Bicycle Carts – Easier Said Than Done.

For years and years we have been using the porters on the main peir to back our goods off the water taxi to home. Boxes and bins full of groceries every week, refrigerators, beds, that can’t make it to the Caye Caulker barge in time have to go via water taxi with all the passenegers. For years and years its been 5 bzd ($2.50 U.S.) a cart load, since we’re a stone’s throw from the peir. As with everything else, the price has been inching up and up. If the bin is too heavy or they have to take it up stairs, its an extra 2 bzd. If its more than 1 bin or box then they add a few dollars extra for each additional box now. Bigness refuses to pay extra (so they hate him). He reminds them regularly that they are not gasoline operated so they shouldn’t raise their prices. I just pay them unless the price is ridiculous, then I barter with throwing in a free cup of tea or coffee or cake or whatever.

For ever and ever we’ve been moaning about the cost of transportation to Caye Caulker, so finally we bought a bicycle cart, which Bigness was so excited to put together in the dead of night with UNBaby sitting at the top of the stairs to the beach waving the plastic golf club in front of the motion sensor light. She was so delighted to be encouraged to trip the light on over and over and over that we didn’t get the usual moaning and groaning - I’m tired - my arm hurts - this is boring – when can I stop - diatribe.

Our first trip using the cart was an adventure, we found out the hard way that its easier to push the cart than to try and ride it. But we saved 15 bzd and I lost about 5 lbs of water weight, so there is an upside. I have a new appreciation for all the manual labor involved, I feel like I’m training for a triathlon now. Once Bigness finished putting together the cart he wanted to ride me all over the island on the little bench he built, as his queen, but I nixed the idea. Our Health Center doesn’t have a defibrillator.