- Thread starter niceguy
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cabarete harrassment
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i guess the issue for me is management. perhaps the tourist police can take on this role to simply calm them a little from interupting my lobster in white sauce. Seriously, do they really think i would want a BJ whilst i was in the middle of my hamburger and fries in jose o?sheas. I almost choked on MY MEAT.... and here i am dealing with a chick that wants to pardon the pun.... choke on my meat.
You really need to chill out, it used to bother me too... As my man Ken said, learn the power of waving a finger in the face, it is actualy quite powerful. If the locals really drive your blood pressure up just from souvenir vending, go lock yourself up in an AI. The pros outway the cons in RD!
tambo'
tambo'
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Are you kidding, the timeshare sharks in the A1s are worse than any beach vendor. I hate those people.
I would not know, I only stayed @ an AI my first trip to RD, but yes Bob you are correct, as always.
It's very irritating some times I know, but then I think these people are just trying to make a living in a country that has no welfare system. You either figure out a way to make money or you starve......
I think about how those people have to go back to their shack or sub-rate apartment at night, while I get to go to my nice hotel room with air-conditioning....and it makes me less willing to verbally lash out at people in frustration........
One of the first things I learned to say in the DR was no, but I try to say it a kind, but yet, firm way......I try not be nasty about, but every once in awhile , I'll slip up........
But one thing about Dominicans, once you do buy something from them, they are very appreciative and usually won't pressure you the next time they see you again to buy something else......
Yeah, I never look forward to walking down to Sosua Beach and having to run the gauntlet of vendors there.....I usually end up saying "no gracias" at least 50 times a visit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I think about how those people have to go back to their shack or sub-rate apartment at night, while I get to go to my nice hotel room with air-conditioning....and it makes me less willing to verbally lash out at people in frustration........
One of the first things I learned to say in the DR was no, but I try to say it a kind, but yet, firm way......I try not be nasty about, but every once in awhile , I'll slip up........
But one thing about Dominicans, once you do buy something from them, they are very appreciative and usually won't pressure you the next time they see you again to buy something else......
Yeah, I never look forward to walking down to Sosua Beach and having to run the gauntlet of vendors there.....I usually end up saying "no gracias" at least 50 times a visit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm not a fan, but unfortunately my wife is. Will be in one tommorow with 14 teachers plus spouses and children. It not too bad going with a group of Dominicans. Fun to watch them eat.
~You will find street vendors-beggers-solicitors in every country in the world~ Some take you to back alley ways for what they call the ultimate bargain on that knock off designer hand bag, or open their trench coats lined with watches and fake gold and silver chains, and yes the Haitian children that are dropped off on the beach to sell their nuts......in the end it comes down to one trying to survive the best he or she knows how with whatever means they have....
~If you think about it there is no difference from a street vendor bothering you on the beach while trying to relax or being interrupted by a solicitation of a phone call during your dinner....Either way you say "No" or No thank you and walk away or Hang up~
~We always go down to the beach with snacks for the children....and They have NEVER bothered us to buy the pnuts....sometimes a little graciousness goes a long way.......
~Do unto others as you would expect them to do unto you~
Just my two cents
~If you think about it there is no difference from a street vendor bothering you on the beach while trying to relax or being interrupted by a solicitation of a phone call during your dinner....Either way you say "No" or No thank you and walk away or Hang up~
~We always go down to the beach with snacks for the children....and They have NEVER bothered us to buy the pnuts....sometimes a little graciousness goes a long way.......
~Do unto others as you would expect them to do unto you~
Just my two cents
Every Dominican I've tried to have any kind of casual friendship with has eventually asked me for money, to use my car, etc. I've given up on the locals.
The beach towns in Colombia are much worse. Regardless the DR is their country and that's how it is. For those who find it intolerable there are several airports with flights to places where the beach vendors won't be so annoying.
Sadly that agressive sales tactic works very well. The finger wave and a polite "I am not a tourist" in Spanish will deter them. That crummy narriw broken sidewalk is another of the things I dislike about Cabarete. Move to Sosua, its a much nicer town and the vendors wares are more attractive.
This is very true.
Curacau, St. Lucia, Anguilla, etc, etc. have beaches which are just as beautiful as anything in the D.R. if not moreso and begging or hawking food/junk/services at the beaches just doesn't happen. I have visited many Caribbean island nations for years and revisited/ bought property on a couple of them but the Dominican Republic is the only one that I've returned to dozens of times in less than a decade. There's a reason for that and it has nothing to do with the climate, they've got that throughout the Caribbean. The people fascinate me. I find their culture very comfortable and familiar and interfacing with the people is my primary reason for returning.
In the Dominican Republic the simple act of procuring a replacement watch battery can lead to an afternoon of intrigue and adventure during which one may need to meet and interface with half a dozen people, one of whom may end up as a dinner date or short term Leading Lady in an adult novella. A ride with a cabbie can lead to a friendship which will endure for years, long after he's graduated to more lucrative undertakings or even migrated to MY homeland. It really is a small World and on my last trip to Aruba I ran into several friends whom I'd met in my travels to the D.R. including Nelson, my favorite bartender and Jorge who waives the fees on my flight changes. In St. Maarten I run into friends and friends of friends from the D.R. on every trip. I'm a regular sponsor of a Little League baseball team there which is made up of all Dominican kids whose parents have migrated there (as many have).
The banter on some of the D.R. beaches (not so much a problem in Guayacanes or Juan Dolio) with vendors is just a part of the character of the place and the poster who suggested engaging these people and changing the subject to small talk is actually giving instructions in friend finding and reputation building and their advice is as good as gold.
its crazy when you cant walk and think with out some calling out to you real loud. the vendor thing ruined my vacation alot
We have a little saying joke in Cabarete, if anybody starts a sentence "hey my friend", "hola my friend" get ready cause they are about to try and F$(k you over some kind of way, nothing and I mean nothing good happens when they start with "my friend"
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