Bikes, Vans and Galimotos

After living in Malawi for about 7 weeks, I feel qualified to give a brief description of the countries public transportation system. The main ways to get around (some of this I’ve told you already, so sorry for the repetition) are…

Njinga – riding on the back of a bicycle (njinga). This is a great way to get around when you’re not going too far. It costs about 30MK (20cents) to go a mile. Most of them have a padded seat on the back, and they’re pretty good about avoiding potholes. All you do is yell out, “njinga!” hop on the back and off you go.

Matola – riding on the back of a pickup truck. This is probably the most useful mode of transport if you’re going anywhere that’s less than a couple hours away. All you have to do is flag one down on the side of the road and hop in. As I described earlier they pack everybody in the truck bed like sardines. They stop constantly to let people off and on, so sometimes it’s painfully slow going. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a matola decide that they’re too full to pick somebody up.

Minibus – basically a crowded minivan. Like matolas, minibuses cram in many more people than you would think humanly possible. Sometimes this is accomplished by the tout (conductor) opening the sliding door and standing on the outside as the driver speeds down the road. There are stations for minibuses, but certainly no schedule. The time the bus leaves is quite simple, it will leave when enough people get on; this means that sometimes you wait for a couple hours.

Keep in mind, that all these vehicles are traveling down roads, many unpaved, with enormous potholes. I’ve decided, for the sake of my internal organs, to stand on matolas from now on.