In my 7 or so months in Madagascar, I have observed and slowly figured out a bit more how transportation in this country works (or doesn't). First off, some terminology: the "buses" that go between cities are called taxi-brusses, and the buses within each city and suburb network are called taxibes. Taxis are just like yellow cabs in America, except here they're tan-yellow and about 20 years to old to function. Motos can refer to motorcycles or scooters.
I take the taxibe at least twice a week into Tana to work at the printy press. I've also taken multiple brusses now, both short term and long term ones. I have also traveled by private car, taxi, moto, and even (a very unfortunate trip) by train. The only transportation I have not yet experienced in this country has been short trip plane rides or boats, though there is still time! I thought I'd expound some on my travel experiences thus far, which I will break up into 3 parts: The TaxiBrusse, The TaxiBe, and Miscellaneous.
Without further ado, here is installment 1- The TaxiBrusse.
Long brusse rides can be either miserable or fairly enjoyable depending on the company you ride with, the driver, and pure luck. I've gone from Antananarivo to Fianarantsoa, Manakara to Fianarantsoa, and Fianarantsoa to Antananarivo- all trips of around 8-10 hours. Every big city has a brusse station, which looks more like a large outdoor flea market with lots and lots of large vans. The day (or two) before traveling, you want to go to the station and reserve a space.
Most of my experiences have been at Fasakarana, the massive taxibrusse station in Tana. (The experience seems to be generally similar in other cities, but just blown way out of proportion in Tana). As soon as you get close to the station, packs of men will surround you and start yelling "Aiza?!" or the names of various cities. Eventually, once you tell them the name of where you are headed, one or two will 'claim' you as a customer and the rest filter away to look for others. The men or man who have claimed you will lead you through an endless maze of stalls, to the company they work for.
Now, once you get there, you are not committed to traveling with their company- most companies going to your desired city will be in the same area, so shop around if you like. Some people prefer to look around and check out the various brusses, others like a sense of adventure and just go with the first company that claims them. (I go with the latter strategy, mostly because I get too overwhelmed with all of the noise and people) Prices will be, for the most part, consistent across companies. For example, Tana to Fianar is 26.000 Ariary. Once you settle on a company, people will 'mandrosoa' you into their stall where you will get a ticket. You have the option of paying in full or part advance; the seller will take your name and number down and stamp your ticket.
If there is an option, strategically pick your seat. As a vazaha, you will no doubt have noticed that Madagascar is just not built to handle your size. Accept it, and plan accordingly when possible. Seats next to the driver are often ideal, though hard to come by. They offer the most leg room. Next best options are either the first or last row, by the windows, and is entirely a matter of personal opinion. I prefer the back row window seats, as then there are no people climbing out over me. Also, the back windows generally open wide enough that you can climb out through the windows when it is time for bush breaks or mealtimes. (Pro tip: You do not want to be the last one out or in of the brusse for breaks, ever) If those four are taken, try for a window seat in general. Avoid middle seats or anything that looks like it might be an 'aisle': this is not a plane; aisles are generally no wider than my foot. Literally.
On the day of traveling, there is a game of strategy that must be played. It is called fotoan-gasy (Malagasy time), and it is an exercise in a convoluted social version of game theory. Simply put, you don't want to be the first nor the last to arrive. In practice, it is much more complicated. Everyone anticipates that everyone else will also be a little late, and in order to minimize waiting time you must adjust your planned arrival time accordingly. It takes years to master, or so I'm told. I have not yet mastered the art of fotoan-gasy, but I generally aim to show up a half hour or so after I'm told and it generally works okay.
As an example: the brusse from Tana to Finar- one of my first- said it left at 3 p.m. I arrived at 2:30, like a good American. Unfortunately I was the very first one to show. The brusse actually left at 5. The masters of fotoan-gasy arrived at 4:15 or 4:30. Much later, you run the risk of making people angry for having to wait for you. It is a very complex dance.
The last brusse I took, Fianar to Tana, had a leaving time of 7:30. I aimed to arrive around 8, and with traffic and the like actually got to the station around 8:15 or so. The brusse left at 9. Almost pro status!
Once the brusse leaves, settle in and enjoy the ride- or at least, try not to be miserable.
Some tips:
-Women should strongly consider wearing long skirts for bush breaks; and when there is a break, follow the other women. Generally, men head to one side of the road and women stay on the other.
