Thankyou Palmsandgarbage

Chessman said:

My wife and 2 kids had been considering the Dominican Republic for a holiday destination in November. We were looking at Mexico, Cuba or the Dominican Republic.
We had heard the garbage problem was bad but what he desribes is horrible. I would like to leave the resort without wanting to puke and if the garbage is as bad as he says then maybe my stomach won't handle that.
I have been in Hawaii and loved it but with our family Hawaii is too expensive. We haven't been to Cuba but I've not heard the same about Cuba as what I have read here. Have any of you been to both Mexico and Cuba to help me with that?

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I have been to Mexico (to both Cancun and The Mayan Riviera). Cancun is is on a peninsula which is occupied by high-rise condo-like hotels. They are built directly overlooking the ocean and most do not have sprawling grounds or low-rise villas like you will find at most AI's in the Dominican Republic. I found Cancun to be VERY Americanized. I could have been in Florida for all I knew had it not been for the Spanish music. NO CULTURE whatsoever and a very young, party hard, drink till your drunk crowd. The Mayan Riviera (about 45 minutes south of Cancun) is a compound of many hotels. There was a little town called Playa Del Carmen about 10 minutes away where you could go party with the locals but it was not your typical Mexican town because it was right outside of the resorts and was VERY touristy. Again NO CULTURE. All the tourists were secluded on these resorts (which were very good - I can't complain there) and there was not much in the area in terms of mixing with the locals. I have also been to Jamaica and Costa Rica and once I visited the Dominican Republic the first time I thought God, why did I not come here first and I never would have visited anywhere else again. The people are the friendliest I have ever met... when you are off the resort you feel safe and you almost feel like you are at home. There is garbage but not like how it was described. It is no worse than many American cities where I have seen garbage on the streets. In some of the smaller non-tourist towns it is a bigger problem. I am only familiar with the North Coast and can say if you go into Puerto Plata you will not be disgusted. It is a great city and one where I have many great memories. I hope you pick the Dominican Republic for your next trip. You will be staying at a resort where you will not see garbage at all. It is not piled up in mounds as you are driving down the road either.

Chessman, how many posts have you read on this board claiming they will never return because the country is overrun with garbage? Compare that with the number of posts by people anxious to return because of the friendliness of the people, the beaches, the weather, the cheap prices, etc., etc.?

I am not saying there is not a problem in some places, but palmsandgarbage grossly overstated it. Most of what I see is litter, rather than garbage, and I've been living in the country since 1986.

"Thank you Palms & Garbage?"

Are you serious?

First of all The DR is the only place that you mentioned that has the full range of adventure packages (from White-water rafting in the mountains to scuba diving in ocean or fresh water caves and everything in between).

Second, the DR is a great kids destination. Most AI resorts are child friendly as the country as a whole is as well. Drugs are not tolerated in the DR so the drug tourism you see in most of the rest of the caribbean is absent here.

Third and most important the Dominican is the most friendly of all the before mentioned destinations.

I smell a sock.

Chiri :ermm:

Chessman is a sock puppet.

Has the exact same sign up and posting IP info as "Palmandgarbage".

When posters resort to this level of distortion, you have to question their motives and mental stability.

Basically it looks like "Chessman" and "Palmsandgarbage" have become what they dislike, garbage!

Right again.

Chiri

palmsandgarbage aka chessman

That is real low. I don't know what your agenda/motives are and I feel that all of your posts have been a crock and have no validity due to this recent activity. I don't mind people speaking their mind about what they really think but stooping to this level is a disgrace and you have just shot all credibility you were trying to accomplish which many highly suspected at the beginning anyways. I for one, feel that you deserve a ban.
dale7(Howard)

I can't believe I wasted my time to reply!

If all you wanted was info on Mexico and Cuba, why did you post it on a DR site??? Go away and leave us DR-loving folks alone!

dale7 said:

That is real low. I don't know what your agenda/motives are and I feel that all of your posts have been a crock and have no validity due to this recent activity. I don't mind people speaking their mind about what they really think but stooping to this level is a disgrace and you have just shot all credibility you were trying to accomplish which many highly suspected at the beginning anyways. I for one, feel that you deserve a ban.
dale7(Howard)

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Indedd.

Chirimoya said:

I smell a sock.

Chiri :ermm:

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So do I, Chimi, so do I. Big time.

Again, I will tell you.

dale7 said:

That is real low. I don't know what your agenda/motives are and I feel that all of your posts have been a crock and have no validity due to this recent activity. I don't mind people speaking their mind about what they really think but stooping to this level is a disgrace and you have just shot all credibility you were trying to accomplish which many highly suspected at the beginning anyways. I for one, feel that you deserve a ban.
dale7(Howard)

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His agenda is what I said all along, ADD, you know?. As in ATTENTION DEFECIT DISSORDER. He got his way. Just look at how many replies and views he got. His life is one that I do not envy, I can tell you that.

Robert, ban them

Please get rid of the sock puppets, we do not need them around here, let them find a Cuba or Mexican board to vent their frustrations. The problem exists there also just like NYC, Detroit and Cleveland or any major city as a matter of fact.

