Caribbean
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Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao
A very beautiful place, but in the downtown area of Willemstad, if you see something on the ground that is valuable or interesting (necklace or phone card) - DO NOT pick it up! You will be approached by 2 people who will ask you hand over some money for your find.
Hotel washrooms: If you see anything of value or anything that looks like a local souvenir laying on the counter - DO NOT touch it! Someone will try and sell it to you at a VERY high price.
Brian Lema, Canada (Mar 03)
Bahamas
Shopping at downtown Nassau was fun - take a water taxi across from Paradise Island which is $6 round-trip plus suggested donations of a $1 each way for a free-lance tour guide on the boat to tell you a little about the area. All in all, I enjoyed my vacation - very relaxing. Let me know if you want more info.
Ann Karen Brassinga, Canada (May 05)
Just near the NW tip of big Exuma, near Baraterra is Lee Stocking Island with the Perry Oceanographic Institute on it. Anyone heading up to this end of the islands should note that all of Lee Stocking Island is not off limits to camping due to some bad experiences they had with a bunch of previous campers (garbage, fires, etc). You should call ahead to get a tour of the institute. It is amazing to see what they do there and to see the marine life they have on site. We got a tour and got to see a rare Sargasso fish (looks like a piece of Sargasso seaweed) ... call ahead and ask for Brian Kakuk, the dive master of the facility.
Nick Jones, Canada (Apr 03)
Barbados
We stayed in St Lawrence Gap which was great because it's so central and has a lot of restaurants and shops close by as well as nice beaches. It is a bit "touristy" but if you need a break you can easily catch a bus to a quieter part of the island.
A must is a trip out to Crane Beach. It's absolutely beautiful. You can get there by taxi easily or you can do what we did and take the bus which only costs us B$1.50. One tip though, if you go on Sunday be prepared for the buses not to run very often. We waited over and hour one Sunday for a bus. You can hire beach chairs and umbrellas on the beach and there is also a little bar which sells soft drinks, beer and a mean Rum punch. Having lunch or even just a cocktail up at the Crane Beach resort is worth it for the views.
We visited the "Graeme Hall Nature Sanctury" which was so relaxing. It's a great idea to pack a lunch and eat on the very well manicured lawns or tables provided. It's such a nice shady area so it's great on a hot day to sit in the shade and watch a bit of nature. It's located walking distance from St Lawrence Gap.
Ingrid Oudman, The Netherlands (Jan 05)
Dominican Republic & Haiti
Puerto Plata airport: It's good for budget travellers to know that a taxi is not a necessity at the airport. It suffices to walk the 500m to the airport entrance and flag down a passing guagua.
Jorgen Vandewoestijne, Belgium (Jan 06)
When taking guaguas (the mini van public transportation), 9 times out of 10 they will not tell you the actual fare and will take whatever you have. They will not steal from you - it's safe. They'll just take advantage of your ignorance and the fact you're a tourist. Find out from a local what the cost should be (they're very cheap). Put this amount in your pocket and when you arrive at your destination, simply hand them the proper amount and go on your way indicating that you know exactly what the fare is. They may look disappointed, but they won't try to extract any more out of you.
Dan Coplan, USA (Jan 06)
When I left Haiti for the US, I only had to pay $US30 departure tax.
Susan Davies, USA (Nov 05)
Haiti transport, flights: From Port au Prince there are no flights to Dame Marie.
It's even hard to get a cowboy to land on the pasture of a landing strip. You can get to Jeremie twice a morning from and to Port au Prince. If you do manage to fly into Dame Marie watch out for the goat path running out the strip. If you land safely the reward is a perfect beach called Chein Dan (the dog's tooth) The airline personel in Jeremie will drive you down the to the airport from the city.
