Particularly when the frigid wrath of winter gusts across North America, few places lure like the Caribbean. Beaches with champagne-hued sand, infinitely clear water layered in deep greens and blues and tiki huts in a tropical breeze; those cliche images of a Caribbean vacation are accurate to a tee, and pretty much define relaxed resort living. But there are some things you should know about traveling in this region, as the Caribbean is home to some danger zones. And while most tourists will never face a threat during their vacations, dangers still exist in the prettiest of places.

Here are some islands where tourists should take extra care:

Jamaica –From its towering waterfalls, rushing rivers and the honeymoon-and-cruise ship havens Jamaica is one of the Caribbean’s most stunning islands. More than one million tourists visit here every year, most without incident. All-inclusive resorts operate as gated communities of sorts, and you’re unlikely to encounter any danger within their confines. Cruise ships offer organized tours that are quite legitimate and safe. But the country as a whole has one of the highest murder rates in the world (uncomfortably close to that of Colombia), and venturing off the beaten path anywhere in Jamaica should be approached with a serious measure of caution. Tourists should either cruise in or opt to fly into Montego Bay’s airport instead of Kingston. The danger of murders and robberies is a threat around West Kingston, and there have been reports of increased violence and gunshots on the Mountain View road, along the route to the Norman Manley International Airport. If you rent a car to tour the country, consult with locals on road conditions, as landslides may have erased sections of main roads. Never stop for any reason on lonely stretches of road.

Antigua –Several high-profile murders in recent years, including the violent January 2010 stabbing of a cruise ship passenger near popular Pigeon’s Point Beach, are indicative of a rising crime problem on this beautiful island, which has long been popular with the yachting set. Antigua’s population is 80,000, but the island’s per capita murder rate is roughly triple that of New York. Illegal drug activity is a major problem and has been tied to increased reports of violent crime. Most often, it’s a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Lessen your odds of encountering a threat by avoiding walking outside at night (take a taxi to your destination if you head off resort property, and ask the driver to return to pick you up at a specific time). If you arrive in Antigua by cruise ship, be sure to book land-based activities only with verified operators. Independent travelers should seek advice from reputable hotels when planning excursions.

Bahamas – Just 50 miles off the coast of Florida, the Bahamas are a string of diverse islands home to everything from placid villages that are likely as safe as your own neighborhood to dangers zones best off avoiding entirely. A recent surge in violent crime in Nassau, the Bahamian capital and its largest city, means tourists are best off avoiding New Providence Island altogether (if your cruise ship stops here, inquire with the concierge for the most up-to-date safety information). Petty crime is a problem throughout the country. As a general rule, the Out Islands tend to be the safest havens for both resort tourists and intrepid travelers looking to venture off the beaten path by staying in small guest houses and dive resorts.

Trinadad and Tobago –These neighboring islands off the coast of Venezuela comprise one nation and offer a rich visitor experience-although not without threat. There have been increased reports regarding violent crimes and murder in Tobago. Visitors flying into Trinidad’s Piarco Airport should be particularly vigilant, as armed robbers have been known to follow newly arrived passengers to remote areas of the airport parking lots or even to accost them on the road to the city of Port of Spain. Tourists should avoid walking around downtown Port of Spain at night, and should not stop at scenic overlooks after dark.

Dominican Republic – The country that shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti has long been popular with European tourists, and increased flights from North America of late have lead to a surge in tourism from our part of the world. Petty crime is a problem throughout the island, but the thing worth worrying about here is Dengue Fever–a mosquito borne disease that is endemic to the Dominican Republic. Malaria, although a lesser issue, is sometimes seen, too (after Haiti, the DR is the riskiest place in the Caribbean for mosquito borne diseases). Tourists staying at the beach resorts in the country’s eastern La Altagracia province should be extra vigilant by applying insect repellants with DEET and wearing skin-covering clothes, particularly at dawn and dusk when mosquitoes are most active. Visitors who venture into the countryside for adventure activities are particularly prone to come into contact with disease-carrying mosquitoes.

