Castara safety

[Dr Stefan Rustscheff]

Hi everyone,
I am sorry to state that my Tobago experience this time was decidedly unpleasant. The Tobagonian smile more and more seems to be either an ice cold tobagonian stare or alternatively a sneer when someone pockets an extra 100 TT after a price has been decided upon the day before because "prices have gone up". If that only would have been all! We stayed as always above Englishman´s bay and I am very sad to say that we were broken into and robbed in the middle of the night at 2 AM in our own bedroom. This was the first trip abroad I took with my new fiancee and NOT a good start of a romantic holiday. The rest of it basically went by while I, the GOOD people of Castara (Brian Taylor-who else!!!) and sergeant Wallace with crew hunted down the criminals. The last day of the holiday was spent in court from 08 AM to 3 PM. Reason for delay? The prisoner who was in custody in the police station wasn´t transported to court until noon! I do not want to be suspicious but everyone knew that we (and a swiss tourist) would fly out the same afternoon, the swiss guy at 3 pm. Stalling or a simple case of Tobago time? Anyway, even if my own holiday was wasted, my fiancee terrified and my innocence stolen from me, at least I hope our combined efforts will have made Castara a safer place to be in, at least for the following 15 months. Thank You, Brian, thank You, sgt Wallace, detective Williams, and THANK YOU SHEPPY!!! Why Sheppy? Because this car rental pearl chose to spend a whole day at court in Scarborough just to assist and comfort us, and even brought us flowers afterwards!!!!!!!!!!!At least I know that all Tobagonians are not the same, but it seems that the Sheppy´s, Brians and Wallaces of Tobago are beginning to be a minority.
To all the other surly people we met who only seemed concerned about ripping us off and never gave us a whit of support in the hunt for the criminals I say-is that a way to treat a friend? Who comes with a smile and a wave, who always have picked up hitchhikers, who generously have tipped all our employees and always started conversations with a friendly greeting? Is this the result of getting paid from the state for doing 3 hrs of work and paid for 8? There is no such thing as a free lunch and I think that a lot of people in Tobago really should think it over how they treat their guests. Sorry for sounding like this, but that is, in my opinion rather important if the Emerald Isle isn´t going to revert to its olden name-namely the Melancholy Isle!

[Paul Williams]

I really should take my time and fully evaluate this posting and will do that in time but my first response has to be to say to Stefan and his fiancee how so sorry my wife and I will feel about this.
You have been such a true supporter both of the island and this website that although nobody should have gone through this in your case that is even more true.
Best regards
Paul

[Steve Wooler]

Stefan

May I please publicly extend the sympathy I have already expressed in our private communication.

To be frank, I am livid. As you know, the twin brother culprits were well known. In late October, I reported ( http://www.mytobago.info/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2941 ) in the Health & Security forum that one of these twins had been arrested for a string of burglaries in Castara. So why was he still free to roam? Even before the arrest, they had been named as the most likely suspects.

Tobago has got to get its act together. This is true for the entire island, but even more so in small communities like Castara and the northern coast where everyone knows everyone else and a stranger sticks out like a sore thumb. If the police and the authorities can’t/won’t act, then the community must.

What galls me about this case is that the boy’s mother is making a living out of tourism.

No… I will stop here. I am angry, I am upset and I am likely to say something I will later regret.

I will say just one more thing. I spend my life defending and promoting Tobago. A lot of people have benefited out of that promotion. I gain nothing but personal satisfaction. That satisfaction is rapidly fading. I am starting to feel betrayed by people to whom I placed my love and trust in. Tourism to Tobago can be destroyed very much more quickly and effectively than it can be created.

GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER, TOBAGO. CEASE ABUSING YOUR GUESTS & YOUR FUTURE.

[Mary Black]

we're so sad to hear about stefans unhappy experience
i've always told people that tobago is safe and welcoming and have never felt threatened or at risk in the 7 years that we have been visiting.
i do hope it wont be spoilt by a minority as the people of tobago in general do not deserve it and have always helped make our holidays very special
i just thought i'd let you know steve-i enquired about a house in mount irvine(not one featured on your forum) and the contact replied saying that they didn't deal with it now and didn't recomend tobago as a safe place to visit anymore!!!
it wont put us off-i'm busy arranging flights and villa-but i'm concerned that this will upset people who dont know the island yet and damage the growing tourist industry by driving new customers into all inclusive resorts or indeed to other destinations
i totally agree that the answer lies in the hands of the tobagon authorities and the local people but will continue to praise the beauty of the island and it's lovely people

[Paul Tallet]

Couple of good points Mary.

