“Riding it Hot” – Stories of Bush Taxis

Your first time riding in a bush taxi is one that you are not likely to forget. Bush taxis are poorly constructed small passenger vans that take you from “the bush” (the middle of nowhere) to where you need to go. They are infamous for having about 12 seats in the vehicle, and squeezing twice that amount of people into the van, along with a few chickens and potentially even a goat. If that isn’t enough, they have people riding on the roof with any luggage. This will be my form of transportation on most occasions throughout my two years here. There is no air conditioning in bush taxis, and you are squeezed into positions that you never thought were possible. For a culture of people that don’t allow men and women to touch, I sure had every inch of my personal space invaded. Complete strangers basically sit on top of one another. At every stop you have to wonder if the bush taxi will be able to start again. On one of my first rides here, the bush taxi ran out of gas on the middle of the road. Everyone exited the bus, and many of the women walked out into the bush to use the rest room, while the men helped add gasoline into the vehicle and start to push the van down the road. We had to walk a bit of a distance before they got it up and running again, and everyone jumped/crammed themselves back into the van to get to our destination. The ultimate bush taxi experience is called “riding it hot” which is when “Mr. D. pays a visit while you’re on a bush taxi,” the ultimate Peace Corps experience.