August 05, 2003
Take the A Train
As we were feeling a bit carried away with the romance of rail travel (and as we missed the very cushy-looking Africalines bus this morning), we decided to take the train from Cotonou to Parakou. The first class tickets were cheap, about US$12 each. We soon learned that the train is best for those interested in studying the countryside in minute detail. The train made frequent stops in all manner of villages, and never seemed to get above 35 MPH. The roughly 300 mile trip took twelve hours.
One of the most noticable differences between Benin and Mali is the available forms of public transportation. There were at least five major bus lines operating between Bamako and Mopti, and several others serving different routes. The Bittar Trans gare in Mopti offered at least three busses a day to Bamako.
Here in Benin, we've only been able to find the one major bus line serving the main road between Cotonou and Parakou--and they offer one bus a day, at 7 AM sharp. Apparently this bus typically sells out well in advance of departure, and unlike the Price is Right rollcall of passengers on Malian busses, the system for getting onto the bus in Benin looked more like a rugby scrum, grannies and little kids and young men all hurling themselves at the door as soon as it opened.
Such frantic bus loadings may be a coastal West African thing, as it was at bus stations in Cote d'Ivoire that I first failed to develop the necessary social calluses that enables one to elbow a pregnant mother in the ribs in order to beat her in the door. I was forever missing busses in Soubré because of this handicap.
Although the train took forever, it did offer a unique view of the countryside.
At every village we passed, kids would come running down narrow paths between the mud-brick, thatch-roofed houses to wave and shout at the train.
At the rural train stations, porters would yank open the rusty door of the single baggage car and load and unload all manner of things. We saw, among other things, bicycles, bushels of cotton, bags of charcoal and cords of wood all being vigorously tossed back and forth.
