day 7: collectivo taxi blues

to save some money and “to throw off the shackles of privilege and experience the way of the common man,” we took the collectivo taxi from the tent lodge back to puerto jiminez instead of hiring a driver. the collectivo is pretty much the only way to get back and forth betwen pj and carate, since there is no formal bus service or other public transport.

but when it pulled up at 8:30am, that’s what it was: a short blue school bus. having experienced the horrors of what lonely planet bollocks calls one of the worst ten roads in costa rica (and that’s saying A LOT) on the way in riding in a range rover discovery, i didn’t know if i believed if it was possible to make it back in this thing. where’s the four wheel drive? for crossing the rivers? the ones that we drove through on the way here? and remember the car-swallowing potholes?

and yet we made it fine as they do twice a day every day, stopping to pick up locals, packages, messages, and maybe just to chat for a bit. somewhere in the middle the driver picked up a friend of his and let him drive the rest of the way—why not?
Posted at January 12, 2007 5:09 PM