Lima traffic part 1: Combis and taxis

Alright so I promised this to my dad a while back. It's a video of the cobrador on a combi recruiting passengers. Combis are the privately owned little vans and buses that run all over Lima. You may know a version of them as chivas (Panama) or dala dalas (Tanzania). Cobradores are the guys who are combo door-opener/conductor/PR/enforcer/helper-on of little old ladies. Here in Lima there are technically buses, minibuses (as seen in video), and combis - which really refers only to the smallest vans. En route you get to listen to some rockin cumbia tunes, and if it's full, hang on to the bars on the ceiling while the combi accelerates and decelerates rather violently.



There are about 10 billion routes, some direct, some really, really indirect, and there are zero maps. (n.b.: if anyone created a website / map of the routes, you'd have a winning product). The buses are color coded, numbered and have some destinations painted on the side, but it's still a struggle. Here are the ways to find out which combi goes your way:

1. Ask someone. If they know, they'll say something like "take the dark green and sky blue bus from the corner opposite the banco comercio, or maybe the purple and white". Color translation can make this hard (how do you say teal in spanish?).
2. Figure out where you are going, but in the code language of the combis. For example, our home is currently Ovalo Higrueta (see earlier post) for which we can take combis that go to Via Maria, Benavides, or Aviacion (this took us about 10 days to sort out).
3. Trust that the guy who is yelling, sorry, recruiting (as he hangs out the speeding doorway) means it when you ask "are you going to ____?" and he nods. This is risky, we have learned.

You're doing all this while standing on an island at a busy intersection (btw, cars do NOT stop for pedestrians, beware Bostonians), that looks something like this.

Once you're on the combi you have to figure out which of the fares you qualify for, zonal, urbano, interurbano or whatnot. Or you trust that the conductor will not overcharge you (possible). We still haven't figure out much more than it costs 1 sole (35 cents) to go not-far and 1.50 to go far and more to go farther-than-we've-been. The distinction is not yet clear. Oh, and then you have to know when you are nearing your destination so you can proclaim "baja, baja" and they will slow down (a french "stop glissee") as you jump out.

Your other option, of course, is a taxi. They are plentiful (1/8 Lima cars). Of course then you have to negotiate your fare ahead of time. Lots of "no, es muy cercito! no tiene tráfico!", dark hair, and a near-native accent are pluses here. Some of them are these tiny little clown cars originally designed for managers to drive around their factories with, never designed for city streets. Oh and there are signs to buckle your seat belt but by my estimate about 5% of cabs have the combination of shoulder belt plus buckle necessary for such a plan. Plus they are notorious for taking people bad places and mugging them at night (don't ride alone at night). On the plus side they are faster than combis, way cheap (45 minute ride to Cayetano = $5), readily available, and generally safe when taken in numbers.

Oh, and lest you think I exaggerate, check out the wiki version of Lima travel horrors :)

Pick your poison!