Rules of the Road...or Lack Thereof

So I thought it was really bizarre that every blog I read leading up to my time of departure mentioned the Malagasy roads. Now I know why. The roads here are absolutely horrendous. I don’t think there is a single rule for drivers to follow. Actually, I take that back. There appear to be two guidelines: (1) get there as fast as you can and (2) don’t die. Let me tell you, I am shocked every time I step foot into a vehicle that my driver is able to successfully accomplish guideline #2. My life has flashed before my eyes so many times it doesn’t even surprise me anymore. I just assume upon entering a car now that I’m going to cheat death at least twelve times – no matter how short the trip.

The issues with car trips here are twofold. First, people drive like complete maniacs. They honestly do not think twice about passing other cars at any time. The road could be really narrow, they could be going around a sharp bend, there could be oncoming traffic or all three at once. Nobody seems to be concerned about collisions at all. Passing isn’t the only absurdity. When sitting in a traffic jam (which happens constantly in Tana) it is perfectly natural to just pull into the lane which would have oncoming traffic if you were moving and try to forge your own path. It doesn’t seem to occur to people that this actually makes the situation worse because you’re adding more lines of cars trying to cross the same intersection. Traffic lights and signs are also nonexistent. I heard that at one point they actually did set up some traffic lights in Tana. However, nobody had any idea what they meant so they would just drive right through red lights. Apparently nobody thought about actually having to teach the population that red means stop and green means go. Needless to say, the traffic lights didn’t last too long.

The second issue is that the roads themselves are really bad. When they are paved they never have lines, are incredibly windy and because they’re reasonably flat, people feel justified in driving even more recklessly. So you end up passing a huge truck carting petrol around a bend at 100 mph. When they aren’t paved then they’re gravel, dirt, or inevitably mud. That’s when the fun really begins because there is absolutely zero chance the road will be even remotely flat. Giant craters and mounds are characteristic of these lovely country roads and getting stuck at least once is almost a guarantee. There are times when I’m not even sure what we turn onto is an actual road. One of my fellow PCTs compared driving over these roads to being on tumble dry low (I think that was Austin?) and I can’t think of a more perfect way to describe it.

All in all, if anyone happens to stumble upon this post who is preparing to serve for Peace Corps in Madagascar, do yourself a favor and bring along some motion sickness meds. Even if you’ve never been carsick before. I never ever experienced motion sickness before coming here and now I dread car rides.