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Long overdo report- questions and answer time
Long overdo report- questions and answer time
Here are some answers to questions I've been asked on the forum- here it goes:
1. The trail to Brown Bay is not a climb like Reef Bay but it isn't flat like Waterlemon. It is very much up a hill and then down again. Not hard to hike by any means but does take a bit of time.
2. Building spot- Coral Bay side, Upper Carolina.
3. How scammed? The tricks? First, we quickly learned that when hitting Red Hook to walk PAST the van/taxis and get an open air taxi at the road. We also found that you should't ask how much it is going to cost or you will be charged too much. To go to Charlotte Amalie is a buck- onto the university is 2 dollars. If you ask- they will say 5-10$ per person. I found it is just best to hand them the dollar and see if they question it. The worst scamming was by a very nice gentleman who pulled off to the side to see if it was ok to take a different route to avoid the cruise ship traffic. We told him to do what he thought best (big mistake) and the next thing we know his taxi light is off and we were touring the island. When we got to the university he told us he would cut us a deal- instead of charging us the $10 per person each way he would only charge us $8 if he could come back and pick us up later. So we paid him the $8 bucks per person and agreed to his terms. A bit later we found out from someone that the rate should have been more like $2 but that since he turned his light off he was now doing a private tour and could charge more. So, when we were leaving we left the back way and took another open air taxi. Yep- it was only $2.
3. Not necessarily an answer but a comment. Even though we did have a couple of not so nice experiences, the majority of them were fanatastic. For example:
*the taxi ride with the driver's whole family as they were heading home. They weren't planning on taking anyone but since we were going their way they would - no charge. (of course we paid none the less).
*The driver who radioed a friend to meet her so we could get a ride the rest of the way because she needed to go get her sick kid.
*The ferry driver who stopped the last ferry as it had started to leave so my kids didn't get stuck at Duffy's (not that they may have minded!).
Later - the last installment. Octopus, shark, soggy keys and all.
1. The trail to Brown Bay is not a climb like Reef Bay but it isn't flat like Waterlemon. It is very much up a hill and then down again. Not hard to hike by any means but does take a bit of time.
2. Building spot- Coral Bay side, Upper Carolina.
3. How scammed? The tricks? First, we quickly learned that when hitting Red Hook to walk PAST the van/taxis and get an open air taxi at the road. We also found that you should't ask how much it is going to cost or you will be charged too much. To go to Charlotte Amalie is a buck- onto the university is 2 dollars. If you ask- they will say 5-10$ per person. I found it is just best to hand them the dollar and see if they question it. The worst scamming was by a very nice gentleman who pulled off to the side to see if it was ok to take a different route to avoid the cruise ship traffic. We told him to do what he thought best (big mistake) and the next thing we know his taxi light is off and we were touring the island. When we got to the university he told us he would cut us a deal- instead of charging us the $10 per person each way he would only charge us $8 if he could come back and pick us up later. So we paid him the $8 bucks per person and agreed to his terms. A bit later we found out from someone that the rate should have been more like $2 but that since he turned his light off he was now doing a private tour and could charge more. So, when we were leaving we left the back way and took another open air taxi. Yep- it was only $2.
3. Not necessarily an answer but a comment. Even though we did have a couple of not so nice experiences, the majority of them were fanatastic. For example:
*the taxi ride with the driver's whole family as they were heading home. They weren't planning on taking anyone but since we were going their way they would - no charge. (of course we paid none the less).
*The driver who radioed a friend to meet her so we could get a ride the rest of the way because she needed to go get her sick kid.
*The ferry driver who stopped the last ferry as it had started to leave so my kids didn't get stuck at Duffy's (not that they may have minded!).
Later - the last installment. Octopus, shark, soggy keys and all.
-
California Girl
