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Tortola and Virgin Gorda (BVI) Update
Keep Your Eye Out, Just in Case
Published: Thu, Aug 11 14:56 EDT
By DearMissMermaid at aol.com
Lots of disorganized mess headed to the BVI. Keep a watchful
eye in between pub crawling and beach bumming.
Here's a funny island tale from Dear Miss Mermaid
Hitchhiking is acceptable and often done here, some folks
rely on that method to commute to and from work regularly.
If you think you haven't seen any hitchhikers
here, think again. 99% of the folks standing under a shade tree are
patiently waiting for an offer of a ride. Ditto for those standing
near speed bumps. On Tortola, I often
departed West End for town alone and arrived with a car load. I've met all
sorts of interesting folks this way and never once have I met anyone
scary. When my car is in the shop, I often continue with my errands by
hitchhiking and am surprised at the number of times folks actually go out of
their way to take me to where I am going, rather than just drop me off and let
me finish walking. Pickup trucks
are unofficial busses and it's not unusual to see pickup trucks loaded down with
hitchhikers. If you are driving a pickup truck that is not full of stuff,
folks smile at you, cause they assume you are going to stop for
them. A friend of mine who drives
a pickup truck is notorious for picking up all the hitchhikers. He
says if he had a dollar for every ride he has given, he would own a Rolls Royce
by now. But he prefers his ratty old pickup truck and the hitchhikers are
grateful for his generosity. Once upon a
time, his brother and his new bride came to visit our lovely island. My
friend graciously loaned them his pickup truck to go sightseeing. He
forgot all about mentioning the hitchhikers to them, it seemed irrelevant.
But as they bounced their way to town, they
encountered one of many speed bumps that require you to come to a creepy crawl,
just to make it over the mammoth bumps. At one such bump, four men jumped
in the back of the pickup truck, thinking it was their usual ride to town.
The young bride began screaming hysterically, the young man slammed on the
brakes and grabbed his wife then the two of them jumped out of the truck
and began running while screaming "HELP! Police! HELP!"
Typical Tortolian, style, other motorists
stopped to help and finally they got it all sorted out, meanwhile the four
hitchhikers are still in the back of the truck laughing so hard they can't pick
themselves up to get out of the truck!
After that, says my friend, his brother and
bride opted to take a taxi everywhere.
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