I think the same person was on another board with the same garbage and did the same thing, they are banned there! :classic:


? Hlywud "If anybody wud Wud wud"

miguel said:

His agenda is what I said all along, ADD, you know?. As in ATTENTION DEFECIT DISSORDER. He got his way. Just look at how many replies and views he got. His life is one that I do not envy, I can tell you that.

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Yes, you are right Miguel that he has problems. But I wonder why he chose the DR, that is what puzzles me. He said he has travelled to over 30 different countries and the DR was the worst which is totally false but I wonder besides negative attention, getting perverse kicks out of causing a stir, why he chose the DR to vent about. I will agree that there are sick people out there and he is one of them and hope he/she gets the professional help they desperately. Vaya con Diablo, palmsandgarbage.
dale7(Howard)

Robert needs to delete this whole thread and all other posts from 'palms&garbage'.

for all we know, 'palms' is just a 14-yr old pimply-faced computer nerd that's never been out of Mexico.

In support of Palms&Garbage

JanH said:

Robert needs to delete this whole thread and all other posts from 'palms&garbage'.

for all we know, 'palms' is just a 14-yr old pimply-faced computer nerd that's never been out of Mexico.

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I FULLY accept that Palms&Garbage could well be a pimply-faced computer nerd. I fully concur that he has an agenda by writing what he did other than to convey the truth about the DR. I also agree that his post was WAY over the top & incorrect in it's diatribe!! What I do not accept though is that he may not have been here at the hotel he suggests & at the time he states.

The reason for this comment is that I travel that road between Puerto Plata & Playa Dorada virtually every day & ONE day I did notice ONE animal killed in the road. Someone was clearing the animal away from the centre of the road (at GREAT personal risk I hasten to add - those who have witnessed Dominican drivers will understand my coment!!) & put it at the roadside so as to avoid further accidents occuring &/or a greater mess in the road!! This was noticeable to me as it is such an uncommon site to see an animal in the road - once every 4 months or so & generally it is cleared away within 3 or 4 hours!! In a culture where PERSONAL cleanliness plays such a vital role in the daily life of Dominicans, it is a great pity that this is not extended to the retaining of personal rubbish until they pass a trash bin!! Hopefully this will become the case within my lifetime - but somehow I doubt it!!

There you go Leonel, appoint some RUBBISH controllers to walk the streets fining people who throw litter. RD $200 fine for each person throwing rubbish would bring in RD $1,000,000 plus a DAY!!!! We would soon be free of the National Debt by fining litterbugs!! - Grahame.

In response to your original question: i have been to both mexico and Cuba. I have not yet been to the DR (but i'm going in 2 weeks - woohoo). I much prefer Cuba over mexico - especially for families. Cuba is incredibly safe, you can drink the water right out of the tap and in all my trips there i only got sick once. It is very clean, especially in the resort areas, and the people are incredibly friendly. On the downside - because of communism there is minimal shopping to be done, and some people find their vacation ruined by the "political atmosphere". Mexico is very americanized. I felt like i was in Florida. The beach was nice, but i never really felt safe. I doubt i'll ever go back to Mexico. Have a good vacation whereever you decide to go. No place is perfect.

There is trash everywhere. I do not like all the trash I see when I visit Sosua and Cabarete, but what are you gonna do. At least I don't contribute to the problem. I lived in Los Angeles for 4 years, until the semi big one hit in 93, and I saw more trash, grafitti, etc. that all of the third worlds I have visited combined.
You shouldn't drink tap water even from state to state you can get sick. In the U.S. each state has diffeent ways of cleaning their water. The worst water sickness I encountered was when I was in Paris. I have drinken water form the rivers and lakes of Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, etc, and never have gotten as sick as I did in France.
If you don't want to see anymore trash then stay the hell away.

You Are as Big a Tool as He Is if You Make Your Decision

Chessman said:

We had heard the garbage problem was bad but what he desribes is horrible. I would like to leave the resort without wanting to puke and if the garbage is as bad as he says then maybe my stomach won't handle that.
I have been in Hawaii and loved it but with our family Hawaii is too expensive. We haven't been to Cuba but I've not heard the same about Cuba as what I have read here. Have any of you been to both Mexico and Cuba to help me with that?

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Read the context of his message and it is clear he is more than hyperbolic about this one issue, and if that forms part of your decision you are best off inside your air raid shelter. BTW, Cuba is not that dirty only because they are so dirt poor there is nothing to litter with and Mexico can smell like sewage most of the time.

Honestly what do you expect in a 3rd world country? Live with it.

who you calling a tool?

Grahame:

You basically hit the nail on the head. IMHO, the answer to the garbage solution lies in our pocketbooks. IF the government actually handed out fines to everyone that is caught littering, this problem would start to fade.

The problem is that any measure that is viewed as an un-popular measure towards "the poor" will not be taken by one of our "populist" governments.

Even if it were to be taken, law enforcement would probably only fine those they know could pay, just as we see with most other fines such as the seatbelts where it is obvious the carro publicos avoid the weight of the law.

The fact that this country was spotless and crime-free during the 30 years that Trujillo was in power leads one to believe this.

If for example Americans were totally exempt from being called litterbugs, you would have no need for all the signs posted on the highways of how much this crime will cost you. The same could probably said of any nationality.