To Ride a Chapa

The majority of people here use public transportation to get around. Everyone rides in chapas. A chapa is a van which is supposed to hold about 18 people but here they get stuffed with about 22-25 people. A Cobredor is a person that manages the chapa. He sits by the door of the van and hangs out the window and tells the driver to stop when people need to get on and off. Public transportation is not free. It’s 6.5 MTS from my house to the “city”, 10 MTS from the “city” of Xai Xai to Chicumbane (Emily’s site). 1 USD= 37 MTS. You can do the math and see how riding so many can easily add up. Each chapa ride is different and it is always an experience. So let me tell you about them.

First, you have to know where you’re going and you have to make sure you get on the right chapa that goes to your destination. There are several bus stops throughout the city. You stand waiting at one, and you may wait a long time. Chapas will pull up and cobredors are basically hanging out the window as they drive by and they hold up hand signs for different routes. For example, the hand signal to go to the beach is waving your right hand across your shoulders, as if you’re splashing yourself. If you just want to stay in town and need a ride from one side to the other, the signal is to point down to the ground. If you’re going out of town, the signal is to point up to the sky. When chapas approach the bus stop, they don’t actually come to a complete stop until they know someone at the bus stop is going to get on, which they know by hand signals or by calling out. If you don’t know the name of the bus stop you need to go to, you can just tell the cobredor when you get on and he’ll know when you need to get off. As soon as you enter the chapa, before you even sit down, the car takes off and you have to be careful to sit down. Even though time doesn’t really matter here, in the world of chapas, it does. The chapa world understands that time is money. They are always in a hurry and when you get on the chapa the cobredor usually says “chop, chop!”

In a chapa, there are 4 rows of seats that should each hold 4 people. Inside the chapa, the seats on the right hand side of the rows are connected. On the left hand side in each row, the seat folds up so that people can pass by and move in and out. People do not get up or move or exit the chapa to accommodate you when it is your turn to get out. You can carry almost anything in a chapa. Large sacks, babies tied to your back, and even chickens being held in plastic bags. I have figured out the best seats in a chapa. I’ve got it down to a science. I will explain my reasoning, too. Ok, here’s a visual layout of chapa seating:

Front Seat: __ - D 2 people can sit in front with the driver
Row 1/Door _ ___ row where people stand
Row 2/Door _ ___ close to door
Row 3 _ ___ close to door
Back row _____ no seats fold up in the back.
Each row has 4 seats, so from left to right, I number them 1-4.
__ Means seats are connected
_ means it’s a fold up seat

The cobredor generally sits in Row 1 on the left side.

The front seats are always the best but usually already occupied. I like sitting up front but don’t very often. Sometimes because that means I know I’m going to have to carry a conversation with the driver who tries to use the ride to just hit on me the whole time. Also, when sitting in the middle, the person to the left does not get out of the car to let you out for fear of losing their seat while the door’s open and people are getting on/off.

Row 1 is usually always full of cargo and is always the most crowded. People stand in this area (hunch over really, there’s not room to stand) or sit on top of others. It can be very painful leaning across others and having your legs digging into seats or boxes or whatever. It can also be awkward having to bend over and being so close to so many people. If you are on the right side of Row 1 you usually have to climb over a lot of stuff and people to get out. I avoid this as much as possible.

Row 2 Seat 3 is the best seat in my opinion. You don’t have to move to let other people out. In this seat, you only have to climb over one person who is in seat 2 in order to exit. The people in Row 1 who are standing or on the left side of the row have to move to let you out. So it’s a seat with a free move. Row 2 Seat 4 is also nice because it’s next to a window. But I only sit here if I know I’m getting off later and know that there will be less people by that destination, meaning I won’t have to climb over everyone to get off.

Row 3 is like row 2. Either seat 2 or 3 is best because in seat one you have to move and get up somehow to let people out and in seat 4 you have to climb over a pile of people to exit.

In the back row, seats 1 & 2 are best because all the people on the left side of the rows in front of you have to move or squish to the right side to let you out. In this row, I prefer seat 1 because it’s next to a window and it’s a straight way out, unlike seat 2 that still has to climb over seat 1. In this row, seats 3 & 4 are the absolute worst. Especially seat 4 because you have to climb over a whole row of people who don’t move to let you out and it’s the farthest distance from the door. This is a disadvantage especially if you have a lot of groceries and stuff to carry. I only sit in the back row on the right side if I know I’ll be on the chapa ‘til the last stop when everyone will be exiting anyway.

Once seated, you enjoy the ride until your stop. It’s usually pretty bumpy and most chapas drive in a hurry…so at least there’s lots of air circulation. The local language is mostly always spoken among the passengers during chapa rides. Unless you’re a mulungu like me or don’t speak that particular local language, then people will speak Portuguese to you. When chapas stop, it’s usually a halt. So hang on. When the chapa approaches where you need to get off, you say, “PARRAGEM!” If going to the market, you say, “Parragem mercado!” Parragem means bus stop. Then you hand the cobredor your money and go on your way.

Things to expect on a chapa: lack of personal space, which doesn’t exist here. When the chapa is stopped somewhere to load people up, people selling snacks outside will run up to the windows of the chapa holding up whatever they’re selling and saying how much it costs. If you want something, open the window, make eye contact, ask how much, give them the money and take the food. It’s a quick transaction, but be careful if you are doing this while the car is running and the driver’s in getting ready to leave. Because he will take off even if you didn’t pay the person for the food or if you paid but didn’t get the food. Breast feeding is also normal. You can expect to sit next to a woman with a baby tied around her in a kapulana while breast feeding. She will continue to breast feed while entering/exiting the chapa, or if she is one of the people in row 1 standing or leaning over someone. That is another reason I choose other rows instead of row 1. I would rather be sitting next to a breast feeding woman than have a breast feeding woman be leaning over me. It doesn’t bother me much anymore.

Chapas are by no means maintained by American standards. They are mostly pretty beat up and could use some tuning. A lot of them have problems with the door. Once, I was on a chapa and the cobredor opened the door and it fell off. It was being held onto the car by a small rope. Seriously! Sometimes the rows of seats are not secured onto the floor, which makes them rock back and forth during the ride. This is probably not considered safe but it is actually quite entertaining trying to hold on and all the bouncing and rocking never fails to make everyone say, “Watch out! Eeeehhh!! This road is BAD!”

Chapa routes generally have the same cobredors, including those to my neighborhood. They have also realized where I am usually going. When I’m waiting at the bus stop, without even asking some of the chapas to my neighborhood stop next to me, open the door and the cobredor hops out and says, “Come on, let’s go home!” Or when I’m at the bus stop at the market, it’s usually really crowded and the cobredors from my neighborhood will see me and approach me and tell me where the chapa to my house is.

And off we go!