightly packed bodies meld further to allow passengers in and out. I suspect the morning journey will get increasingly interesting, as the temperature rises.
The picture has nothing to do with this post, but I wanted to share the sunshine and beauty of Bongoyo Island, a small island that is approximately 30 - 60 minutes by boat from Dar (the boat leaves from Slipway and the trip costs $18,000 Tz shillings). Cristiano and I spent Sunday exploring Bongoyo, soaking in the sun and eating fresh, grilled prawns. I expect my freckles will unite in the near future to form a tan.
1 comment:
aha! so trotros/bush taxis are also dalladallas! what fun, and you get to save money at the same time too. BTW I like the new look! :)
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