By all means, don’t let any of these or other warnings keep you from your dream vacation. Some vigiliance, preparation and basic common sense are most of what you need to avoid adding any risk to your much needed vacation. If you sit back…relax….and be smart, you can enjoy the ride as much a puppy with his head out the window of your highway drive in the car.

For more information on other experiences you can be a part of on an Amazing Journey, visit https://amazingjourneys.net/

Go on…guess.

Its not what you think.

…As a tour leader I am often witness to many moments of bliss as lifelong dreams of seeing far away lands are fulfilled. These once-in-a-lifetime snapshots of time are a driving force behind me loving what I do so much.

As a byproduct of leading my own clients, I also get to watch the goings-on of other travelers who may be sharing in some similiar experiences. Most every tour begins and ends in an airport somewhere, and here is where the truest emotions of travel rear their moments in time. For some its anxiety as one enters a new country for a first time. For others its excitement because “I’m finally here!”, and the dream of seeing a new land is about to be fulfilled. For many, however, its an arrival of emotion when after finally landing, navigating through customs proceedings and finding baggage one can exit the rooms of rules and enter a room of reunion with loved ones.

I’ve been fortunate to spend, on occasion, upwards of 6-7 hours on a given day welcoming my arriving passengers in the baggage claim area of a foreign airport. While standing on my feet for that amount of time holding a welcome sign and assisting my passengers is a burden on the lower extremeties, the emotional gamet of arriving passengers gives the sideline observer more pleasure than the first lick of a chocolate ice cream cone on a hot summer day.

This is a feel-good phenomenon that few people, I believe, have ever considered as a true lifting of one’s spirits….but I suggest a step outside the box of life’s usual pleasures for a moment to experience the true G-Spot of the universe.

The joys of seeing a little child run into his daddy’s arms after he returns home from a business trip, or a boyfriend/girlfriend reunion after months apart, or an emotional wife or mother embracing their military son after a deployment to Iraq….or the first sight by grandparents of a newborn grandchild are all moments-in-time best seen in, of all places, the baggage claim area of any airport.

If you’re ever feeling blue, just take a ride to the airport and head over to the international arrival area and get a good spot among the sign holders, limo drivers and tour leaders. I promise you, before the first plane deposits its final passenger you will be smiling ear to ear feeling the love and joy of the reunions of loved ones.

March 4, 2010

As AJ embarks upon another, well, ‘amazing journey’ a unique and significant occurrence recently played itself out. As travelers with AJ know, every trip is escorted by some combination of Bill and/or Malori-often times with the added leadership of Michele or Stacey or Barry. Behind the scenes are a collection of other players such as marketing personnel, tour companies, airlines and the Jewish Community Center.

The events of last week, most notably the earthquake in Chile, caused a plan of action in our company that has been thankfully unparalleled to date. With the return of our post-Antarctica tour of Easter Island delayed due to the disaster in Chile, Amazing Journeys embarks on a subsequent trip before the previous one officially concluded. With Malori stranded in Easter Island along with 15 travelers (who definitely got more than their money’s worth getting to know this solitary remote island), Bill departs to begin our tour with a new group headed to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. (coincidence that we’re headed back to South America, notwithstanding!). Thankfully, the Islanders and Galapagonians will be airplanes passing through the night as one group has just returned to Miami to finally head home, and the other group heads to Miami to begin their impending tour.

Interesting to say the least, but ultimately goodness, safety and adventure abound for all.

Departing for Ecuador in just a few hours with 23 excited passengers, we look forward to further enhancing Darwin’s theories as we explore giant tortoises, swim with sealions, gawk at strange birds like the blue-footed booby (and red-footed booby), visit natural reserves and animal research facilities…and totally discover a world visited by fewer people on earth than any other locale, save for where we just returned from-Antarctica.

What a world we live in!

Bill and group head to Ecuador sans Malori who is headed home for a well deserved break-in-the action having survived (prospered, even) along with our group, any effects from the Chile earthquake. As a matter of fact Malori and Michele (who staged the rescue mission from our AJ office in Pittsburgh) are quite the heroines. With thousands of people still stranded in Chile, these two single-handedly orchestrated a safe and expeditious (and in many cases, even fun!) way home for everyone.

