Pushing open the double doors and being enveloped by the scorching afternoon sun plus walking through the hundreds of people outside waiting for arrivals who suddenly became silent made me almost wish we had gotten back on that plane. Luckily the several letters I exchanged with Peter prepared me a little for my next task. I needed to hire a taxi to take me up to the top of Jack’s Hill and Peter had already gave me the approximate price for visitors.

We smiled and said hello as we walked the gauntlet waiting for to hear the magic word; “Taxi?” until near the curb we were approached by a couple of drivers that had been gathered near their cars. I chose the most presentable of the three and asked for a price to Jack’s Hill. I was told to expect somewhere around $100 US so when the stories of how far it was and how bad the road was produced a $200 fare, I waved my hand, shook my head from side to side and kept walking.

We were running out of daylight and options when a slightly disheveled older man approached with a hint of rum factory air about him. He had misbuttoned his shirt and I could not help staring at it while we talked. He offered to take us for $80 US and when my wife nodded in resignation, I agreed, and we walked to his car an early ‘70s Russian Lada.

My first impression of his car was, “Where is Fred Sanford when you need him?”. It was a combination Russian Red and rust color with rust being dominate. It had 4 wheels but just barely as all totaled there were only enough lug nuts for 3 wheels. After putting our backpacks in the trunk, he directed my wife to sit in the back and me in the front seat saying something about needing more traction to climb Jack’s Hill. He removed half a dozen Red Stripe bottles from the front seat area to the rear seat floor next to my wife while he adjusted a piece of sheet metal covering a large hole in the floorboard. He laughed saying he did not want to lose me on the way. Somehow, that gave me some comfort.

The clutch chattered and the gears gnashed as we pulled out of the airport towards the unknown.