Buenos Aires Taxi

Taxis in Buenos Aires have a bad reputation for leading people astray or at least taking the long route. There are many stories of people being scammed and fleeced and locals have a deep distrust of taxi drivers and will generally ask for their destination and challenge the driver as to how he will get to the destination. e.g. I want to go to Avenue XYZ cross street ABC - ok? How are you going to go?...Which avenues?? etc etc and so follows a lengthy discussion as per most Latin interactions. Radio Taxis with a visible telephone number on the car are thought safer than those without.

My experience with taxis from Dublin in the 80's was one of a luxury. If you could manage to get one home on a weekend night you had practically won the lottery so the taxi driver was welcome to do a detour if he/she wanted but was generally keen to move on to the next victim. London cabs are probably the most expensive I have ever experienced and although they train for 'the knowledge' it's just not worth that amount of money.

The taxis here are very plentiful and often out number regular cars on the roads but are generally tiny Renault cars that fit 2 in the back and 1 in the front 'normal' sized people. Four customers are possible but typically an uncomfortable squeeze. Add to that the cobblestone streets, bad suspension on the old cars and general crazy driving and it can be a torture trip.

The fare has gone up 50% in the last year but compared to UK, Ireland, USA is still a bargain. A ten minute trip is approx ten pesos = 1.7 GBP pounds or 2.2 Euros or 3.3 $USD and a tip is not customary here, in fact if the fare comes to 10.20 pesos the driver lets you off for 10 even.

What's it like in your neck of the woods?

Tags: Buenos Aires Taxi, Irish taxi, London taxi, New york taxi

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Belize it or NOT!

Getting to Belize was a bit of an adventure. The 7am morning ferry crossing was thankfully smooth as glass. A taxi to the wrong bus terminal didn't help but soon we were on route to Puerto Cortes but missed the last ferry to Belize. Instead we headed to the Guatemalan border and got an overcrowded sweat bucket minibus to Puerto Barrios. It was like the old joke of how many people can you fit in a mini, only it was NO JOKE!

When we arrived at the port we had missed the last ferry to Belize yet again so we boarded a tiny flimsy 'launcha' (small boat) for 1 hour to Livingston on the north coast of Guatemala. Me arse is still sore from being slapped by the seat of the boat as we were tossed and turned every time we hit a wave.

Livingston is only accessible by boat and is very different to the rest of Guatemala with a very Caribbean chilled out rasta vibe.

You have to get your exit stamp from immigration the day before you leave as the boat goes to Belize at 7am. We were a bit put out when the customs office was closed but it turned out they were just on a siesta. After spending the night we went to board the boat and were told there was a little problem as apparently Argentinians (the missus) need a visa to enter Belize. It all worked out in the end as a $50 fee got you a visa on arrival.

We headed for the southern Cayas of Placencia which have a decent beach and good snorkeling and diving and it is whale shark season. Belize is part of the commonwealth of the UK and is very different to the rest of Central America. English is the first language but it´s more like a dialect as it´s like listening to rasta dialect and can be difficult to follow along.

We had a strange experience as some of the people were very friendly,but some were completely unsociable. The people in shops, restaurants are generally the worst and seem to resent having to work. The fact that you are asking them for something seems to piss them off as if they would rather just be left alone. If you ask for directions or advice it´s way too much effort for them and they will say they don´t know. It seems as if the locals are simply lazy. One couple went thru 80 staff before getting 3 permanent employees. Having sent one girl for milk on her first day, she returned with the milk but handed in her notice saying the work was too difficult!

p.s. picture below of me watching poor ol´Chelsea get beat on penalties by Man Utd in the Championship final :=((
Next stop Guatemala!

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