Land Taxis

As Chairman of the Bequia Tourist Committee I was determined to do something about the chaotic taxi situation on cruise ship days.  When a large ship came into port it seemed that every vehicle on the Island was suddenly a taxi, and the space under the almond tree in the harbor would start filling as early as 6:30 A.M.  When the passengers arrived ashore they got into the first vehicle, and it often took several hours before the driver at the back of the line got a turn. Although the first passengers usually stepped off the ship’s tender after 9:00, the taxis jockeyed for position under the tree much earlier in order to get a good spot.

This made transport for those living on the Island difficult.  On cruise ship days vehicles that usually carried people from Southside to the harbor were not available.  Tourists staying at hotels and guest houses could not hail a taxi. People arriving by ferry were often out of luck, all the vehicles were huddled under the tree waiting for their turn to carry 8 passengers to the beach or for a tour around Bequia.

This made little sense to me, did waiting in a line  for 8 people really make financial sense?  With a bit of organization the taxis could work around the Island as usual, then be in place by a specified time to collect cruise ship passengers. I decided that the drivers needed to form a land taxi association through which they could schedule themselves on cruise ship days.  I shared this with my committee, and we agreed to invite all the drivers to a meeting to discuss this sensible idea.

Well, not so easy!  In order to include all Bequia taxi drivers I would need to have three separate meetings.  Being a relative newcomer to the Island I wasn’t aware of all the different family feuds and long-standing grudges that existed.  The upshot was that one third of the drivers would not sit down with another third, and the remaining third refused to associate with the other two thirds.  It became obvious that trying to get the drivers to form an association was going to be uphill work, and the fact that I was a foreigner didn’t help.

In the end I turned to Isola McIntosh, who acted as the port agent for many of the large cruise ships.  I explained what I was trying to do for the drivers and she looked at me with a dubious expression.  She agreed that it was a waste of time for the drivers to sit under the almond tree all day, and we decided to give them each a number the night before a ship was arriving.  The driver with the number one ticket could be in place by 8:30, the driver with the number 20 ticket would not need to be under the tree until later in the afternoon.  This would free up the vehicles to accept other taxi fares and hopefully lessen the mass confusion under the almond tree.

Word went out to the drivers that they needed to collect a number from Mrs. McIntosh the evening before the next cruise ship was expected.  I sat up after work cutting pieces of cardboard and writing numbers on each with a magic marker.  The day before the ship was due to arrive I took the tickets to Isola, and was later gratified to see the drivers lining up at Julie’s Guest House in an orderly fashion to collect a number.  I was pleased with my plan, I was sure it was going to make the taxi situation on the Island much less confusing on cruise ship day!

Well, my plan didn’t work.  When I went into the harbor the next day the situation under the tree was dire!  Drivers that didn’t like my idea hadn’t picked up a ticket, they had simply planted themselves at the front of the line early in the morning as usual.  Some of the drivers DID like my idea but figured they could simply write their own tickets, which all seemed to bear “numero uno.”  The one third who HAD collected tickets were fighting with the other two thirds, and foul language and torn tickets were flying like bullets under the almond tree.

The cruise ship passengers that day were treated to a real Island spectacle. They stood to one side and watched with wide eyes as the Bequia Taxi drivers went at each other, and I for one hoped they couldn’t understand the insults that were hurled back and forth!   I walked back to work shaking my head; something had to be done to organize the taxis on cruise ship days, but I sure wasn’t going to be making any more numbered tickets!