Author: Laura

Stay Safe in Buenos Aires

Argentina is known to be a hotspot for theft. The most common crimes are distraction theft, bag snatching, pick pocketing and armed robberies. Take particular care in restaurants and internet cafes, on public transport and in bus and train terminals. Keep a close eye on your personal possessions at all times. Avoid carrying large amounts of cash or wearing jewellery. Leave your passport in a hotel safe and keep a photocopy of the details page with you at all times. Avoid isolated or poorly lit areas at night.

Thieves have been known to rob tourists while an accomplice pretends to help remove ketchup or mustard that has been ‘accidentally’ sprayed on them. There have also been reports of thieves posing as hotel guests and snatching bags while tourists are checking into hotels or hostels. Handbags can be cut open in crowded places. Mobile phones can be snatched while they are being used. Thieves on motorbikes are known to carry out robberies from pedestrians. Thefts from unattended vehicles, especially hire cars are common. Keep your valuables out of sight.

In Buenos Aires, remain aware at all times particularly in the areas of San Telmo, La Boca, Retiro, Florida Street and Rivadavia Avenue near the obelisk area. Robberies involving physical violence and the use of weapons are known to occur in the streets immediately outside of the Caminito tourist area in La Boca. Make sure to stay within the designated tourist area where there are high visibility police patrols.

Essential Foreign Travel Advice

By and large, there’s nothing inherently dangerous about travelling abroad. In most places you’re likely to visit, you’re no more at risk of crime or injury than you would be at home. Nevertheless, when the unfortunate does occur, it can often be much more stressful if it happens when you’re away from home and in unfamiliar surroundings.

With that in mind, here are a few pieces of general foreign travel advice for making sure that you’re as safe as possible while on holiday:

Securing your luggage:

One of the biggest areas of risk when you’re abroad, keeping your luggage safe and secure is essential for any traveller – whether you’re backpacking across Asia or staying at a caravan park in France, losing your luggage can be disastrous. One simple step you can take is to padlock your luggage and mark it somehow, so that you can quickly identify it and that no one can simply reach in and take something. This can be helpful when you can’t keep track of it, such as when you check in for a flight. Once you’ve arrived you should carry anything truly vital on your person, until you get to your accommodation – where you’ll most likely be able to hire a locker or at the very least, leave it in a locked hotel room.

Prepare for an emergency:

Preparing for the worst isn’t always an enjoyable mental exercise, but it never hurts – and if the worst does happen, you’ll appreciate it. For example, it’s recommended that you always keep a reserve of emergency cash in a secure location as well as carrying some funds with you; never take all of it with you at once and never leave all of it in one place. Similarly, you should make sure that your travel arrangements can’t be spoilt by securing your passport, aeroplane tickets or other travel documents.

Research your destination:

Although there’s definite appeal in the romance of venturing into new territory without any preconceived ideas, it can be a recipe for disaster. At the very least, a lack of advance research is likely to be extremely expensive, as you won’t know what the average cost of living is – so you won’t know how much money you’ll need or whether or not you’re being overcharged. At worst, it could put you at risk of some serious hazards that you could easily have avoided with a little warning. The main point is that when you travel to somewhere different from home, it could well have different laws, different diseases and different standards of behaviour. A little preparation such as visiting your doctor for immunisations or reading the foreign travel advice on the Foreign Office website can go a long way to helping you prepare for your particular destination.

Be aware of visa and vaccination requirements:

This is sometimes unnecessary, and many places don’t require any strict pre-visa requirements – some visas can simply be purchased at the border for a small fee. However, some locations require that you apply beforehand and also might require a health check. To travel to Turkey, for example, you can just buy a visa at the border, but now to visit the USA visitors are required to register and pay for a visa up to several weeks before boarding a plane.

Travelling Safe Whilst in Barbados

Travelling in Barbados shouldn’t prove too difficult. Driving is on the left. To drive on the island you must get a local temporary driving licence. The car hire companies will usually help with this. You must present a valid UK driving licence, so make sure to bring it with you.

Take care when driving on the roads as there can be potholes and speed bumps. Observe the speed limits. You should take extra care on minor roads and in rural areas where there are narrow roads and blind corners. Pedestrians often walk on the roads and indicators are not always used.

Don’t stop if you’re flagged down by pedestrians. Keep car doors locked when driving. Don’t place personal belongings and valuables where they can be easily reached and consider putting everything in the boot of the car or on the floor of the back seat.

In the event of an accident, call the police and don’t move the vehicle.

Taxis aren’t metered. Standard taxi fares exist for most destinations. Agree the fare in local currency with the driver before you set off. You can often pay in US dollars as well as Barbados dollars.

Snorkelling Abroad

Are you considering snorkelling abroad? Why not? It’s definitely a fun activity and that’s what holidays are all about. Here are five top tips when snorkelling.

 

  • Never dive alone – We recommend minimum snorkelling party is 3; a buddy pair to lookout for each other in the water and a shore lookout.
  • Get Fit – By getting fit you will not only be able to enjoy your Snorkelling better, but also be safer
  • Train with a recognised training scheme – The BSAC’s Snorkelling syllabus is a progressive training course to help people build skills and technique and enjoy the sea safely.
  • Check your equipment – A strap breaking on a fin, a badly fitting mask or a leaking snorkel valve while you’re at sea can all cause problems and discomfort. Taking good care of the equipment and checking it carefully can reduce the chances of problems.
  • Choose a safe site – Avoid areas with heavy boat traffic, dangerous currents and rip tides. Make sure the entrances and exits to the water are easily accessible and that there are alternative places to exit if the dive is cut short.

 

Holiday Hotel Problems

Common problems with hotel rooms include cleanliness, electrical items not working and issues with the bathroom (a major issue). If you do discover a problem you should first call down to reception and ask for the problem to be rectified or for you to be moved to another room. If this doesn’t seem to get you anywhere you could ask to speak to a manager. Tell them that you have tried to sort the issue out with reception but to no avail so therefore have had to escalate the problem.

If you are still not happy with the outcome you could write a letter of complaint when you get home or if it is a chain hotel, contact the head office.

Most hotels are keen to rectify problems quickly as they often get a lot of business through word of mouth, so don’t stay quiet!