03-01-2015, 01:59 PM
So masked gunman rob some Canadians in their rental, and Rastagirl posts that all the gun violence has nothing to do with tourists. Does the trigger need to be pulled before you consider it "violence"?
How many tourists/visitors/non-residents get robbed every week that next to nobody hears about? At what point will people have heard enough and start travelling elsewhere? Then you get empty hotels (especially the smaller local owned places), empty stores and restaurants etc etc. From there the desperation of locals will get worse, then what?
The Jamaican government had best wake up soon, but I wouldn't count on it. Really sucks to think things are going to get worse before it gets better. It's gotta be tough for so many poor Jamaicans trying to squeak out a living, they don't have the choice of pretending everything is irie and packing their suitcases and leaving after a week, 2 weeks, 2 1/2 months, whatever.
Susangrace - I have been to Cuba. We flew to Holguin then stayed on the beach near Guardalavca. It had good and not so good points. As you don't have a ton of choices for accomodation, we stayed at one of the A/I's. Room was fine, pool nice too. Food was just OK although they always had ice cream lol. But besides have to stay AI there was lots of fun to be had. There was a small bar on the beach just outside our resort. We partied there every night - cheap beer and mojitos, and a 50-50 mix of locals and tourists. No hassle ever. Locals can find themselves behind bars pretty quick for giving the visitors a hard time about anything. Jamaica could take some notes.
One of my favorite things where we stayed was that there was a reef not far off shore and it was full of fish, and not just little dinky ones. As I snorkeled around, I would be followed by a school of big yellowtail snapper, like close to 18-24in long. Also went deep seas fishing and caught my first Mahi Mahi.
Also been to Belize. After flying into Belize City took a small place to Placencia, a small fishing village with several local owned hotels, tiny places. Where we stayed there were 6 rooms. Went scuba diving in the clearest water I have ever dived in, saw so much aquatic life. Did a couple day of fishing in the mangroves, caught huge snook. Placencia was a fun place to hang out with a nice small beach but there were quite a few jellyfish close to shore, not so nice. Don't know if thats a regular thing or seasonal. No hassles there either, could walk the shore for miles without talking to anyone. I managed to pick up some "supplies" on our second day, met a rasta in the bar. I approached him and we talked a bit. He said he could help me out. Can't remember the exact number but he told me a price, I gave him a bit extra (never had the exact amount on me). He left on his bicycle. An hour later I figured he wasn't coming back but next thing there he is with my "package". Along with the stuff he insisted on giving my my change, I think it was $5.
Its a bit soon for us to make our decision on December's trip but I am keeping all options open right now and will be following events in Negril closely. Just because I don't have "peeps" there, it's not hard to know what gwaan.
If we had a direct flight from Saskatoon to Costa Rica we would be on it.
How many tourists/visitors/non-residents get robbed every week that next to nobody hears about? At what point will people have heard enough and start travelling elsewhere? Then you get empty hotels (especially the smaller local owned places), empty stores and restaurants etc etc. From there the desperation of locals will get worse, then what?
The Jamaican government had best wake up soon, but I wouldn't count on it. Really sucks to think things are going to get worse before it gets better. It's gotta be tough for so many poor Jamaicans trying to squeak out a living, they don't have the choice of pretending everything is irie and packing their suitcases and leaving after a week, 2 weeks, 2 1/2 months, whatever.
Susangrace - I have been to Cuba. We flew to Holguin then stayed on the beach near Guardalavca. It had good and not so good points. As you don't have a ton of choices for accomodation, we stayed at one of the A/I's. Room was fine, pool nice too. Food was just OK although they always had ice cream lol. But besides have to stay AI there was lots of fun to be had. There was a small bar on the beach just outside our resort. We partied there every night - cheap beer and mojitos, and a 50-50 mix of locals and tourists. No hassle ever. Locals can find themselves behind bars pretty quick for giving the visitors a hard time about anything. Jamaica could take some notes.
One of my favorite things where we stayed was that there was a reef not far off shore and it was full of fish, and not just little dinky ones. As I snorkeled around, I would be followed by a school of big yellowtail snapper, like close to 18-24in long. Also went deep seas fishing and caught my first Mahi Mahi.
Also been to Belize. After flying into Belize City took a small place to Placencia, a small fishing village with several local owned hotels, tiny places. Where we stayed there were 6 rooms. Went scuba diving in the clearest water I have ever dived in, saw so much aquatic life. Did a couple day of fishing in the mangroves, caught huge snook. Placencia was a fun place to hang out with a nice small beach but there were quite a few jellyfish close to shore, not so nice. Don't know if thats a regular thing or seasonal. No hassles there either, could walk the shore for miles without talking to anyone. I managed to pick up some "supplies" on our second day, met a rasta in the bar. I approached him and we talked a bit. He said he could help me out. Can't remember the exact number but he told me a price, I gave him a bit extra (never had the exact amount on me). He left on his bicycle. An hour later I figured he wasn't coming back but next thing there he is with my "package". Along with the stuff he insisted on giving my my change, I think it was $5.
Its a bit soon for us to make our decision on December's trip but I am keeping all options open right now and will be following events in Negril closely. Just because I don't have "peeps" there, it's not hard to know what gwaan.
If we had a direct flight from Saskatoon to Costa Rica we would be on it.