Driving

 

Even in the best of circumstances I have a love-hate relationship with driving. I like the idea of driving; and grew up believing that there was a family talent for driving. In practice, I am not always fond of it. I delayed learning to drive as long as I could. By the time I registered for Driver’s Ed at school, I was too old to get the Driver’s Ed permit other students had. I had to take the test for the regular Learner’s Permit. Once I completed the Driver’s Ed course, taken during the summer between my junior and senior years of high school, I put off getting my license. I got it in November of that year. I remember, because my friend Jan had to get hers that week before her learner's permit expired on her 18th birthday. We left school during third period and walked to the license branch to get the licenses. Even with my license, I didn’t really start driving regularly until the summer after my freshman year of college.

I tell you all that to acknowledge that I do have issues with driving. However, driving here in Togo is such a challenge that I believe I would dread it even without my emotional driving baggage. The two complicating factors:  road conditions and other drivers!

On the open road, from here to Aneho or Lomé, the road conditions are good. One can access both by the main paved road that runs through Vogan. From the corner of Hammer’s street with the main road, a left turn leads to Aneho, a right to Lomé. The road is a highway, but it is occasionally punctuated by speed bumps, warnings of speed bumps to come, and a bad railroad track. There are villages, towns, and police checkpoints which also reduce speed.

However, traffic and other drivers detract from the otherwise pleasant experience. Much of the traffic consists of motorcycles. Motorcycle drivers also take advantage of their size to go to the right or the left of whatever they are passing (a speed bump or something in town), or even to go the wrong way! Naturally, they normally go slower than cars so they have to be passed. If there happen to be some in the oncoming lane, and a car decides to pass them, a game of chicken ensues. The driver of a car has to remain vigilant.

Once you arrive in Lomé, especially, the motorcycles are joined by two different types of three-wheeled vehicles. One is a passenger carrier and is used as a taxi. The other, an Apsonic, can carry passengers, but is frequently used for freight. These modes of transport are also slower and so must be passed. Of course, in the city, with the increased traffic, passing can be difficult. It is not always possible to get all the way into the left lane, so you create a lane for yourself in the middle.

This is a fancy version of the three-wheeled vehicle used as a taxi in Lomé. Hammer's friend or relative (I never know which) got this back in December and brought it by the house to show it off.

Two different apsonics that I saw this morning. The one on the left is hauling logs. The one on the right had several people in the back, but they got down and away before I was able to take the picture. 

In both cities and small towns, drivers frequently stop and park on the side of the road.

Small town traffic is complicated by road conditions. Most of the streets are unpaved. They are dusty and sandy in the dry season and muddy or under water in the rainy season. In all seasons, they are filled with potholes.

I am mostly comfortable with the road from my house to Hammer’s and then from his house to the school. The drive is a bit like a video game as one dodges the worst of the potholes or mud holes. Driving to and in Lomé is still an ordeal for me. I have never driven the whole trip. I can drive there and to our first stop, but then I surrender the steering wheel to whoever is with me.

To see videos of driving, both on the main road and in Vogan, follow this link. I was the passenger, not the driver, when they were taken. That tells you that they show the way back to Vogan!