-For meal breaks, eat as quickly as possible. Meal breaks tend to be around 30 minutes- including any bathroom breaks, paying for and ordering your food, and getting in and out of the brusse. Don't mess around. Haul yourself out of the window and grab the waitress's attention immediately; eat as soon as you get any food in front of you.
-Bring snacks and water with you. Sometimes, the hotelys the driver chooses to stop at are out of food. It happens. You'll be very grateful for the gouty and salto you have with you.
-Wear or pack a sweater, long sleeve shirt, or lamba hoany, particularly if traveling through the highlands in the evening. It gets cold. Very cold.
-Always travel with motion sickness pills. Madagascar roads can challenge even the strongest of stomachs, and completing successful trips before is not an indicator of how your current trip will go.
-When departing the taxibrusse at your destination station, do not let anyone "help" you grab your bags from the top of the brusse. More likely than not, they are a taxi driver who will try to put your bags immediately into his taxi. Learn to say "tsy mila, fa misoatra" (don't need, but thanks).
-If you do want to take a taxi, negotiate a price before handing over your bags or getting into the car. At Fasakarana, taxi drivers have cards like backstage passes around their necks, verifying that they actually are drivers. Do not trust anyone who doesn't have one of these cards.
-Stick with the older women or older men. A few words of conversation with them during a meal break or while in transit, and they will generally look out for you. Many times I've been saved from a slightly sketchy situation with a pushy taxi driver in a dark station by a group of grandmothers.
There are also shorter taxibrusses between cities and smaller villages. I've taken a few of these as well, Tana to Analavory, Antsirabe to Tana, and Fianar to Ranomafana. These are less enjoyable than longer brusse rides, which seems counterintuitive at first. However, short brusse rides (both of mine were around 4 hours) can be very rough on the traveler. For one thing, the brusse itself tends to be smaller- instead of an actual bus-ish vehicle, you more often get a large van. In addition to that, because the ride is "so short" passengers are packed in. On a long brusse ride, there are 4 seats per row and 4 people per row. On a short brusse ride, there are 4 seats per row and 5 or 6 people per row. Reservations are not a thing for short rides (in my experience, people just look at you like you're crazy), so don't attempt to use your fotoan-gasy skills- resign yourself to waiting and show up early in order to get a decent seat. Short brusse rides also tend to carry more cargo, which means that you may end up holding someone's child for them or sitting face to face with a rooster that's tucked under a mans arm. Out of the 5 short rides I've been on, 4 of them were miserable. On the bright side, they're only 3 or 4 hours, and generally cheap (around 5.000 Ariary). The trickiest bit can be finding the 'station' in small villages- generally, just a stand on the side of the road. Ask around, or watch for areas on the main (paved) road that seem to attract large numbers of vans.
Riding the taxibrusse in Madagascar is one of, in my opinion, the most quintessential Malagasy experiences you can possibly have. It is often miserable. But it's also a part of life here, a beautifully flawed way of moving around. Besides, you get some killer stories!
As an example- the latest brusse I was on was by far the best. I was coming back to Tana from Fianarantsoa. I was in the last row of the brusse, next to the window and by a stroke of luck, with an empty seat next to me. Across the "aisle" (told you, literally the width of my foot) was a very nice young lady and her baby. We exchanged pleasantries in the beginning before settling to listen to the ParadisaGasy radio that was being blasted throughout the brusse. When we stopped for lunch, I pulled myself out through the window without flashing anyone in my skirt (it's taken time but I'm finally almost at semi-pro brusse riding level!) and was about to walk to the hotely, when I heard the young woman behind me.
Her: "Azafady-"
Me: *turn around* "Aika?"
Her: "Afaka maka ny zaza ve ianao?"
Me: "Azafady?!"
Her: "Zay" *passes baby through window*
Me: "......uh......." *takes baby*
Baby: *promptly starts crying*
Every other passenger: *starts staring at the vazaha who made the baby cry, thinking I did something to her*
Me: *to the baby* "......uh...... Aza mitomany, zaza. Aza mataotra..." *to the woman* "Mataotra izy!"
Her: *jumps out the window gracefully and takes back baby*
We, of course, repeated the process climbing back into the brusse and again when we arrived at Fasakarana.
Ask anyone who has spent significant time in Madagascar about the brusse, and I guarantee they will have at least one similar or better story. Where else are you going to get this kind of experience?
Stay tuned for the next installment of the Madagascar transportation series!
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