Firstly, my regards to Stephan and his Fiance ... awful experience and I hope you get over it somehow.

I have been thinking about this post for a couple of days and I am not sure how to say things without offending certain people ... both visitors and Tobagonians alike ... because although a bad thing has happened here, there are some hints in this thread about the real problems that small communities in exotic locations are having to come to terms with ... and possibly this could provide an explanation why we may not always feel welcome.

I sense that visitors have to accept that if we are to avoid the main resorts and go off the beaten track in any part of the world we are going to come across communities that are quite understandably divided about the visitors that they attract.

There are always different schools of thought ... some in smaller communities will seek commercial benefit (rightly and wrongly) from visitors ... the rights, as Stephan referred to, will take any violation of visitors to be a violation of their integrity, honesty and professionalism and will seek out those that threaten their businesses and their guests.

The wrongs will rip visitors off ... there are always a few of these around in any resort in the world ... thankfully these are in the minority but they always seem to be in the majority because it really grinds at you when you get ripped off eh?

On the other hand ... and I stress we are talking about the smaller communities ... there are those that do not like visitors and will not return a greeting and, occasionally, may direct an insult towards visitors ... but these people would never do more than make you feel unwelcome ... in fact, from my experience, they are really nice people when they get to know you and understand that you genuinely appreciate their place and take an interest in their way of life.

It is strange that a couple of idiots should spoil it, for I believe the incidents that have happened are nothing to do with the general divide between acceptance and non-acceptance of visitors ... these are just a couple of young guys that would probably have become keen fishermen had their community never changed.

As visitors to small communities such as Castara, Charlottesville and any other similar place ... we must try to understand the sweeping changes that these communities are facing and coming to terms with ... foreigners are buying property, setting up businesses, employing those in the community to manage and service their businesses ... need I say more?

I am not saying that this is bad or good ... it is just a big change ... and haven't I seen it in Castara over the last 5 years !!

I will always be grateful to those that have welcomed me to Tobago during my holidays ... but I will also always respect those that make me feel unwelcome because I know that they worry about the future of the traditional way of life they have become accustomed to before Tobago was really discovered.

I think these points must apply to many other exotic locations in the world and I don't see Tobago as being any exception.

Steve is right to suggest that the communities need to sort it out ... but they won't ... there is too much division ... leaders are required !!

Regards

[Dr Stefan Rustscheff]

Hello everyone, tks for the support from all of You. I would just like to comment a bit about Paul´s views. I agree that Tobago is changing, and especially Castara is one of the fastest growing villages of the Isle. We are however still speaking about an island that has seen charter tourism for decades and where tourism is their main source of income. What I saw this time was a plethora of young sneering faces. We were even accosted by a group of schoolchildren in Plymouth by the monument who yelled insults! I must draw the conclusion that Tobagonian young people in general do not want tourism, but gladly on occasion their possessions. If this has anything to do with the government scheme of getting paid for 8 hrs and working 3, thereby creating copious free time is beyond my scope, but, if I remember correctly, idleness breeds discord...

[Brian Taylor]

like paul we took a long time to think about replying here.
we don't want to offend anyone! But a few point from alocal point of view must be made.

it is not the the whole younger generation does not like tourism.
this is a small island and young kids and teens in groups tend to be rude sometimes all over the worl. in tobago you have to face the same people again avery day, so it seems more easy to insult a white face, that you never have to see again. that does NOT make it right or OK, but it is a matter of education and frankly that is a problem in this country anyway...

places like catsra are changing, but that does not mean that it has to be to the worst. the big majority of the villagers was and is furious and ashamed aboput the behaviour of this little two or three man "gang".

the police did a great job in this matter and the whole community helped. but like verywhere else in the world there are laws and they are inforced too slow for the publics taste. the police can only catch the guys and the courts let them go with a slab on the fingers (ythe first time). they are caught again and have to face their punishments.

the communities here are ready to catch and punish people already, noone should push them even more into selfjustice. it is a dangerous thing.

we are furious and ashamed too about the incidents we had in this village, but we all hope, believe that they are part of the past. we all stay aware of the situation and try to keep castara as the safe place that it always was.

please don't judge tobago by the bad things you hear. you never hear how many people had a good time, felt safe and never even thought about anything bad.

we have to understand that bad things can happen to us if we only step outside and take the U-train or go to work in a skyscraper.
but we should never axcept these things going on, or get used to it or let it deminish our way of living and stay home with fear.
we still go to new york, london and berlin, do you, too?!

