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Depends where you go, and how you act. In the Amazon part of the country and in Galapagos, it's hard to find crime, but in Guayaquil, it's sometimes unavoidable
by totalZero 9y ago
Depends where you go, and how you act. In the Amazon part of the country and in Galapagos, it's hard to find crime, but in Guayaquil, it's sometimes unavoidable.
Many Ecuadorian people are comfortable about stealing from Americans, or ripping them off, and there's a sense of "these Americans won't miss it." Partly, this idea is imposed by the government, which charges different prices for some services (including airfare) to Europeans, Canadians and Americans. I've encountered (and sometimes lost money to) attempted ripoffs by taxi drivers, laundry services, restaurants, and even a surgeon.
Yet I haven't had much stuff stolen from me in Ecuador, and in fact a local acquaintance felt so bad to see me lose the only item that was stolen, she bought me a replacement.
- chatmasta 9y ago> and there's a sense of "these Americans won't miss it." To be fair, they’re probably right. Besides, if you’re traveling in Central America with any more than the bare necessities, you deserve to get robbed. At least you should assume all your belongings could be taken from you at any time.
- pc86 9y agoTIL traveling within a huge multicultural region of the world with anything more than a single change of clothes and a toothbrush means I deserve to get robbed.
- psyc 9y agoTypically when someone says you "deserve" such a thing, they mean "you will learn a hard lesson." They aren't impugning your morals, but your judgment.
- pc86 9y agoGP replied after you, they definitely mean morally.
- chatmasta 9y agoIf you view it as flaunting first-world wealth while you’re exploiting a developing nation for its tourism, then you might make the argument that you morally deserve to get robbed.
- pc86 9y agoIf you believe people in any circumstance morally deserve to have their property stolen by threat of bodily harm (or even without) you're a pretty sad excuse for a human being. I guess it would be better if tourism didn't exist and rural Mexico continued being cripplingly poor?