From my house I walked to the road, and then I walked up the road to the shop. There I found a taxi. It would take me to Maseru, the capital.
Taxis in Lesotho are white Toyota sixteen-seater vans. This one had "King of the Boys" painted on the front. After I sat down in the second row I saw a sticker on the first row's door: "Fat people are not wanted up front." I guess they must crowd the driver. Sure enough, two skinny men were sitting next to him.
As we rolled off the music began blasting as usual. Accordian, drums, bass guitars and fast singing in Sesotho emanated from the speaker next to my knee. It was sufficiently loud to make attempts at conversation futile.
Still, the driver tried to speak to the conductor. The conductor is a boy who loads passengers and collects fares. "Call Sek'hoama," the driver said. The conductor couldn't hear though he sat four feet away. "Call Sek'hoama!" the driver repeated. He didn't turn down the music, of course, but just handed his phone back and other passengers relayed the message to the conductor. The conductor tried to call but couldn't get through. He asked the driver something which the driver didn't hear, but still, the music wasn't turned down. The music can never be turned down.
We came to a corner and the driver pulled over, jumped out and peeked around. No cops at the junction. He got back in and drove on.
Now on the Main South Road other taxi drivers told our driver where the cops were set up today. "Ha Mantsebo!" they yelled. So we pulled over again just before the hill up to Ha Mantsebo. Not surprisingly, something wasn't according to the law with our vehicle. It may have been the car's registration, certificate of fitness, or the driver's license. No matter, the conductor said, "The taxi's broken. Pay me and I'll find you another taxi." We all knew the reality.
We paid him, another taxi came along and picked us up. As we rolled up the hill to the police stop the new driver and front passengers struggled to click their seat belts into place before the cops saw. Just as they fastened them a cop waved us forward and through. The driver then unclicked his seat belt and we continued to Maseru.