As always in Africa there is a situation in every day that I cannot foresee even when I had tried my best. If a five hour trip from one city to another has been planned then it is always good to keep in mind that you need one day spare, at least when you are supposed to fly home. Having reached 70 km from the capital the bus stopped and we, five Estonians, were standing at the side of the road in the midday desert heat. The bus driver didn’t give any instructions or further explanations of the situation. Deciding by the hasty actions of people we gathered that the bus isn’t moving any further. We got a brief explanation from the local co-travellers who usually don’t make any sudden movements but were now for some unexplainable reason competing to be the fastest out of the bus.

We realised pretty quickly that this stop was not for the purpose of gentlemen relieving themselves. Two years of eventful life in Europe might not emotionally reach such a point as staying on the side of the road in Africa for two hours with the bus having no oil for example, or some random part has stopped working. It has happened on many occasions that the bus has hit a domestic animal. Then the situation is completely different. No one reaches for their luggage but all the people just jump out to wonder. This fair trial is observed by 60 people and everyone has a right to their say. The moment the bus stopped the passengers grab their belongings from underneath and from above the seats and left the bus hastily. This time the speed of our actions was the opposite of the locals. Hasty were those who knew what to do next.

All of us had tickets bought to the capital Addis Ababa. Soon enough the ticket vendor appeared with a wad of cash to hand out 1 euro equivalent sums in local currency with which any further travel is obviously impossible. When Ethiopians usually protest and demand their own in every situation then this time no one bargained. The only bargainers were us presuming naively that human rights apply in this situation. After a long hassle we got back some of the ten Euros paid for the luggage. Someone explained nervously that can we not figure out simple math. It all seemed like in a bad dream where you are fleeing from amidst a battlefield. Our bags that had been hauled up to the roof in the morning were lowered down to Ahti. We had only god to rely on to get us to the capital by tomorrow evening with such a pile of luggage.

Being in this country you steadily start to lose your worries about the next day. I don’t even understand if it is the general carelessness or the sun. We had accidentally stumbled into a show where the actors were from real life, everyone was just perfect for their role. It also resembled a sporting event where the fastest reaches the goal. I remembered the soviet time queues where the one who got anything was the one with the sharpest elbows to shove others aside.

The mini buses that stopped at the side of the road were filled instantly. The bus already took off when some of the legs or the hands were still dangling out the bus and ad far as the eyes could see, to dangle they remained. Buses with 12 seats filled up to 23 passengers. Additionally the luggage that some had.

We didn’t have to wait long for a minibus to stop. We had, the five of us, a triple seat for a 100 km journey. Prudently before getting into the bus I also settled upon a price. Knowing from previous experience that Muslims don’t ask money for good deeds I was sure that the agreement would stand. They help and ask nothing for it. This deal was unheard-of and thus I confirmed it couple of times.

Asking a ten times the price for helping is common in this country.

Previous experiences with Muslims told a completely different story. Since we needed to get to a hotel as well in the city we were once again stranded on the side of the road on the outskirts of the city with our humongous luggage. Help which was agreed upon didn’t hold good anymore. Exiting the minibus the whole street saw our pile of luggage. Everybody gathered around to set a fair price for the white people. The fare for a 100 km journey ended up costing us an amount with which, on a good day, you could even make it to Kenya.

A good lesson was learned and a fair price was paid for the journey.

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