A Drive on the Wild Side
A Drive on the Wild Side
Or, road conditions and traffic patterns of southern Mozambique.
The highway from the Limpopo bridge in to Maputo is a lot like Route 20, the Mt.Vernon side of course, not the nice 4-lane Anacortes part. But add people walking all along the side, occasional livestock and bicycles, chapas (those taxi vans that probably seat 10 but fit 20) stopping on the side of the road to pick up passengers, no shoulders and random potholes.
Passing is common and expected, tailgating is prevalent in the time before passing, and there is something about flicking the headlights for communication, but I haven't figured out what they are communicating, though it's not what it would mean in America- your brights are on. And I'm suspecting it's about as vague and versatile a communication as is "Aloha."
In towns and in Maputo there is a third lane, which is a passing lane in the center. This is unofficial and unmarked, in fact it is right astride the dotted center line. But cars on both sides kindly stay towards the outside of the road when they are not passing.
Speaking of lines, most of the time I don't see any. But when I do, the outside solid line is yellow, and the center dotted line is white. Now you could say this is the opposite as America. But if you look at it a little differently, I say it's the same: in both cases the yellow is always on your left and the white is on your right.
Now here's a math problem: It takes us, driving in our Land Rover at 120km/hr (75mph) 3 hours to get from Chokwe to Maputo. Yesterday I asked how long the whole trip takes if you are riding in a chapa, because first you have to wait to catch a chapa, and then it stops all along the way to Maputo. The answer? Also 3 hours. Hmmm. The explanation is that the chapas are all in competition with each other: if one gets to a stop first, it picks up all the customers. And remember, you're never out of room on a chapa.
Or, road conditions and traffic patterns of southern Mozambique.
The highway from the Limpopo bridge in to Maputo is a lot like Route 20, the Mt.Vernon side of course, not the nice 4-lane Anacortes part. But add people walking all along the side, occasional livestock and bicycles, chapas (those taxi vans that probably seat 10 but fit 20) stopping on the side of the road to pick up passengers, no shoulders and random potholes.
Passing is common and expected, tailgating is prevalent in the time before passing, and there is something about flicking the headlights for communication, but I haven't figured out what they are communicating, though it's not what it would mean in America- your brights are on. And I'm suspecting it's about as vague and versatile a communication as is "Aloha."
In towns and in Maputo there is a third lane, which is a passing lane in the center. This is unofficial and unmarked, in fact it is right astride the dotted center line. But cars on both sides kindly stay towards the outside of the road when they are not passing.
Speaking of lines, most of the time I don't see any. But when I do, the outside solid line is yellow, and the center dotted line is white. Now you could say this is the opposite as America. But if you look at it a little differently, I say it's the same: in both cases the yellow is always on your left and the white is on your right.
Now here's a math problem: It takes us, driving in our Land Rover at 120km/hr (75mph) 3 hours to get from Chokwe to Maputo. Yesterday I asked how long the whole trip takes if you are riding in a chapa, because first you have to wait to catch a chapa, and then it stops all along the way to Maputo. The answer? Also 3 hours. Hmmm. The explanation is that the chapas are all in competition with each other: if one gets to a stop first, it picks up all the customers. And remember, you're never out of room on a chapa.
posted by Art Shotwell at 1:01 PM
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