Try telling that to a stick up kid who ain't slept in 3 days and get back to me.
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How to stay safe in DR?
I got shaken down by the PN for Christmas money while on a moto with a fren. I left the DR because I didn't feel safe, but I was a blonde woman living alone. I moved to Cartagena, Colombia and felt A TON safer, absolutely no comparison. Just my personal experience.
It would be of interest to the members here if you could expand your post to include: What exactly did you feel unsafe about? Where you in compliance with the law on the Moto? What kind of nabe did you live in? Did you go to work each day?
And most important how did all of these aspects of your life change in another Latin America country in the city of Cartagena??
Thanking you in advance for any insight you can provide.
I found this data interesting.
I plugged in a couple of comparably cities.
I found this data interesting.
I think that anyone who goes on a moto who doesn't absolutely have to (ie a foreigner) is completely crazy. I've seen way too many body parts spread all over the road too many times. Forget about the police shake-down, you were way more at risk of death or losing at least a leg than you realised. I've never once been on a bike and have only once been in a public taxi.
And as I said in a previous post, feeling safe here depends on budget. I have always lived in very safe condo buildings with a lot of security. I wouldn't live in a barrio or in a private house. And I always move around by Uber or by friends/staff driving. I speak Spanish, I work here, I know my way around, I'm part of the furniture now.
Having said that, there are risks here that women face. I have nearly been raped on a couple of occasions, I find that Dominican guys find it far harder to take No for an answer at the end of an evening than their western brothers.
Being on a moto is the unsafe part. This has to be the country with the most one-legged young people in the world. And it isn't cancer.
Jamaica was far worse when I was there. Lots of dudes with one leg.
I have a gringo neighbor. Nice guy, recently had serious surgery and recovering.
Has a Haitian GF, which is OK. But he has 6 or 8 other Haitian men always coming and going on motos showing up and going in and out, bringing friends or girlfriends, probably taking advantage of his kindness and using his house to party.
I hope it does not end badly for him but I fear he could wind up in a situation he can not control.
Has a Haitian GF, which is OK. But he has 6 or 8 other Haitian men always coming and going on motos showing up and going in and out, bringing friends or girlfriends, probably taking advantage of his kindness and using his house to party.
I hope it does not end badly for him but I fear he could wind up in a situation he can not control.
and BTW...... if you see one of those accidents (body parts), don't stop.
you become part of the accident scene and will be detained
Call to report it..... don't get involved
Be safe, my friends !!
you become part of the accident scene and will be detained
Call to report it..... don't get involved
Be safe, my friends !!
Cartagena is smaller and more of a tourist destination than Santo Domingo. More police and Military relative to the size, plus a little more prosperous., at least in my observations.
I left the Capital because I found Santiago offers better quality of life for a lot (pre Covid) less $. The PN used to be a real problem here but things have gotten better in the last year or two.
Went through this warning in Saudi Arabia. Our company (Bechtel) told us not to assist at any accident.
I saw an Arab man driving an empty mini-bus hit the side of a Hino dump truck and he flew through the windshield and was writhing on the ground, seriously injured. It was his own fault as he ran through a stop sign.
The accident occurred in the middle of nowhere.
I radioed in the accident location, and told the Filipino dump truck driver I was leaving and I saw him drive off too. Probably he saved his life by doing that because I later learned the man died.
When I was in Egypt they warned us not to stop if we hit a donkey or camel, but it was safe if you hit a woman.
I think generally I felt unsafe because neighbors and people in my apt. building were getting broken into and sometimes, assaulted. We were 3 on a moto (yeah, yeah I know) so not in compliance but PM was looking for some cash. Lived in a decent area in La Romana. My budget and lifestyle remained the same in Cartagena. Working remotely and studying dance. Again, I am just reporting MY experience, not making a generalized statement.
I do, however, feel that Cartagena is much safer overall as are many (but not all) parts of Colombia. There are issues in Colombia but less of the overall thuggery and lawlessness of the DR. There are things I preferred about the DR and also things I liked better in Colombia. I'm not dragging the DR but it wasn't a good place for me to live independently while not being a millionaire and able to afford Casa de Campo or something like that.
So to sum up, MY experience as a single blonde middle class woman was that Colombia was far safer FOR ME than the DR.
People on the board get very defensive with the issue of safety. Many stories of how they know how to move to stay safe. That's fine and good and I hope for your continued well-being. But it's naive to think the DR is safe, especially as safe as the USA, for example. Comparing the very best barrios of SD or Santiago with the absolute ghetto in Chicago, for example.
If you want to live in DR and enjoy the many nice things about the island, you are going to be taking some chances with your safety, that's for sure. And if you want to do that, go ahead, I've taken lots of chances with my safety and I'm still here, happy and healthy as can be. But let's not pretend that being an obvious foreigner from a 'rich' country in the 3rd world doesn't increase your chances of being targeted and victimized.
The most important part of what you wrote is clear, concise to answer my question : That is , the DR is not for you no matter how others may look at it. You're more comfortable where you are at here and now and that's all that matters. Well said. Best of luck to you.