Car Rental and Driving

We purposely have no car here in Grenada. When we look for an apartment in a new adventure location we always consult a map first to find grocery stores, banks and the beach, and then we try to find a nice place to live close by.

We rent a car when the time comes to go places that we can't get to by riding the local buses. We rented a car for three days in November and were very happy to get out from behind the wheel, off the roads, and get back on the bus again.

When you rent a car here it is good to have a mechanic along with you to see if it is road worthy. The first car we rented was leaking engine oil out of the main gasket between the engine and the transmission. It also had some very loud noises coming from under the car each time we hit a small bump that raised your eye brows and sent shivers up your spine. And, each time we pressed the a/c button a loud squealing came from under the hood.

We actually read the rental contract - most don't - and it says that the renter is responsible to top up the oil and all other fluids in the vehicle. They also take a huge damage deposit from you on your VISA card (EC$2,700.00 - surprise!) before you drive away so they can keep the deposit if there is work to be done on the car when you get back. They don't do any road safety checks or vehicle road worthy checks before you rent their car and drive out. You are on the hook for anything that happens while it is in your hands.

So, as it happened, we rented the car late in the day and parked it overnight at our apartment so it was ready for our excursion to the north end of the island the next morning. We had to move the car from our parking spot to get access to all doors for loading and noticed it leaked about a quart of oil on the ground. We promptly emptied the car and took it back to the dealer right then and there.

When we complained about the oil, the clunk noises and the squealing noises they said they knew about it but hoped that we would pay to fix it from the deposit we left with them. They also admitted the squeal was from a wrong fan belt that they installed on the a/c unit but they said it was difficult and expensive to get the ones that fit, so they used an old one from another application that almost fit. This photo is their spare parts department.

We got another car from them that seemed to run better and we took our chances and left after making changes to the rental contract to reflect the different car (they hoped we would drive away in a different car while under contract for the first one). One of their policies was to charge you an extra 25 dollars for late charges for each hour you return the car beyond the initial rental time. So, three days later, when we returned the car two hours early, they just laughed when I asked for a 25 dollar refund for each hour it came in early....

The only thing we liked about the agency was the little puppies they had on their lot. We spent some time rubbing their bellies...

We have to say that we previously thought driving in Barbados was a hair raising experience, but now that we have rented a car here in Grenada, we have a whole new appreciation for the safety of the roads and the care of drivers in Barbados.

When you are the front seat passenger in a small car, and have no control over steering and brakes, it becomes even more terrifying to drive here. People have learned to drive like the roads are a race track. We think they watch those video games with race cars on them. Every car / taxi / bus we have been in has loud rattles and “clunk” noises coming from the under-carriage, and we can only guess at the damage to the suspension and drive train components from impacting pot hole after pot hole. Almost every car has dents, scratches, loose fenders, broken / cracked windows, and mufflers that don't muffle. It's not a reflection of the age of the vehicles nor the ability of the owners to maintain them, it's more of a public demolition derby encounter with horns blowing all the while.

Trucks drive just as fast and reckless as the cars. Bus drivers are constantly racing with each other as it's a business competition between them to see who can pick up the next passenger for a small bit of change (EC$2.50 per ride). People are hurrying to get home to start their evening because they are in a party mood, plus all the large construction vehicles are barrelling through town and taking up more than their share of road. These large trucks are filled with workers just barely hanging on and spilling over all the sides. It feels like a recipe for disaster.

You drive on the "wrong", left side of the street. That takes some getting used to as a passenger and even more when you are driving. The traffic circles are a scary mesh of vehicles intertwining with each other and some try to cut others off or get that one car length ahead of someone else. The worst time to drive is rush hour from 4pm to 6pm as everyone is in a massive hurry to drive home.

There are no highways here, just roads with a single lane in each direction. Sometimes it's a single lane in two directions.

There is no room for parking and no sidewalks so everyone walks in the street and people park anywhere they can. This necessitates a complex dance of cars moving in opposite directions, continually stopping and swerving around human, animal and vehicular obstacles.

Many people run small shops along the road, sometimes out of the front of their houses, and on Friday night everyone is cooking and trying to pry a few dollars out of the hands of people passing by. School children gather on the main highways in their uniforms between 2:30 and 3:00 in the afternoon. They play games with each other as cars and trucks whisk by and have no clue that they might not make it through the day.

Grenada's answer to managing traffic without using a traffic light, is four feeder lanes from four opposing directions converging into a circle (or roundabouts as they are called here). As a newbie, it seems everyone is driving on the “wrong” side of the road and is going around the “wrong” way (clockwise). In addition to this insanity, add a major bank, a gas station, a supermarket, lots of small shops including popular Fish and Chips take out and multiple street vendors on the sides selling barbecued chicken, roasted corn, soups, drinks and anything else they think people may want. Toss in a bus stop with buses only sometimes stopping in their designated places (other times, they just stop in the road, blocking traffic). Of course, this means there are a large number of people walking or running to buy grilled corn, jerk chicken or to catch a bus home. There is usually a cross walk right at the roundabout but normally people just make a run for it.

It's a mess....

People in their vehicles are always using their horns. This is their way of saying hello or alerting you that they are on the road near you. It is a friendly gesture and should not be taken as a derogatory personal “assault” like it is in Canada. Bus drivers use their horn to let people know they are getting close to a bus stop in case someone is there waiting for them. They also honk at people who are not at bus stops and they stop to pick them up if they wave them to stop. Others honk to say hello to people they know on the street or someone they recognize in an oncoming car. And even others will give a quick honk to let you know they are just around the next hair pin corner. It's constant bit of honking going on.

We have had many close calls from all vehicles driving too quickly and cutting a corner to make it around a bend. Other times people will just stop in the driving lane to get out to talk or buy something or drop off something. It's a bit scary to be coming around a corner and see someone stopped right in front of you, and when you check your shoulder to see if it's OK to go around, the guy behind you is already right next to you passing you and the stopped car at the same time. And yes, the oncoming traffic then needs to stop and everyone give a toot on their horn while it's happening. Time for us seems to move in slow motion (as it does when you are about to fall off a cliff) and then somehow the whirlwind activity bypasses and you are able to breath again. But don't get too complacent as the next bit of “fun” is just around the next corner.

We try to get prepared for trucks - really big trucks - road hog trucks who know they own the road and take advantage of it. Full size cement mixers and huge construction trucks that make you wonder how they navigate the road at all, let alone when someone else is on the road. With cars parked on both sides of the road, never directly across from each other because the road isn’t wide enough – but, of course, never all on one side because then where would the fun be? The best you can hope for is to see one of these monsters on a straightway. Yes, this means they will coming directly at you – fast and partially on your side – but at least you see them and can choose where you’re going to run yourself off the road so you can live for another day. Next best thing is they might have the presence of mind to use their horn as the come at your from around a corner - at least you have some time to say a few prayers first. The worst case is that the truck is by itself, the driver wants to get home, he is driving like a wild man and you round a curve with him coming right at your windshield, on your side of the road because these trucks don’t corner well and you have to quickly brake and swerve out of the way, hoping not to hit anyone or anything during your evasive driving tactics. After he passes, you can't take the time to take a breath as there might be yet another right behind him. Yes, it's a video game but you don't get a second life.

All of this is happening while you are carefully scanning the road for pot holes and making sudden jerking motions with the steering to avoid them – one way or another you almost manage to keep at least three of your wheels on somewhat smooth driving surfaces at the same time.

Yes, we like walking, and we do that 90% of the time. The other 10% is riding a bus, and then toss in an occasional taxi fare when our grocery bags are too full to carry.

Whew!