Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
vehicle before you've even decided which company you want to travel with. Just head de-
terminedly for one of the kiosks before starting discussions with the official at the desk.
Itissomethingofalotterywhenchoosingwhichcompanytouse.MamiandKofmadare
two that readers regularly recommend. Most offices display a board showing the official
prices to each destination.
Come prepared for a long wait.
Taxi-brousses
do sometimes leave on time, but as they
never depart until they are full it can be hours before you set off.
If you want to reserve a particular seat, check they write your name on their seat plan
whenyoubook.Chooseyourseatcarefully.Thetwoseatsupfrontmaybethemostcomfy,
but sitting next to the driver you'll be punched in the leg each time he changes gear (no
goodifyouwanttosleep)andtheseseatscangethotastheyareabovetheengine.Therow
directly behind the driver has the best leg room.
Tourists are occasionally charged for luggage that is strapped on to the roof, but you are
entitled to 20kg or so for free, so refuse politely. If you have a very large quantity of lug-
gage then a fee is reasonable, but you should only pay about 5,000Ar per 50kg of extra
stuff.
VIVE LE TAXI-BROUSSE!
Every visitor has a
taxi-brousse
story or two. Here are a few sent in by readers. There
are more
taxi-brousse
stories in the boxes on
Click Here
and
Click Here
.
At about 10 o'clock the two of us went to the
taxi-brousse
station. 'Yes, yes, there is
a car. It is here, ready to go.' We paid our money. 'When will it go?' 'When it has
nine passengers.' 'How many has it got now?' 'Wait a minute.' A long look at note-
books, then a detailed calculation. 'Two.' As well as us?' 'No, no, including you.' It
finally left at about 7 o'clock. (Chris Ballance)
After several hours we picked up four more people. We couldn't believe it - the
driver had to sit on someone's lap! (Stephen Cartledge)
I was jammed in behind a very sick soldier, who spent most of the journey with his
head out of the window spewing lurid green bile like something from a horror-movie.
After 20 minutes we had to stop at a roadside stall to buy mangoes. Since I was now
on the sunny side of the vehicle the temperature of my shirt rose to what, had it been
made of polyester, would have been melting point. Our next stop was Antsirabe
where we were surrounded by apple vendors. All and sundry went absolutely ber-
serk. I hadn't seen so many apples since... since we left Ambositra. At about 5pm the
radio was turned on so we could listen to two men shouting at each other at a volume
