Colin Donihue

I just rented a car for the summer! I’m really excited. Compared to some of my previous field vehicles (see here and here) this little Hyundai feels like a Ferrari. Well, almost. Still, I’ve taken it out twice now and it’s done great on the tight corners and switchbacks all over Naxos. 

One exciting development: it’s a stick shift. While I’d gotten pretty good at driving stick in Africa, trying my hand in Boston completely destroyed my confidence. All those hills, traffic and people made the task a lot harder than just bouncing through the savanna. Naxos roads are similarly full of people and similarly lax in driving rules (I’ve only seen 3 stop signs so far on the island) but because there weren’t a lot of options, stick shift it was for the summer, and I’m pleased that it’s going really well. I’ll keep you updated!

So, here’s one more picture of the car, enjoying the view. I’m open to suggestions for names. Darwin’s boat was the HMS Beagle… would the “Beagle II” be too optimistic? In reality, I’d settle for “the micro-chihuahua,” but please, maybe let’s come up with something a bit better than that?