“M & M” are the best. I am honored to work side-by-side with them and our travelers are blessed to have a team of such dedicated and hard working warriors.

Amazing Indeed!

TUESDAY 3/3/10

Beyond the borders of America life is so different in so many ways. To take an organized tour is a wonderful way to see a glimpse of a destination. But as a tourist, one truly only sees a snapshot of a much larger picture usually not seen. To indulge the culture and lifestyle, however, means you have take a path less traveled in order to see things that most people in the outside world really don’t know about.

Being in the far reaches of southern South America last week for purposes of visiting Antarctica, I took the opportunity on my way home to pay a visit to my friend Eduardo who lives in Montevideo, Uruguay. I’d been to Montevideo on several occasions via cruise ship. A one-day stop each time, we toured the sights and wandered the main city.

Not this time.

Eduardo and I made plans to spend a few days of R& R at his home and at a beautiful resort along the coast called Punta del Este. Sort of where the “Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous” from South America go.

While this vacation was relaxing and totally pleasant (Eduardo was an exceptional host, making me feel like I was deserving of a lifestyle of the rich & famous), time with my amigo provided an enlightening and sometimes disturbing tutelage on this smallest of South American countries.

Eduardo is a single dad-the idol of two beautiful little boys, age 8 and 10. Fede and Diego call me Uncle Bill even though they don’t know my language and I don’t know theirs. These two boys live in a country where being Jewish and wanting to prosper with a Jewish life means having a future at risk. Uruguay is a hard country with so many daunting challenges, Jewish or not Jewish.

On the lighter side of things I got a kick of the “men in green”. Instead of parking meters, these guys patrol most streets around the country sort of assisting you into your parking spot. A little wave here and a stop there and you are parked safely and conveniently. Tip please. Usually about the equivalent of $.50 is enough to appease these unsanctioned and unpaid but tolerated ‘employees’ of the state. They are everywhere and appear magically every time you pull in and out of a parking spot. Don’t tip them..be wary of spray of water or mean face. Maybe a scratch on your fender.

Interesting to learn, was about the rights of squatters. A vacant apartment can be inhabited by a homeless squatter, but if not reported within 24 hours he has permanent rights to the domain. An expensive lawsuit to remove the vagrant isn’t worth the effort and often times homeless, penniless people can enjoy rent free living just for being there. Eduardo owns a few apartments and thus employs a few “Squatter Resisters”; someone to stake out the vacant domain until Eduardo can rent it again. The few pesos it costs him to keep someone on site is much less cumbersome than the alternative of using the legal system. Another option is a show of force. Forget the law; get a slug to go in and remove the thug.

More disturbing was the news that a new “democratically elected” communist government is about to be put in place. By a narrow 51-49% vote the current socialist left wing government is being supplanted by an even more left wing communist president who has evidently spawned some dangerous international support from the likes of Cuba, Venezuela and the Palestinians. In celebration of the last day of Carnaval, a parade was being marched down the streets of the high-end Punta del Este. Proudly being waved and cheered on were the Palestinian flag draped by the colors of Hamas. Eduardo and I each got chills and decided soon thereafter that it was best to leave.

Back home, Eduardo drives through stop signs on his ways around Montevideo at night. He says the risk of getting a ticket is better than the alternative of what might happen if surrounded by the nighttime thugs who seem to be able to get away with anything they want without serious consequence. Even murderers, Eduardo tells me, are punished with severely reduced sentences thanks partly to a weak enforcement of punishment-fits-the-crime and the ease of using bribes. Bribes go a long way in almost every facet of dodging the law; from paying off the police to avoid a speeding ticket, to a favorable auto inspection…to the re-claiming of Eduardo’s mother’s stolen purse. She got her purse and belongings back, but the cash…what cash??

