HAVANA TIMES – Lately, I’ve been spending a lot of money on private transportation. I’m not talking about renting a car just for myself, but about standing on a nearby avenue and hailing a taxi that already has other passengers. This is very normal for Cubans, though it might seem strange to those who live in other countries and have never visited the island. However, in reality, it’s the fastest way to get around the city.
As usual, prices keep going up, and the “boteros”—as we call the drivers of these taxis or “almendrones”— are no exception. These are very old cars, generally made in the 1940s and 1950s, and perhaps Cuba is the only country where so many of them are still running. After waiting a long time for a bus and being pressed for time, I decided, once again, to bite the bullet and pay for a shared taxi.
When one of the many taxis passing by stopped, I told the driver my destination (which wasn