José Duarte, “El Conejo cochero” from Granada, lives a modest retirement after traveling the streets of this city for 40 years.
The city of Granada has been characterized by the attractive carriages pulled by horses that every day travel through the main streets of the Gran Sultana. Arriving at this department and not being transported in one, is like not having visited this city. Tens of years ago, when the houses were few and the streets were dusty, the sedans were the only transportation for its inhabitants.
Some of the most recognized and emblematic coachmen in Granada are no longer seen on the streets as before. Many years ago, from very early hours they were watched as they passed by, they advanced to the sound of the horses’ hooves, but today they are retired from the trade due to their advanced age.
José Esteban Duarte Of course, is one of them. Known affectionately throughout Granada as “El Conejo”, he is one of the most representative retired coachmen of this city. For more than 40 years, he has been dedicated to car service, and even where he lives, he has become a reference for people looking for directions to get to his destination.
Duarte Claro, has not only become a reference in the most recent history of this city, but also revives the popular Nicaraguan expression when it comes to giving direction; ´from where El Conejo, two blocks down´, people from Granada are heard to say or ´near the corner of El Conejo´, say others.
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“The Rabbit” by inheritance
He narrates that the nickname “El Conejo” is a family inheritance and many of his ancestors carried it all their lives. His father, Carlos Duarte López (RIP), was the one who inherited it. Now he leaves it high, so much so that a bridge near his house was baptized with his nickname, in reference to his legacy and seniority in this neighborhood.
“The name of El Conejo comes from my great-great-grandparents, now I am widely recognized as El Conejo, but nothing happens to me, I am proud. Suddenly the cheap (perifoneo) goes by saying: ‘so-and-so died, from the El Conejo bridge, so much for that side, I am recognized and it does not bother me. It makes me happy, ”he said for this report.
Studies were always a problem for Don José. “They weren’t done to me,” he says. Instead, from a very young age, he wanted to have a horse. He remembers when his mother, Carmen Alba Claro (RIP), sent him to school to study and instead he went to “some friends to bathe horses.” He later thought of a car and then he saw that he could earn a living with it.
The man from Granada is now 92 years old, he is the father of three daughters, who accompanied him in his life as a coachman. “It’s been a good life, I’m not complaining, I earned my bread honestly and the people here love me and my family a lot,” he says.
The cars of Granada
In Granada there are three types of cars; the common, which is currently used for regular transportation of people; the tourist one, which is used to take visitors and who stay in the central park or places where tourists arrive; and the funeral, which is used to transport the deceased to their last resting place.
“El Conejo” recounts that he had three sedans, which were used as the famous “hearses”. Different funeral homes in the town hired him to carry out mourning processions, and when the requests for contracts came together in one day, his daughters took the role of coaches.
“I liked it when I was little, I would go to a friend to bathe horses, there I got up, growing. I had three cars, and at that time, they founded the three funeral homes, two of which are currently operating, ”he explains. “There I flew 40 years working on that, and it makes me laugh, because many people said that I was going to get sick from there,” he adds.
Duarte Claro narrates that one day -as usual- he went out to move “a grass” when suddenly the board that supports his weight ended up breaking and causing him to fall to the pavement. The injuries were serious and prevented him from continuing to work on this means of transport.
He remembers that several residents came to his aid and he was taken by ambulance to the nearest hospital. “They couldn’t operate on me because there were seven broken ribs, and more than one kidney was affected because it caught a bit of bone,” he recounts.
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pride of his family
Currently, José Duarte Claro lives close to his daughters and grandchildren who remain attentive to his health. He is accompanied by a radio and a television on which he entertains himself by listening to music. “I have nowhere to go, I don’t have to do anything, that’s where I am distracted, I sit down to listen (music)”, he adds.
For Petrona Duarte, niece of “El Conejo”, having her grandfather alive is a “pride” for her family, since she assures that the recognition they receive in the neighborhood is thanks to their performance as a coachman and their humanitarian charisma.
“People sometimes ask me: ‘Don’t you get mad that we call you Rabbit?’ I answer no. Rather I feel proud that they call me ‘Rabbit’. They call my brothers ´bunnies´”, says Petrona Duarte,
“I already told my people, when I die I don’t want them to cry, they better take me for a walk to the park with my friends so they can see me (for the last time)”, says the famous Rabbit. “That would be my last car ride,” he said between laughs.