Its not all bad in Uruguay. Eduardo says Uruguay is the ‘best’ of the South American countries. Hey, he could live in Bolivia., (Bolivia is another even more disturbing story). I had the best beer in Uruguay that I’ve ever tasted. Pelsin beer made in Uruguay is a must for anyone who likes a cold one. Beautiful beaches abound, great food and outstanding weather make this a nice place to visit (…but I wouldn’t want to live here). Eduardo tells me of his plan that is in place to leave Uruguay on a dime if the situation every becomes dire. He has connections and systems in place to make a safe haven in America if this new government buddies up too much to Chavez….or Hamas.

In the meantime, he does his best to make a life for Fede and Diego. I see disappointment in Eduardo’s face. He loves his country, but is deeply ashamed for the direction its headed. Uruguay saved his grandfather from being deported back to Poland during WWII and helped perpetuate his family tree. It’s a place of rich beauty and great potential…and maybe someday soon it will prosper in a better way , as it did a generation ago. For the next 4 years though, the communist party rules in Uruguay and life for Eduardo, his boys and many other Jews and non Jews alike hangs in a cautious state of limbo.

Meanwhile….AJ heads off on yet another Amazing Journey to South America. Departing for Miami tomorrow en route to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands with a group of eager Giant Tortoises excited to meet some Americans..and an Aussie, Canadian & Italian too. Watch our AJ facebook pages for updates on the journey…

For more information on other experiences you can be a part of on an Amazing Journey, visit https://amazingjourneys.net/

February 27^th, 2010

As I sit here at the airport in Buenos Aires on my way back home from our amazing Antarctica adventure, I am drawn to reflect on some events from the previous several days. Upon returning to South America from Antarctica about half our group took advantage of a unique opportunity to visit Easter Island off the coast (waaay off the coast) of Chile. This remote island is closer to the western coast of South America than any other mainland on planet earth. The word “close” being used loosely, Easter Island is roughly the same distance away from South America that California is from New York. As I write this, I breathe with relief in discovering just a short while ago that my friends, patrons and comrades are all safe and sound, having escaped any wrath of the devastating earthquake that hit Chile early this morning. Merely an inconvenience as compared to what could have been and what is happening in the mainland, our group of 17 are indeed stranded on the far-away island as their flight to Santiago is in limbo due to damage at the airport. Most importantly, they are safe….and now enjoying an added post-post trip among the famous Moias–ancient statues–that sprinkle the landscape. Nice weather will help, as will the company of some good friends and a hospitable community in Easter Island. Hopefully the employers, dog sitters and fish feeders back home don’t mind a few extra days of absence.

My intent on this particular entry wasn’t to write about my friends in Easter Island, but rather to reflect upon something personal that I opted to do instead of accompanying a group to a solitary island in the middle of the Pacific. Today’s events warrant a small shift in my plan of what to blog, but I’m not the one holed up on an island in the south pacific, so I’ll just deal with it.

Life is full of choices and while I covet the experience of seeing a far away island, I chose another–and unique–path of an extended South American experience. At this moment I yearn to be with the group and assist with getting everyone home, but I am now on my way home by another route, having encountered a different, less inconvenient but still very eye-opening experience. Stay tuned in a few days for another entry, and some reflection on another South American community.

For more information on other experiences you can be a part of on an Amazing Journey, visit https://amazingjourneys.net/

…but as we head due north on our last day aboard our expedition vessel, some thoughts as shared with a friend:

“…being in Antarctica has been life changing. Words and photos alone cannot convey the magnitude and true realization of this continent. This was so very cool in every sense. We had unusually great weather and even as I write this we are sailing in the dreaded Drake Passage which is where the Atlantic and Pacific meet causing notoriously rough waters–some of the roughest in the world. But, today miraculously, we are almost perfectly calm. The whole group is wearing patches and popping Dramamine, but happily we are looking out at calm waters for the moment. Day after tomorrow we’re back in Ushuaia and then one more night in Buenos Aires (and a dinner with Tango Show) before some head off to Easter Island and some head on home back to their “real life”.

Soon this experience will be just a fond memory, but the actuality of being a part of this frozen, barren, remote but wildly interesting continent will live in our lives forever. I wonder how cold I’ll really feel when I come home to traffic, deadlines, rules and pollution…for a life without any of that seems to exert a sense of calling.