I’ve been toying a long time with the idea of including a safety section on this blog. The main reason I didn’t is because I’m trying to highlight all the great things about Jamaica and that it’s really NOT as bad as what people think. However, I’d be a fool to say that there’s nothing to worry about and that everything is “no problem”. So this is my due diligence…to inform my readers that not all is perfect in Jamaica…just as anywhere else.
I’ll be honest and admit that I’m pretty slack with my own personal security in Jamaica because I’m comfortable there. But every once in a while something happens that makes me know I need to ramp up my awareness again and be alert. Believe me, sometimes even people you know aren’t 100% trustworthy.
In twelve trips I’ve had a phone, a camera and $20,000 JMD stolen….all right off my body without my knowledge. Each of these three items has an interesting story behind it if you want to hear. They might surprise you.
First thing ever to have been stolen from me was my camera and I was devastated as you can imagine. I run a blog about Jamaica, I need my pictures! I was at a bar with a group of people I know and to be honest I don’t know if the camera was in my bag or just sitting on the table we were at but when I got back to my guest house after the bar it was nowhere to be found. I panicked and the next morning I called EVERYONE who was with me that night. I even went as far as retracing my steps and having someone call the bar. Nothing turned up…..UNTIL I put the word out on the street that there’s a cash reward for it. Interestingly enough, about 2 hours after I put the word out I got a call from someone who was in our group that night, saying he’d found the camera. He met me, gave me the camera, I gave him the cash I promised and was mighty suspicious about how this problem magically fixed itself. Hmmmmmmmmmm.
The second thing that was stolen was my cell phone and the most devastating thing about that was it had dual SIM slots so I had both my Digicel and my Canadian phone chips in it. It left me completely paralyzed with no contact numbers for anyone. Same story, I was at a bar with a group of people I knew. My bag was over my shoulder ALL night and my phone was in a velcro pocket on the outside of the bag. Late in the evening I needed to make a phone call so I reached for my phone and it was gone. This time I had my direct suspicions of who it was so I confronted him and of course he denied, but he was the only person who knew which pocket my phone was in because I’d let him use it earlier. Anyways, this event virtually halted the entire party at the bar. The DJ turned off the music and called out whoever did it, basically ripping him a new one for having no respect for tourists, etc. But nothing turned up. The next day I went to the Digicel store, bought a new phone and thankfully they were able to recover my same phone number. That afternoon my phone rang and it was someone asking for the person whom I suspected. My suspicions were confirmed.
The third and so far the last time I had something stolen was on my last trip 2 months ago and it was $20,000 JMD. For me, that’s a LOT of money because I’m an extreme budget traveler. That was my accommodation money for an entire week and once again it was stolen out of a pocket in my bag while I was with a group of acquaintances. If you’re wondering why my blog posts have been lame lately, it’s because I didn’t have enough money on my last trip to do anything after this incident.
Anyways, this concludes my posting on being robbed by people you know in Jamaica. It’s really just to give you a heads up that sometimes not all is what it seems and you should always be aware of who you’re with and what’s going on. If you don’t want to be this vigilant then leave your valuables at home.
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