Danfo vs Great Metal Bird

MotIon sickness is the worst sensation you can ever experience while traveling. It's like your insides are threatening to spill out, but before they do that, they twist and turn inside you. It is more damning when you know that your major means of transportation is by road.

In my country, a necessary evil in the transportation industry is the public buses. Yellow in color with black stripes, we call them danfos. This bus has offered the worst experiences i faced with transportation vehicles. First off, the bus stops are rowdy and not organized, which leads to a lot of jostling when trying to board the vehicle. The funny thing is that while boarding, the bus is always almost in motion which makes it hard for the onboarding passenger. You get into the bus, still trying to catch your breath and there's the conductor, already asking for his fares in a razz manner. And i wonder who told conductors that not bathing or taking care of their appearance is what makes them a conductor.

I remember when i boarded a danfo and I was sitted close to the conductor. Gosh!! The conductor was shoving his armpit in my face while trying to collect his fares. I almost died of inability to breathe that day. The only thing I commend bus conductors for is their ability to calculate fares and change on the spot without missing a beat. Another reason why danfos are the worst transportation vehicles is the different smells that accompanies different passengers. It doesn't help that you are packed like sardines with twenty-something other passengers. There are the market women transporting food items like locust beans, fish, boiled eggs, fufu(made cassava flour) e.t.c with their variety of weird smells. There are those whose sole purpose on the bus is to fart and pollute the air without caution. Let's not talk about those who eat boiled eggs in transit.

There are also the unruly mothers. They board the bus with four kids and do not pay for an extra seat. They expect other passengers to carry their kids for them throughout the journey. Some of them do not even deem it proper to ask . I remember when I was on a danfo and this mother boarded the bus with three of her kids. The next thing she was saying to one of her kids was, "Sit on that aunty's lap." (the aunty being me). The stink-eye I gave her made her think twice about what she was ordering her kid to do. Finally, she pleaded with me to help her carry one of her kids. Considering their plight and the hike in transport fares then, I had no choice but to empathize with her. All these with motion sickness included makes transportation by Danfo the worst experience ever.

Now, talking about my best experience, I would have to talk about the great metal bird in the sky that doesn't fall. The first time I boarded an airplane, I knew I was in for the best travel experience ever. I was about ten years old and I was traveling from Lagos to Abuja for school. As a kid, I had only seen them in the sky and wished I could travel in one. And finally, I was in one. There was the beautiful, pleasant, nice hostesses. They were really nice to me because I was traveling alone. There was the snacks offered on the plane to make the ride comfortable. It was so nice to fly among the clouds and watch the fleeting lands beneath. I also loved how fast it was. Traveling by air, I got to Abuja within forty-five minutes to one hour. If it was by road, I would have probably spent twelve hours or more. I can imagine the cramped and uncomfortable experience I would have gone through.

Of course, there was the trepidation I felt while traveling by air. I had heard of crashes and all that. So, when my flight landed that day, I finally understood why people clapped or rejoiced when their plane landed safely. Asides that and the pressure popping of the ears, traveling by air offered me the best experience in transportation vehicles.

Thanks for reading.✨

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