[Dr Stefan Rustscheff]

Hello Brian, thanking You again for the help and concern You showed and which I have previously mentioned I agree that the majority of the people of Castara are decent, law-abiding citizens. Of course! But, nevertheless, I found the insolence and surliness of many Youths ALL OVER THE ISLAND rather disturbing this time. And this DOES hurt tourism. This is not a Castara symptom. I still wonder how much the government-enforced idleness has done. What are Your own ideas in this matter, Brian.
And, by the way, as promised before. I will NOT let Tobago down and I intend to return to Castara in the near future, either in may or in november 2006. I will be much obliged if You would share a home-cooked meal with me then, Brian (and Stephanie)...

[Brian Taylor]

home cooked meal is a deal. looking forward to share that with you!

the ideas would go too much into politics for this site I guess. I would start with voting for the other party than most people did last time....

[Louise I]

I am really sorry Stefan for your experience.

As a barrister who used to deal with criminal offences it sounds to me like the case actually got dealt with very quickly. We often have a problem in Brighton with summer students who are usually home before any case gets to court so, although it may have seemed slow to you, it appears to me that the criminal justice system in Tobago worked quite quickly.

And I won't even go into the issues we have here about getting defendants to Court on time.

On the surliness of youths.. my experience is that this occurs everywhere. I certainly notice gangs of youths hanging around in Brighton - and they often appear intimidating because of their language and comments.

I shall continue going to Tobago - and feeling safer than I do here. I shall aslo continue to try and spend my money in the local bars and stores. I shall continue to smile and talk to people - and if only half of them talk back that is still a higher percentage than here.

As I was reading this thread I thought back to my experience in Charlotteville last year - we arrived having not visited for 18 months and on seeing Lyda were immediately told (before even hello!) "You are coming to my house for Christmas dinner." We had a marvellous day - Lyda even gave us Christmas presents.


That is the Tobago I love - and that is the reason I am getting married there in May.

[Troy Elliott]

Interesting thread, because we too were robbed in our sleep, in our room, during our visit to Castara in November.

We were more sad than angry, really--sad for all the great people of Castara and Tobago, and sad for the place we were staying, which was wonderful. We feel responsible in some measure, because we fell so in love with this place that we simply didn't take simple, appropriate precautions.

The fact is, we entered a real place here in the real world, and not paradise. And in the real world, there will always be a minority (we hope) of people who, for whatever reasons, simply aren't nice, or don't play by the rules. I think that, to a degree, it is our responsibility to accept that reality, and be prepared. This doesn't make Castara a bad place--Castara is a wonderful place. Even wonderful places have some unfortunate qualities.

As for surly youths and sneering locals--we never witnessed anything like that. But then, we had no expectations. We were grateful that the people of Castara allowed us to simply hang out in their community. Yes, of course, they were making money from us, but that's only fair and we didn't expect to receive any attitude, positive or negative, in addition to the goods and services they were rendering. If they were pleasant, great--if not, that was okay too. We've had our bad days, too.

And as for teenagers--I don't know about everyone else, but as the father of a 16 year old, I can tell you that even out here in the rural mountains of Virginia, you don't have to go far to find a surly youth. In fact, some days, I don't even need to venture outside my own home. If anything, we should consider the influx of our own (or at least U.S.) toxic culture in Tobago, and the degree to which we are contributing to the problem--if there is a problem.

Bottom line: we loved Tobago, we loved Castara, and we would go back without hesitation, albeit perhaps a bit wiser about the realities of the world today.

[Mike Derham]

Well said and a properly balanced opinion - and dead right

[Dr Stefan Rustscheff]

Hi Mike and welcome to the forum! I would just like to comment the two last posts. I have the feeling that there are a lot of Friends of Tobago out there that seem to accept ANYTHING being done to them in Tobago because of the simple bliss of being there. I respect their opinion, but I must admit that I personally do not think it is OK to be robbed just because I in some way intrude my "Toxic lifestyle" to the islands.
Castara has suffered a whole string of robberies by these 2 youths and their helper(s?). I personally had so much of an interest to keep Castara a paradise that I invested my whole holiday in trying to catch them and get them convicted. They have been going on, yes, for YEARS. I do not believe in coexisting with snakes in paradise. These youths have been let off the hook by well-meaning tourists before and what has happened? They continued with their crime and recruited others by their example. And, please tell me, Troy and Mike, what "simple precautions" does one not take if one stays in a fully lit villa with a car outside which is located 12 km FROM Castara? Or do You really mean that renting a villa (for the sum of USD 100/night) is an affront to the people of Castara itself?

