Car Rapide, mentira!

After our deliciously cheap lunch we tried getting a cab to Lompoul the next leg in our trip. We asked for a cab and a guy told us he would take us for 10,000 F CFA (about US$22) which was so obviously ridiculous that when we asked the next person and they said 400 F CFA we both heard 4,000 and Caitlin was about to start screaming before she started laughing. The first guy had quoted us 25 the normal price! When we got to the car we realized why it was only 400. It wasn’t a car but a car rapide which in Senegal means a beat-up old van outfitted to fit as many people with as few amenities as possible and painted very colorfully with mostly religious quotes and symbols like “God is Great,” and “Thank You God” although the best one I ever saw passed by once when I was at the Mobil station. Instead of a quote from the Koran dedicating the car to God, this one was a vehicle of praise for Al Pacino. The owner must be a real fan of the

Godfather and Scarface. The car rapide we rode that day had two benches along the sides and one freestanding one down the middle. After the lady breastfeeding her child on the bus got off to let us on, I had the pleasure of sitting with my knees almost to my chest and someone else’s knees knocking on the back of my shoulders. Then of course the guy wanted to be slick with us and charge us more money than he had told us. After some of the hottest 45 minutes of my life we got off at Lompoul Village.