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Journal of African trips

Africa, spring 1999 part II

Agelasto
2004-05-21 18:00:16

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/>invited. So he waits ready to strike at the exit of the restaurant while we share a meal with
Abdou. The restaurant which we have chosen is named Le Mansah and is the
backpackers? premier choice in Ziguichor because it serves French food at African prices.
Frequented by affluent locals and foreign tourists, La Mansah is so good that we will eat
here for the next four nights which, come to think of it, is probably the first time in my life
I have eaten in a particular restaurant four nights in a row. Actually, the restaurant is
almost empty each night we visit, save one. That night, a French delegation of some sort
has reserved the entire restaurant. We order quickly before they arrive, lest we have to
endure a less appetizing place. In Paris or New York our three-course meal with drinks
would set you back US $100 a person, but here it?s under $10. By African standards this
is, of course, considered a prohibitively expensive meal.

We have made arrangements that the French couple and Abdou will show up at our
campment at 9 a.m. They arrive at 10 a.m. It took the serpent longer to arrange for the
taxi than he had promised Abdou. The taxi is not the serpent?s. He is merely the
facilitator, the agent who has found the taxi at the taxi depot. We have apparently hired
him along with the taxi and its driver. We head off to pick up the cycles and then load
them atop the taxi, a Peugeot 404. What constitutes a bush taxi is anyone?s guess. In
Senegal they have to be licensed, but this has nothing to do with minimum safety features
or a standard fee structure. In francophone countries like Senegal taxis are controlled by a
union (syndicate) which oversees the operation of the gare routiere or long-distance taxi
depot. In some countries there are posted fees, and tickets are issued by the syndicate. In
other cases arrangements are negotiated with ...