Taxi Adventures in the City

For the seasoned taxi passenger, there are a few hard learned lessons that can only come from experience. Things like:

• Know where you’re going and how to get there because your (not-so) friendly taxi driver may not know where it is.

• Know your fares and negotiate before entering the vehicle.

• Have all your change ready before you reach your destination

• Keep your belongings to yourself, other passengers may have sticky fingers.

• Just because there’s a window doesn’t mean it opens.

• Hold on for dear life.

• Always do a seat check before leaving the cab.

• Disregard all of the previous rules, but not really.

Jokes aside, I wish that some of my ex-boyfriends would have fought over for me half as hard as some taxi drivers do just before rush hour when they are trying to fill up their car.

I usually try and single out the one who looks like he is going to get me to where I need to go on time, and usually try to avoid the ones who look too desperate especially the ones who scream “sister, sister Khomasdal?!” The type who would tackle his comrade just to get to me. But after the ‘chosen one’ ushers me back into his car and promises to return “quick, quick” with more passengers, I join another sad and neglected soul sitting in the backseat of the car in the boiling heat for another 25 minutes and remember that just like ex-boyfriends, taxi drivers love to make promises they can’t keep.

At this stage in the game, the other passenger starts to get restless because they’ve been sitting in this deserted car with little ventilation for God knows how long. They start eyeing a taxi in the distance whose driver looks like he’s got all his ducks in a row, but just as soon they are about to abandon ship, our driver returns with the two passengers and we are on our way.

Like being in a relationship, getting into a taxi in Windhoek is like travelling into the great unknown. You never know what to expect. A simple journey can turn to a shouting match over an inappropriate taxi fare or you might end up feeling angry and confused after your cab driver drops you around the corner because ‘better’ clients came along.

Or you might get a cab driver who thinks your money isn’t good enough for him, like Namsheshe Imene who remembers being kicked out of a cab because the driver refused to let her pay her fare in N$1 coins and demanded to be paid with a N$10 note instead.

Needless to say, riding a taxi in Windhoek can be an adventure on its own, and it’s usually due to the colourful and sometimes wacky people who drive them… and drive in them. Like the travelling DJ, who can be heard a mile away while his cab blasts everything from the latest local hits to the Backstreet Boys.

I’ve started to treat my cab rides like a visit to the record store, where if I like the sound of something, I ask the driver what’s the song is called, which is usually followed by “it’s just a mixtape, I don’t know” so I shrug and bob away to the music for the rest of my trip.

Then sometimes I bump into a cab driver who can’t seem to quite make up his mind about what song he wants to listen to, and I spend the rest of my journey listening to the first three seconds of each song in his music collection.

I think it’s safe to say that you can tell a lot about your cab driver by the kind of music he listens to, and how he chooses to decorate and maintain his car. Some prefer the sleek leather look, and their cars still smell brand new. Others decorate theirs with Ouma doilies, teddy bears and various soccer team paraphernalia, while others prefer the more ‘natural’ worn down look.

These are the taxis with mysterious spills on the seats, an unidentifiable smell coming from the boot, and a door that only opens from the outside. Not to mention the new headrest ads that ask you “are you having marital problems, struggling to find a job, suffering from erectile dysfunction, etc? Contact 061…”.

T

hen it’s their driving.

Some taxi drivers are experts who keep a cool calm head as they drive you through the city but quite a few times you will get into a cab where the driving makes you question the validity of his driver’s license while you mutter some Hail Mary’s under your breath and hope to make it to your destination in one piece.

I was in a cab like this a few weeks ago. The driver almost ran over two pedestrians, and instead of apologising, he hurled profanities at them, even though he was clearly in the wrong.

Taxi drivers come in all shapes and sizes. I mean there are around 7 000 registered taxis in Windhoek alone. Some are intellectuals, most are family men (and a few women here and there), and others drive cabs in between their day jobs like the one that Joseph Koroma stumbled upon one morning on his way to work.

Imagine trying to get to work on time, when your taxi driver suddenly starts to look weak. You offer to drive him to the hospital but he continues to refuse your help, and starts swaying, and profusely sweating behind the wheel and muttering how he can’t afford to go to the hospital, and needs to get to work on time.

After spending a considerable amount of time trying to reason with the driver, and fearing for his own safety, Joseph manages to convince the driver to let him take over the wheel. And in following with the cab driver’s wishes, Joseph proceeds to drive himself to work despite his better judgment. Just as Joseph arrives outside his office building, the taxi driver shoots from the backseat, and realises that he works there too. The cab driver rolls out of the backseat and disappears into the building, leaving Joseph, his client behind and confused about what just happened.

In my experience as someone who doesn’t own a car, taxis and their drivers are essential. And despite getting into scuffles with cab drivers every now and then, I think taxis are one of the things that make living in this city such a unique experience.

Like London with its black cabs, New York with its yellow, and Cape Town with its minibuses, our taxis are a defining feature of this city, and arguably, well at least in my opinion, taxis are one of the things that make Windhoek so great.

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