The Joy’s Of Travelling On A ZR In Barbados
I may have been to Barbados on holiday many times but I have never had the desire or need to travel on one of the local forms of transportation called a ZR. A ZR is basically a 13 seat Toyota Hiace mini bus, which is a privately owned route taxi.
My car hire had came to an end and I’m in the process of leasing a car which is going to take a little bit of time to sort out the paperwork. Being without a car in Barbados is not something, which I’m use to having to cope with.
I had to take a trip into Bridgetown to deal with some business related stuff. I could have waited for a family member to come and take me, but I don’t like to wait on other people, I prefer to get things done today, not sometime!
I could have taken a government bus or one of one of the private mini buses into Bridgetown, but I thought since I was now a local, I should start experiencing how the local people actually live. So I thought hell why not, its about time I experienced the joys of travelling on a ZR.
It was a nice morning and there was a wee bit of a breeze, so I walked from my house down to Ostins to catch the Route 11 ZR, which runs from Silversands to Bridgetown. One thing that you can guarantee with ZR’s, is that you wont have wait long to get one. Right enough the ZR turned up after about 2 minutes of a wait.
I suppose what had prevented me form travelling on a ZR in the past, was the fact that most of the time they are jam packed full of people and I don’t like travelling packed in like a sardine especially in the heat of Barbados.
I jumped on the ZR, which was miraculously virtually empty; I gave the man my $1.50, which is a flat rate fare, no matter what distance you are travelling. I would call that a bargain.
I was just thinking to myself that travelling on a ZR wasn’t as bad as people make it out. The driver was only driving ever so slightly dangerously and there were only 3 people on board it. But that was to change big time within a matter of minutes. By the time the ZR reached down beside St Lawrence Gap I counted 14 people on board it.
I thought to myself, the driver will now surely just keep going until someone wants to get off. I should have known better, he kept on slowing down every time he approached people in the hope of getting more passengers. A group of 3 white people put their hands out and the driver duly stopped, the door opened to let them in and they quickly changed their minds.
A few moments later a local woman and her young child climbed into the back of the ZR, they elected to sit on my knee. There were now 16 people on board the ZR, the heat and the cramped conditions were making me sweat like crazy. At least we were only about 5 miles or so from Bridgetown. I was praying like crazy that the driver wouldn’t let any more people on board.
After what seemed like an eternity the ZR finally made it to Bridgetown, I couldn’t wait to get off and stretch my legs. It took a few minutes until my legs could move properly. I headed to the nearest shop and drank a litre of water in about 5 minutes.
This was my first journey on a ZR and it was exactly what people had told me to expect, was entirely true. The driver drove dangerously; I was packed in like a sardine and there was one or two people onboard that could have down with a shower and some deodorant.
After an experience like that you would have thought, it would have been my first and last journey on a ZR, but I’m a hardy Scot and we don’t scare easy. I duly took the ZR back home when my business was done it Bridgetown. As you can guess the journey back home was very similar experience.
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I have traveled on a ZR in Barbados and your experience is very similar to mine. They are the pits of hell, but so much cheaper than a taxi.
You didn’t mention the music! The van you were on didn’t have music?
How could I forget to mention the music. The music was real bad on the way to Bridgetown, it was American Gangsta Rap, or what ever the hell its called, and it was real loud. I somehow manage to block it all out. My journy back home the driver was playing Soca which was much more enjoyable.
you’re a brave lad. I avoided ZR’s like the plague whe I was home a few weeks ago. I’ll take my chances standing in the yellow mini-buses but I cant stand the sardine packing thing
I must admit the ZR is the craziest form of transport I have ever been on. Whether I will repeat it is another matter.
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ZR is the BEST way to travel in Barbados.. and the fastest! LOL
You ain’t joking about it being the fastest way to travel in Barbados, they are a wee bit too fast for me!