The Dreaded Green Taxi - No Combi Vans in sight!
Today was a big day, we said no ..... no to cramming four extra adults into an already over full combi van. As with all language, what is not said can mean as much, if not more than what is actually said and so to be technically correct, we didn't say no, we said nothing and feigned confusion.
It is a clear economic fact that if something is cheap then there will be a sacrifice of some kind. Sometimes that sacrifice is just too much....
After weeks of being driven in overcrowded combi vans and taxis, we have had enough. Having experienced suicidal overtaking, undertaking, three laning, red headlights, green headlights, no headlights, our nerves are strained as far as they will go. Taxis are in one word a lottery. Some drivers are careful and have by local standards, tidy vehicles. Others are something else altogether, always speeding for the next passengers. Vans, often overladen, sway precariously from side to side when driven at speed. Our knuckles are white from gripping onto the seat in front.
Today, shortly after filling the last seat making 19 people in the specially modified van, the driver stopped again to pick up four more passengers. There was a lot of gesturing and pointing, with the back row attempting a pigeon translation just in case we had not comprehended that not only were we all to shove along but I was to give up my seat and sit on Stuart's lap. That would make 23 people in a van designed for 12. No! We didn't comprehend, we stayed in our seats without the slightest hint of a shuffle along. For several minutes the driver continued to berate his passengers for their lack of cooperation before finally driving off in desperation, leaving his extra fares to somebody else.
It is cheerless story to tell, that some of the world's poorest people rely on such a treacherous transport system. Surprisingly, even here in Mexico where the sun almost always shines, we are not immune and for once we said NO!