Do you seek excitement but have not the stomach for the
saltiness of the sea? Come and take a drive in a Pointe Noire taxi. The
adrenaline rush you desire will be yours in a heartbeat!
It was not the narrowness that terrified me, but the ease
with which he snaked through the crowded streets. Lights and signs are a polite
suggestion in this country; something to laugh about over a bottle of beer. I think it is the humidity that drives them
mad. The air is too thick to breathe.
“Imbécile!” He shouted, for what seemed like the hundredth
time. He shook his fist at the passing driver. Then he tossed his head out of his window and shot a stream of saliva into the night air. To him, every other vehicle was an obstacle.
“Slow down,” I quietly prayed, “Lord
let me get to the end of this night in one piece.” If he heard, he either did not understand me or ignored me completely.
Two trucks were trying to negotiate a turn ahead of us. He hooted impatiently, switched gears and stepped onto the
accelerator. We barely sneaked passed the first truck.
“Tu es fou!” I could see
the shock in the other driver’s face.
Fuelled by the thrill of his first success, he went on to race after the second truck. His thirst for speed kept him from slowing down at the mud “dunes”
in our way. As we rose and fell on each dune, I could hear an increase in the
rattling of the car. The roof must have been worn from all the years of head-banging. We swerved left, only making it back to the right
seconds before collision with an oncoming vehicle. Apparently, it is the norm
to drive without headlights after dark. Those who used them seemed to be the
exception, not the rule.
“This must be what a fishing canoe feels like in the middle of a stormy sea,” I thought.
We caught up to the truck. The dust it sprayed at our little
car did nothing to sway the angry bull that was my driver. There was more cursing and mumbling in a
strange language; more spitfuls of saliva. After a few near-collisions, we
squeezed between the truck and an oncoming Pajero to get to the head of the
line.
By now he was frothing and sweating. I was literally on the
sitting on the edge. In the dimness of the night, I saw something familiar. I
saw the light first; then the tree; and then the gate. I was home! My ten
minute ride from work was over and I had lived to tell the tale.
