No walking around with my dlsr was, yes, because of robbery. Was told that it would just be grabbed even if it was hanging around my neck. Pick-pocketing apparently is quite common also but have heard that warning in a few places that I have visited so no big deal. I didn't feel threatened or anything at any time but the poverty was quite apparent all around. Lots of begging and saw locals selling things that would not be normally sold anywhere else if that makes sense. Actually saw one guy selling Kleenex packs on a blanket in the park; others selling used clothing and small candy packs....could see that they were just trying to make a few pennies. Hope that made sense.
I really enjoyed being there though and would love to spend an extended time there to learn Spanish, or their form of it. Apparently it is 'slang' as it was explained to me; that their form is not understood very well in any other Spanish speaking country because of this. My driver to the airport said that he doesn't understand why people would come there to learn because they would have to relearn how to speak Spanish if used anywhere else. He was a character through....asked for us to speak in English so he could practice as the others in his office made fun of his English and I asked him to teach me a bit of Spanish, which I of course now don't remember. He also loved Bob Marley and played Bob the whole way back to the airport without me even mentioning my trips to Jamaica. Of course, he would love to go....he was quite interesting and had a great sense of humour...