Around The World In 80 Waves

Taxis in Panama are really cheap. You can get to the airport from the centre of town, which is roughly equivalent to Central london to Heathrow, for less than $3.

As a consequence I had no qualms about getting into one this morning to go to the customs brokers and hopefully sort out the importation paperwork. 

I was somewhat surprised however when the driver of my cab pulled over about half a mile down the road to speak to somebody, who then climbed into the back of my cab with me.

My first thoughts on the situation were a tad worrying, mostly because I had about $3,000 on me to cover whatever import duty was required on my car. The bloke seemed quite friendly though and because it was so early in the morning I thought it was unlikely ne’er-do-wells would be up and about bothering people like me, so I just sat there in nervous silence wondering what the hell was going on.

Having been to Choro’s office twice before I knew we were heading the right way so there didn’t seem any cause for undue alarm, and sure enough I was dropped off correctly for a $1 fee, before the two of them carried on down the road. When I asked the girls in the office if that was normal I was told it is. Apparantly the drivers decide that one fare is not enough to warrant the petrol, so they try to get two or three for the price of the fuel, which might explain why the fares are so low. Quite odd!