On the Road again...

Here I am on Taxi brousse. Pick up trucks are the principal mode of transportation in Mauritania. The cab seats 4 people and the back seats up to 25 people. Usually there are goods (sacks of potatoes, onions, gasoline, etc...) that serve as one's cushion. It's pretty uncomfortable though not unbearable. I've found ways to deal with the mayhem of taxibrousse travel...zoning out into space. Then you're there (wherever you're going) before you know it. Recently, I was riding taxibrousse to Kaedi, which is about 150 km from my regional capital. It was midnight and we still hadn't made it to Kaedi although we left at 4 in the afternoon. On the road, something went wrong with the rim of our front right tire and the rim fell off taking the tire with it. The chaffeur lost control of the car and sparks started to fly creating a small fire on my side of the car. Because the doors don't usually open from the inside (broken door handles), I had to jump from the car via window. It was the scariest most exhilirating experience I've ever had in Mauritanian. Afterwards, some locals found my panic hilarious. I still don't understand why.