Sunday Herald

The joys of Jamaican public transport

•‘Two white girls on a mini-bus’

By Kimberley Cathers & Trude Loew Hansen

For two European student journalists, who are not used to goats in the middle of the road and king-size potholes, the Jamaican transportation system is an experience in itself. Getting around Kingston proved to be somewhat of a challenge. In one journey the roads ranged from highways to nothing more than a dirt track.

e got up Monday morning looking forward to our first day working at the Sunday Herald, only to discover that the bus we required was on strike. To solve this problem we took a taxi from Cane River Falls with a few school children and waited at Nine Miles with a local for the next step of our journey into Kingston.

At the bus stop we watched as several overcrowded minibuses passed by with arms and legs hanging out in every direction. We wondered was this because of the strike or was this normal practice?

Just as we were mentally preparing ourselves for a cramped ride, a massive truck pulled up offering a lift and our local companion lifted us onboard.

We held on for dear life, getting the occasional poke in the eye from the hanging air fresheners, as the truck bounced through the many potholes to downtown Kingston.

We made it to work on time with bruised bottoms already anticipating the journey home. This did not disappoint, the way back to Cane River was just as eventful.

After getting a lift to a bus stop in Harbour View, we turned away every white van that pulled up and tried to get us onboard, unaware of the fact that they were actually buses.

After watching people at the bus stop being cleared time and again, we finally understood and hopped into the next available van, where everyone sat happily on top of each other.

The bus strike was over after a day and we were able to get the bus from Cane River to downtown without any hitches. The hour-long journey gave us the opportunity to interact with the locals, who were very interested to know what two white girls were doing on the bus from the mountains.

Getting the bus back to Cane River was not so easy. Downtown, a bus driver advised us to come back in around an hour. We were confused; do buses not leave at an exact time in Jamaica? We spent two hours waiting trying to take in everything that was going on around us and enjoying an ice cream in Mother’s.

We were close to giving up on the bus and getting a taxi the whole way back when two gentlemen noticed our frustration and assured us the bus was on its way. When it finally showed up, there was an unexpected mad dash to get on and people were using various ways of entering the bus, including via the windows.

If it wasn’t for a nice man and his wife lifting us onboard, we could easily have ended up back in Mother’s. We’re looking forward to our remaining two weeks using Jamaican transport, since as soon as we land on home soil we’re back to boring timetables and highways free of livestock.

After getting a lift to a bus stop in Harbour View, we turned away every white van that pulled up and tried to get us onboard, unaware of the fact that they were actually buses. After watching people at the bus stop being cleared time and again, we finally understood and hopped into the next available van, where everyone sat happily on top of each other.

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