Curious about how I get around Soweto without a car? Here is
a play-by-play of my typical taxi* ride to the local mall:
--Walk about four blocks to the
main road where the taxis drive.
--Cross to the other side of the
street, dodging cars as if I were in the game “Frogger.”
--When a taxi is in sight, hold
out one hand and point one finger down towards the ground (that is the “signal” to get a local taxi
heading towards the mall).
--Get in the taxi and find a place
to sit. Sometimes this is harder than others – some taxis are empty, while
others already have about 13 people inside.
--Dig in my pocket for my money.
From my street to the mall, the fare is R7.50 (about $0.75).
--Look to the people next to me
and make change with them before we all pass our money to the driver. It is an
unwritten rule that the passengers make change amongst themselves before
handing the money to the front.
--When passing money forward, say
how many and how much is being paid. For example, if two people are paying
R7.50 and one is paying R8 (because they are traveling a greater distance),
pass all the money together and say, “Two seven-fifty, one eight rand.”
--If necessary, wait for my change
to be passed back. If not, sit back and enjoy the approx. 2 km ride.
--About one block before the mall,
yell “Garage!” loud enough for the driver to hear. This tells the driver that I
want to get dropped off at the garage (gas station) outside of the mall.
--When stopped, squeeze through
the other passengers in order to exit the taxi.
--Make sure the door is shut
behind me and head to the mall.
--Do my shopping, eating, etc. at
the mall.
--When it is time to leave, walk
to the end of the parking lot where the taxis are parked.
--Find the correct taxi by saying
I need to go to “Old age” (the Soweto Home for the Aged is very close to where
I stay).
--Walk to the taxi that was
pointed out.
--Find a place to sit and wait for
the taxi to fill with people. Taxis never leave the rank until they are full
(or overly full sometimes, in my opinion). Sometimes this takes two minutes,
sometimes it takes 20.
--Once full, the taxi pulls out of
the lot and heads for the road. Find my money (R7.50 again) and make change
before passing it forward.
--About one block before my
street, yell “Short left!”
This tells the driver that I want to be dropped off at the next street on the
left.
--Exit the taxi, close the door
behind me, and walk the four blocks home.
*When I say “taxi,” I don’t mean a yellow car with one of
your close friends sharing the back seat with you. I mean a “kombi,” a 15
passenger van used as shared transport.