John McEnroe, USA (Jun 05)
Outside San Francisco de Macoris, about 15 km. northeast, begins the Loma Quita Espuela ('Quita Espuela' means 'take off your stirrups'), a very interesting region. It contains the biggest remains of original cloud- and rainforest in the Caribe. Nowadays, the Loma Quita Espuela is a scientific reserve, a refuge of many, many inland species. A lot of different plants and trees, birds and other animals live here. Scientists from different countries do a lot of research in the reserve. It is the birthplace of many rivers. The water is very pure. The Loma Quita Espuela is not yet very tourist. There is developing eco-tourism. You can do several hikes of one day or more, up till four days (always with a guide). Horses can be rent; there are good swimming facilities. Local women can prepare excellent meals in the open-air restaurant near the reserve. It seems, there are advanced plans to build some 'cabañas' for people who want to stay longer. If someone plans to visit the reserve, he has to contact the Fundación Loma Quita Espuela some days before (tel. 809.588.4156).
Frans Huber, The Netherlands (Apr 05)
A new road (no cars, bumpy but OK
when not wet for pedestrians,
motoconchas and bicycles) now
connects Las Terrenas and Playa
Bonita. This useful shortcut runs
behind the hill where the Villas Casita
are under construction.
The guagua to Constanza from Bonau
costs RD$70. Make sure you
have agreed on the price. Some drivers
rip off travellers by aggressively
craving RD$500 or even RD$800
when you reach your
destination.
Karen Söderberg, Denmark (Mar 05)
Be careful if walking down the road leading to Boca de Diabolo (on the Samana Peninsula). The taxi driver told us it was not safe and he was right. He took us down to the blowhole, but we decided to walk back the last part up to the main road. Suddenly two men - one with a cagoule, the other with a bandana over his face - jumped out of a hedge and demanded money. We got away after handing over a few small notes, but we were lucky - they could have taken our rucksacks or worse.
Rosemary Beattie, Dominican Republic (Jan 05)
Guadeloupe
We should recommend to everybody to always carry along a spoon, fork and knife on all islands, especially on weekends, and to most market places in small towns (when there is no market). You always find stands where women sell home-cooked food to other locals who take it away and eat it at their home. You do get a kind of aluminium container to carry the meal, but you need a spoon or fork. We ended up in always carrying these items along in our car, just in case...
Angela Fischer, Germany (May 03)
Puerto Rico
Travel to Culebra has changed. The ferries are all packed and tickets should be purchased in advance. We showed up on a Monday off season one hour early for the 9:30 ferry and found that it had already left b/c it was full - furthermore, the next ferry was not until 3pm. We had to cancel our trip and scramble for other options.
Andrew Gorlin, USA (Jul 05)
Saba, Sint Eustatius, Sint Maarten/St Martin, St Bart's, Martinique
Sint Maarten: The international departure tax has increased to US$30 as of January 2005, although some airlines (including American) include the tax in the airfare.
Kryn Krautheim, USA (Jan 05)
St Lucia
I've just come back from St Lucia and just thought I'd update you that the departure tax is now US$21 US.
Kirstie Ferrer, UK (May 05)
I have just got back from St Lucia (and St Vincent and Dominica) and have just had some skin infections diagnosed as cutaneous larva migrams. This is pretty nasty (very uncomfortable and disprutive, but not life-threatening). Local doctors in the Caribbean did not diagnose it correctly and it doesn't seem to feature in your Eastern Caribbean guide. As the following websites suggest that it is relatively prevalent, it may be worth including it in future copies of the guide. (I also discover that I got a less extreme version of the same thing in Venezuela or Tobago this time last year).
Nic Boulton, UK (Jan 03)
St Vincent & the Grenadines
You can rent a mobile phone while you are here for a deposit of EC$50, which can be in the form of your credit card number. You then pay as you go using cards which are widely available for EC$10, EC$20 or EC$50. Calls are relatively cheap and you can make and receive international calls. Text messaging is not great, though, as you can only text within the island to people on the same network... overseas calling cards are available from supermarkets and can provide for cheap calls home. EC$10 gets you 22 minutes to the UK, which is a good value.
Zoe Spyvee, UK (Jan 05)
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