Petty Theft: A visit to Vieques without seeing
the beautiful Red Beach, Blue Beach and Playa La Plata, Navio,
Media Luna and Green Beach is unthinkable. If fact, you should
wake up every morning, pick up a picnic lunch and head for the
beaches. They truly are lovely. But BEWARE of petty theft
which lurks behind every bush!
Far
Wiser is to leave your valuables at the hotel.. If you
go out swimming and leave a wallet, camera etc. on the beach it
may well disappear! Instantly! Buy and bring a 'dry bag'. Keep
your camera, wallet and car keys with you while you swim. Don't
take your digital camera to the beach unless someone is going
to be with it at all times. Buy a disposable waterproof camera
for the beach. They work great!
•
Do NOT lock your valuables in your car. If a
thief breaks the car window YOU are responsible to pay for a new
one, installed! Leave no valuables in the car and leave the doors
unlocked. Remember, no bushes nearby, no thieves. Surrounded by
bushes? Surrounded by petty thieves.
DO NOT take valuables to the beach!
DON"T!! .... DO Take $20. in your pocket for liquids and
junk food... leave the rest safely behind, ask your hotel where
to leave valuables.
Particular
spots with constant petty theft are: Navio, Media Luna,
Blue Beach, Green Beach and the waterfront in Esperanza.
Also notorious for petty theft is Playa Grande.
There are reasons why there is more theft on some beaches than
others. If there are bushes near the beach it is much more likely
there are petty thieves nearby because they can hide.
If
you are robbed:
• Call Fish & Wildlife at 787-741-2138. Useless but they will help you with car problems.
•
Call the Puerto Rico Police Dept. at 787-741-2020
•
Call your rental car agency if you cannot move your car.
•
Wish that you had taken this advice!
Remember that to fly on an airplane you will need an official
I. D. with a photo. If your identification is robbed you MUST
go to the police station and file a report. That report will substitute
for identification with the airlines. It is time consuming, it
is inefficient and a real pain, but you will need it.... don't
even bother waiting for the police to come to you.... just go
to the police station and file a report, you will need the document
with the 'querella' number on it. It will not
happen quickly, you will have to return to get it.
The
good news! There is very little violent crime against tourists in Vieques,
you don't need to be afraid unless you are wandering around late at night. be wise..
----------------------
As
for FINES.... the security guards on the US Fish
& Wildlife Reserve have the authority to give out stiff fines.
If you do not pay them ( and you must travel to federal court
in San Juan to protest them) a warrant for your arrest will be
issued and served by a federal warrant officer!
OH...
and the sand spurs are killer too! Wear beach shoes.
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HORSES
IN THE ROAD at night! There are many long stretches of
road that are not lit up at night (Thank God for that! It would
be damaging to the bioluminescent bay.) Wild horses wander the
roads at night, most of them brown and practically invisible at
night; horses with riders also have no lights, nor wear white
clothing so BE VERY CAREFUL when driving at night.
It is truly not safe to drive faster than 35 mph
on roads with horses on the sides ( and those are all the roads
in Vieques).
Jellyfish
Stings. Jellyfish live in the oceans of the world and
occasionally are blown to our beaches. If you are stung by a jellyfish
it is important not to rub it and cause more
stinging. Applying vinegar is a good first step, then, try to
find any tiny, practically invisible, tentacles clinging to you
and remove them. Vinegar does not remove the pain, what it does
do is stop any more stingers from firing into your skin, as they
will do so if you rub the area.
After
this first vinegar step, there is not much you can do about the
pain, which will go away in 24 hours or less. Some people believe
applying ammonia at this point can help with the stinging. It
does help with certain jellyfish, so it doesn't hurt to try it,
but, more often, it does not help. Meat tenderizer can be a very
bad idea, some people have a terrible reaction to the combination
( although some claim it has helped them). A hot shower can be
helpful, be careful not to burn yourself, if you are in severe
pain have someone else monitor the water temperature
as you will tend to want it too hot because it relieves the pain.
Some jellyfish toxins degrade quickly in hot water.
If
your reactions are severe you need to go to the emergency clinic
for symptomatic treatment.
More
than you ever wanted to know about jellyfish.
Heart attack: give aspirin and get to medical help.
Signs of a Stroke :
STROKE: Remember The 1st Three Letters.... S.T.R
During a BBQ, a friend stumbled and took a little fall - she assured everyone that she was fine (they offered to call paramedics) .....she said she had just tripped over a brick because of her new shoes. They got her cleaned up and got her a new plate of food. While she appeared a bit shaken up, Ingrid went about enjoying herself the rest of the evening.
Ingrid's husband called later telling everyone that his wife had been taken to the hospital - (at 6:00 pm Ingrid passed away.) She had suffered a stroke at the BBQ. Had they known how to identify the signs of a stroke, perhaps Ingrid would be with us today. Some don't die.... they end up in a helpless, hopeless condition instead.
It only takes a minute to read this...
A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hours he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke...totally. He said the trick was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient medically cared for within 3 hours, which is tough.
RECOGNIZING A STROKE . . Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster. The stroke victim may suffer severe brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke .
A bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions:
S * Ask the individual to SMILE.
T * Ask the person to TALK and SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently)
R * Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.
NOTE: Another 'sign' of a stroke is this: Ask the person to 'stick' out his tongue.. If the tongue is 'crooked', if it goes to one side or the other , that is also an indication of a stroke.
If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call 911 immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.
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