Driving in Puerto Rico
Dallas, Texas is known for being a crazy place when it comes to driving. Road rage, ridiculous highways, the backwards airport exits, traffic jams, constant road construction, and plenty of speeding (God help you if you block me in the left lane going slow). All of that is totally true. But Dallas ain't got nothin' on Puerto Rico.
First, you have to have a car here in PR. Limited bus systems, no Uber or Lyft, no subway - the occasional horse, though. Major roads and highways that connect municipalities are in good shape; most are 2 lanes each way, road signs are present (in Spanish and in kilometers), and it's not really that different from driving in the states. Once you turn off those roads, you're entering the adventure that is driving in PR.
Our roads are extremely narrow. As in a two way road is only one lane wide. Roads are twisty, hilly, views are obscured by trees and overgrown plants, and road signs are scarce. Drivers here don't really seem to mind any of this and drive as though none of these hazards are present. When a vehicle approaches from the opposite direction, they generally wait until the last possible second to move over and allow room for you to pass.
Here is the craziest part: when you are stopped at an intersection where cross traffic does not stop, it is expected that you will poke out into the road with your car to force the cross traffic to slow down or stop and allow you the rest of the way into the road. If you just sit there and wait for traffic to clear (like in the states) you will be honked at mercilessly.
Here is the good news: PR drivers are soooooo friendly! Everyone follows the same rules. So when you do the terrifying move and poke your car out into oncoming traffic, you can actually trust the other drivers to not slam into you. The first few times you do this it feels as though you're going to die, but once you start trusting in this crazy system, it's suddenly no big deal. Road rage really isn't a thing here. That's because everyone is on island time. The flip side of this is that you no longer have the right of way, even if legally and logically and in reality you totally have the right of way. You have to respect the car poking out into traffic in front of you and let them in. It's a bit of an adjustment. #holycrapthisshitcray
GPS does work here. However, addresses are pretty strange in PR and are sometimes hard to come by. If you have a correct address, your GPS will get you there. When we first arrived we had to drop a pin as opposed to entering an address to find our AirBnb space. It got us close enough. GPS is hilarious in that street names here are ridiculously long names (of people) in Spanish. I've never heard my iPhone sound so wrong. And good luck finding your turn. Street signs are rare in town and by the time your GPS spits out "turn left on Calle Manuel Corchado Juarbe in 1 kilometer" you're too busy laughing hysterically at your device's piss poor pronunciation of the street name and wondering how in the hell far is 1 kilometer to have the slightest chance of making your turn in time.
We have a town square in Isabela. It's lovely, with fountains and a large church and lots of shops and palm trees. There are always people hanging out on the square, playing dominos, grabbing some Rex cream. However, driving through the square can be tricky. Some streets become one way with no sign, and some intersections have no stop or yield sign in any direction. I am totally serious. I was thrilled and amazed when after three weeks a stop sign was erected in one of these intersections. God knows how long it had been missing. I tried to get a shot of it. Please note there is actually a street sign! Also note the long name on the sign and imagine your iPhone reading it to you:
Pot holes were horrible in Dallas. So bad that I cracked the CV joint in my Mini on one. Pot holes in PR are in a class all their own. Entire roads are swallowed up in these pot holes. And no amount of sand (which seems to be the favorite quick fix around here) can help. Locals just know where these are and everyone is nice and takes turns squeezing by the giant hole in the already narrow road. Here is photo of a "small" pot hole:
If you're gonna cruise around PR you're gonna need to get some gas. Gas stations are plentiful, but expect a few surprises. First, there is no pay at the pump. You have to go inside. Apparently they used to have pay at the pump, but decided that sales inside would increase if people were forced inside. Next, prices are in liters, not gallons. When you roll up and see $0.67 on the sign, it's not cause for celebration. Finally, there may be some safety measures missing. I've never seen gas pumps so close to a building:
Surely there's a good reason for that.
Obviously to drive around you need car insurance and a license. We currently use our Texas licenses; they are valid until the expiration date (Texas and PR have a reciprocity agreement, as do many other states). We will eventually surrender those for PR licenses. Car insurance is mandatory, and you actually purchase it along with your vehicle. So our insurance payment is included in our car payment. No shopping around for insurance companies here. So weird.
I can only explain so much - this video Jason shot of his short drive home from work really shows what it's like to drive through town in Isabela, PR. Enjoy!