Transport Fun
on Shona in Sierra Leone (Sierra Leone), 16/Oct/2010 18:10, 34 days ago
So there are several methods of transport in Freetown– ranging from poda podas (minibuses) to taxis (shared or chartered) to lifts with friends (a VSO favourite!) or walking. There are also okadas (motorbikes) but I have no intention of ever getting anywhere on one of these.Walking is a full on assault of the senses– there are very few pavements in Freetown so you always have to be on your guard not to fall down a pothole or sewer. There are constantly people saying “Hello how are you?” or “White Girl!” or “I love you”. Taxis and podas tend to enjoy driving nearly into you as they assume you wanta lift somewhere. You could buy any number of things while walking around ranging from peanuts to bread to plumpinut or Starter F75 (the nutritional supplements for malnourished children which are provided free by Unicef…)I’ve only been in a few podas. They tend to have almost no space in and I’ve always been fairly dubious that they would EVER pass an MOT.Shard taxis can also be a challenge. You have to shout in the window where you want to go as they drive past, and if they’re going that way, they might stop. I’ve been in a few taxis which say they’re going one way, and then suddenly change their mind half way there….Getting lifts with friends is happily how I’ve mostly been getting to work. The wonderful Becky from Welbodi has been bereft of colleagues for the last few weeks while Sandra is away so she and her driver Usman come to get us most mornings. Usman is a legend. He knows his way around Freetown like the back of his hand and has a lot of tricks to get through the notoriously slow Freetown traffic.