Bicitaxi

Getting around in the old part of Havana

La Habana Vieja is studded with architectural jewels and walking is always the best way to see the sights. However, the old town itself contains over 900 buildings and sometimes moving from place to place requires more than two feet.  There are other options.

Besides the privately-owned "old-timer" taxis and the government-owned yellow taxis, the government-owned Cocotaxi has appeared on the scene as an option for tourists to move around the city.  It is an auto rickshaw-type vehicle with three wheels and a 75cc two-stroke engine that carries two passengers and the driver.  It is round and yellow, the word coco referring to the coconut whose shell shape it mimics.  These strange vehicles are very noisy but whiz through the narrow, rough cobble-stoned streets to quickly get passengers from place to place.  We used one the day we went to the craft market which is in an old warehouse at the Port of Havana.  I think they should be called CitrusCabs.  They look more like lemons to me.  

In the following photos you'll notice a variety of cars, buses, horse-drawn buggies and the Cocotaxi.

         

One step up from walking yet a big step down in comfort, speed and cost from the Cocotaxi is the Bicitaxi

The bicycle rickshaw carries two passengers plus the driver.  It is relatively new here.  Bicitaxis came into being some 15 years ago when the government began to allow private companies.  They are often decorated with multicolored ribbons and bizarre paintings on the ceilings.  Our guide arranged for one and sent us off to the Havana Rum Distillery demonstration.  Don't let the photo full you.  We were not striking out on our own, the driver insisted that we have this photo.