Hitching Around

As evidenced by the time its taken me to post this blog, blogging doesn’t come naturally to me, even with the semi-fast internet I had installed here in Sowa in January. I’m working on that trying to get myself into more of a habit of blogging and documenting my time here. Maybe I’ll treat it as more of a journaling exercise that I post online occasionally. One aspect of my daily life here in Botswana that never fails to generate conversation is hitch-hiking as a preferred method of travelling in Botswana. If you don’t have a car (and Peace Corps Volunteers don’t) then hitching is often the most convenient affordable way to get around, especially if you live away from the main Gaborone – Francistown “metropolitan” area where most of the Botswana population lives.

Public transportation here consists of combis (vans) that seat between 10-14 people, mini-buses that hold between 20-28 people, and regular size buses that seat 60-70 people. If you’re traveling between Gaborone and Botswana you can expect a bus ride to be between 5 and 5 ½ hours and to cost about 90 Pula ($10.25) each way. Traveling in a passenger car/truck/SUV can take around 4 hours if you don’t stop. The buses that run between Gaborone and Francistown run most of the day starting at 6 am and typically make two scheduled stops (Mahalapye and Palapye) along the way and occasionally make unscheduled stops to pick up people along the road, unplanned restroom breaks and police check points. So if you live in or near Gaborone or Francistown, or in one of the towns or villages along the A1 road that connects the two largest cities in Botswana then public transport will probably work reliably for you, if you don’t mind crowded, un-air-conditioned buses or combis. Buses are also reliable between Francistown and Nata and Nata and Maun. In the rest of the country public transit (such as it is) is often sporadic and variable making hitching the preferred option. The popularity and acceptance of hitching here boils down to convenience and economics.

The relative convenience of hitching was probably the biggest challenge for me, as I would happily pay for scheduled public transportation when available. Combis and mini-buses only serve Francistown from Sowa and leave regularly between 6 am and 10am. Occasionally, service extends beyond that and its not guaranteed. It takes about 2 hours to travel the 160 km (about 90 miles) between Sowa and Francistown depending on how many stops are made along the way – there are many little towns and villages on the A3 that runs to Francistown from Nata. Combis and mini buses from Francistown to Sowa start running around 11:30 am to 12:00 noon through about 5 pm. If you’re in Sowa and want to go to Nata, Maun or anywhere else north or west, then you need to hitch to Nata and either hitch again from there or catch a bus from there.

The natural variability of hitching, of not being able to plan around catching a hitch during an exact time frame was and is the most challenging aspect of hitching for me. A life of catching 10:54 am/pm flights (even when delayed) has led me to associate traveling, at least the flying part of it, with detailed planning centered around traffic to the airport, whether I’m checking luggage, am expecting an upgrade, weather, delays with TSA, etc.  As a natural planner, I developed a rhythm and routine around flying, that while never perfect, was manageable and worked well for me. That’s not quite how it works with hitching in Botswana, there’s a serendipity to it that takes a bit of getting used to when you’re a frequent flyer like me, or like I used to be. Having said that I’ve never waited any longer than 30 minutes to get a hitch out of Sowa and the longest I’ve waited since I’ve been here is 1 hour for a hitch that never materialized between Maun and Ghanzi, so I just went back to the bus station (rank) in Maun and caught a mini-bus to Ghanzi. I’ve heard stories of PC Volunteers and others waiting up to 4 or 5 hours for a hitch but those are pretty extreme examples. My average wait time to get a hitch out of Sowa has been about 15 minutes which is not so bad and often the hitch is faster than public transportation.

So it comes down to convenience, necessity (if you live in a more remote area) and economics. American/Western notions of hitching being “cool” or “anti-establishment,” or even dangerous are either outdated or not culturally relevant here in Botswana. Beyond convenience and necessity it really is “the economy stupid” to quote a former President. It is expensive to own a car in Botswana relative to the average salary and petrol (gas) is pricey as well, the equivalent of about $6.50/gallon at current conversion rates. There’s no romance to hitching here and unless you catch a ride in a truck going to Zimbabwe or Zambia there’s little danger, unless your driver has been drinking, something you definitely need to look out for on weekends and toward the end of the month when most people here get paid. And often, there’s not much interaction between driver and passengers/hitching, beyond the initial negotiation of price. Yes, you are expected to pay to hitch here, which in many ways means hitching can be considered a form of public transportation here in Botswana. The “fare” is generally the equivalent bus fare for your route. When I hitch from Sowa to Francistown it’s expected I pay the driver 30-35 Pula as the regular bus fare is P34.80. Most people who pick up hitchers here do so to supplement/offset the cost of petrol which is the main reason it is safe and accepted to hitch here. So if you can live with the “serendipity” of hitching it’s a pretty decent way to get around Botswana.