COCO-CABS and BIKE TAXIS
I was lucky enough to get to Cuba in
November 2003, just before all travel to the island was cut off for us
Americans. In Havana I loved seeing the old 40s-50s cars of my youth, but
it was the adorable coco-cabs that I really wanted to ride in. I thought the
little yellow fiberglass three-wheeled vehicles that were seen
scooting all around the city were adorable .
I can only
describe a coco-cab as a big yellow
circle with a backward C cut out of the left side of the circle with the top of
the C about two-thirds the length of
the bottom curve. The driver sits in the front pretty much over the lone front
tire so he can run the small gasoline engine. A seat in the back accommodates
two people.
One misty night riding down the Malecon,
the ocean boulevard, back to our hotel a taxi passed us on the right splashing
enough water to short out the engine of my coco-cab. The driver flooded the
engine trying to restart it. Since we could see the hotel only a block away , I paid the driver and
walked the rest of the way while the driver pushed his vehicle to the edge of
the road. I found the little yellow bug quick and convenient and rode one
several times.
On that same trip when in Remedios our
small group were transported caravan style to the town center in bike-taxis.
Two passengers sat under a canopy on the three-wheeled bicycles.
When exiting the museum I looked over the
bike-taxi checking the hand brake situated almost at knee level on the
elongated bike. With my limited Spanish and some sign language the driver
understood that I wanted to pedal the bike back to the van. I was delighted and
a bit surprised when he crawled into the passenger seat beside my friend. I
pedaled the taxi out into the middle of the caravan causing quite a stir in the
small community where all the women came out on their front stoops to watch the
crazy American lady! It was fun and on all level ground it was an easy pedal!
