Finally I find a taxi driver who is prepared to take me the two to three hour trip to Hormigueros on the other side of the island from San Juan. Apparently this is not a usual request, so even though they have a set tariff for the journey, the drivers need incentives to make the trip. I agree an incentive and we set off for a very strange, not to say 'white knuckle' drive across Puerto Rico's Cordillera Centrale. I don't mind the way vehicles change lanes without indicating, or speed, or the driver trying to read something while driving at 60+ miles per hour, or the fact that the roadworks are poorly signposted, unlit and suddenly come out of nowhere... I also don't mind the fact that it is a good indication of the standard of driving that most of the cars we pass have dents along the sides like a rite of passage has been observed along the highway at some point... The time I really got worried was when the driver (and several other vehicles) started driving along in the lane reserved for emergency vehicles. I won't dwell on the near misses with other vehicles or the fact that my driver spoke only a little English and I spoke only a little Spanish.
On the plus side... he was kind enough to buy me a bottle of water at the garage where we stopped to refuel. The gasoline as they call it was only about one dollar per litre.. very very cheap... so that explains a bit why so many Puerto Ricans take their cars on trips of a few hundred yards or less!
Anyway, I arrived safely eventually at Sylvia's after driving around for about an hour in the dark looking for the street. Home sweet Home!
No comments:
Post a Comment