A Zambian Minibus Experience (02/29/08)

If you didn’t know, minibuses are the major form of transportation here in Zambia. With only 5% of the population owning a vehicle, the rest of Lusaka takes a minibus, rides a bike or walks. Our house is about 5 miles from downtown Lusaka. We have a bus stop about 3 blocks from our house. So, this morning, Graham (another ACTION missionary) and I hitched a ride on a minibus. The minibus initially wasn’t as bad as I expected (I had heard horror stories). When we got on the bus, it wasn’t full, which allowed us to choose our seats. We ended up sitting in the back row. As we drove to town, they kept stopping and picking up more and more passengers. I was amazed at how many people they could fit on just one bus. By the time we went over the bridge to head into downtown Lusaka, we were on the back seat with three other people. These busses are not wide. In fact, they are very similar to a Volkswagen bus. Three people fit comfortably, four is a stretch, but five people on one row was just crazy. I later found out that the record for passengers—as observed by ACTION missionaries—was 22 people on one minibus at one time). So, I guess I have no room to complain. As we pulled up to the bus stop, the driver decided to try and cut in line. He went around the left side of all of the buses right up until the entrance where he forced himself back into the line. At this point, two police officers stopped the bus and got into the front seat. I was told later that they would probably be trying to take some kind of bribe from the driver instead of just issuing a traffic ticket. All in all, it turned out to be quite an adventure.