I live in a village the size of Castara. My house was built in 1860. There has to date NEVER been a robbery in this village since its birth in 1860. I grew up in Malmö, the third largest city of Sweden in a communal flat and we had a summer house by the Baltic coast which was rather isolated. Never in my life has there been any crime towards me. I have travelled the world to at least 5 continents. I have done volunteer work as a doctor in SWA/Namibia during the Angolan war. Even there, I was always treated kindly, and treating others kindly. When I go on holiday, using our "toxic culture" to buy a plane ticket after having saved quite a while, earning the enormous amount of USD 20/hr after taxes as a Swedish triple specialist physician and international researcher, I like to go to places of calm and rest, having a 60 to 120 hr work week. I love the caribbean in general and, at least until now, Tobago in particular but I do take personal affront from some of these postings who seem to suggest that we as victims of crime should bend over and enjoy!
I would also point out that the paradisical Tobago lives on tourism but, sadly, seems to forget why people tend to come to a paradise Isle. Rampant crime, bad and overpriced food and dirty beaches do not attract tourism-nor an attitude from local people that dey doan care if people come, support the local economy or not! If all white knights defending anything Tobagonians may do would care to look at crime rates on other islands in the vicinity such as almost all Bahaman outer islands, Tortola, Jost van Dyke, Nevis, Anguilla,Saba,Statia, Montserrat or Marie-Galante You might be in for a surprise. Here, crime IS almost non-existent and people as friendly as they always have been on Tobago in the past. So, I would just like to end by quoting Steve, yet again thanking HIM (and Brian AliBaba) for all his efforts with the site AND his unwavering support and help: TOBAGO, GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER. Otherwise You just MIGHT see that people spend their toxic holidays elsewhere.

[Dr Stefan Rustscheff]

To Troy; I forgot to extend my sympathies to You and Your partner. Getting robbed in one´s sleep isn´t much funnier that getting robbed while awake at 2 AM, but You seem to have taken it much better than we did. Sorry for sounding a bit harsh, and I do respect the tremendous positive attitude most people have towards Tobago on this site, but I have to admit that I feel awkward having to defend myself not only against robbers but fellow friends of Tobago on this site. If any of You have good advice how I should act so the good people of Tobago start loving me again I would very much appreciate it-or I should perhaps stay at home?

[Troy Elliott]

I'm sorry you took my reaction as an attack on you, or anyone else. It certainly wasn't meant that way. You have much more history with the island and Caribbean travel in general, so I wouldn't pretend to have a better understanding of the situation that you do. I didn't say that you in particular didn't take appropriate precautions--I said that WE didn't take them. And I don't know what "appropriate" precautions are for everyone--I think that's largely a matter of personal opinion when you get right down to it.

As for the "toxic" bit--I didn't mean the tourist money per se, and I certainly didn't mean the influences from everywhere else in the world--I wouldn't know. We're from the U.S., and sadly, we saw plenty of signs of the influence of U.S. popular culture on mostly the kids in Tobago.

[Paul Tallet]

As always ... I give alot of thought to these posts before replying ... there are 2 other subjects in the Health and Safety section that can relate to this.

I get the sense that we are confusing the beauty and attraction of Tobago with a number of unfortunate experiences.

The people of Tobago are never going to change Tobago ... they live there, they can only change our perception ... they can either make it even better or worse for visitors.

Some visitors have had bad experiences in Tobago ... I guess we can agree on that, yet it is these experiences that can have such an impact on our perception.

Don't get me wrong ... I am not trying to underplay the bad experiences ... such incidents are quite awful and stay rooted in the mind ... that is where it seems to stick.

I think that what some people are trying to say is that Tobago is a beautiful place ... which it is indeed ... and I I guess there is always some sense of frustration when such bad things can happen in a beautiful place ... I sense this is what Dr Stefan is trying to say.

Whilst I agree that there are some places in the Caribbean where such incidents are unheard of ... conversely, there are others where such incidents are commonplace, and yet these places offer beauty in equal measure in their own right.

The issue of crime is a side issue that we need to tackle ... it is a problem when it happens and will always be in our minds wherever we travel.

But Tobago, with or without it's good or bad people, is a beautiful place ... let us remember that.

Regards

[Dr Stefan Rustscheff]

Dear Paul and others.
From what I hear from LOCAL sources yesterday crime in Castara has disappeared since the conviction of "our" criminals! That hopefully shows that wayward souls have learnt their lesson, however hard that may have been on those individuals. I wish all friends a lovely 2005 in beautiful Castara and look forward to seeing You again this autumn.