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Apr. 20, 2006 My relative travels a lot for her business and one of her ports of call happened to be Aruba. She was scheduled to spend a week on the Island and was pretty excited about a business trip to a fun, happy place that most people go to for vacations. This trip occurred a few years ago and not during the time period that involves the Holloway case. My relative is NOT a teenager and she is a seasoned traveler having been all over the world for her job. She often has to go to resort areas and is used to different cultures and different languages so Aruba was not especially challenging for her...or so she thought. She arrived on the Island and checked in to a rather nice and clean hotel on hotel row. She had access to the beach in her off time and was close to several restaurants that she had been told served very good food. She found the people to be friendly and encountered no problems upon her arrival. On the second day of her trip, after having taken care of the day's business, she decided to take a tour of the Island via cab. Once she got away from the rows of hotels and nice restaurants the scenery changed radically and so did her encounters with the people. She also noticed that a lot of the Island was desert-like and not pretty like the beach areas. She got out of the cab near a small shopping area and was walking down a street looking into shop windows when a rather scruffy looking man approached her and asked her if she wanted to buy some "happy medicine" (those were his words). She declined and kept on walking. She didn't get very far when she was once again stopped by yet another man (this one was light haired and had a Dutch accent). He asked her if she wanted to come with him to some clubs to dance. She declined his invitation because he appeared to be about 16 years old and drunk. She was married and had no intention of going off with any men no matter what his condition. Long story short, as she made her way around this particular part of Aruba she was stopped no less than five times by people offering her drugs or visits to "sex clubs". She began to get alarmed and hailed a passing cab. The driver of the cab pulled up and she got into his cab and told him to take her back to her hotel. Instead of driving her directly to her hotel he detoured and she noticed that she was in front of some seedy looking bars. She was now becoming VERY alarmed and told the driver to turn around and take her back to her hotel...she made that VERY clear to him as she is not the shy type and not afraid to speak up. She was surprised at what had taken place because the area she had been walking in seemed pleasant and well kept and not at all what someone would consider dangerous or off limits. The driver then told her that she was missing out on "a lot of fun" if she didn't try some of the bars and the special drinks on offer. She was also told that there were lots of cute boys who would like nothing better than to show her a good time and spend time with her. He told her that she wouldn't even have to pay for their services. Now she had seen and heard enough and demanded that he return her to her hotel. He finally took the hint and took her back to her hotel. That night she called her boss in the United States and told him that she did not feel safe or comfortable on Aruba and wanted to leave earlier than planned. He urged her to stay at least one more day and attempt to finish up her business and she reluctantly agreed. On the next day she called for another cab to drive her to a building where she was scheduled to meet with some fellow business people to finish up her work. Instead of driving her directly to the building the cab driver took her to an area of town that frightened her. It was filled with ramshackle houses and the streets were littered with debris and there were many men wandering around who appeared to be high. One of them banged on the window of the cab as it stopped at a corner and he made some slurring comments in a language she was unfamiliar with (it turned out to be Papiamento). She does speak Spanish but couldn't really make out what the man was saying. He was filthy, unkempt and obviously drunk or high. Instead of speeding away, the can driver rolled down his window and started to joke around with the man who had approached the can. As he did so, several other men approached and they were all laughing and joking around and pointing at my relative. By now she was terrified. After practically screaming at the driver to get her out of there and threatening to call the police (a lot of good that would have done her), he finally left the scene and she noticed that her destination was completely in the opposite direction of where she had instructed the cab driver to take her in the first place. To this day she has no idea what was planned for her on that terrible ride but she is grateful that she was lucky enough to get away. Unfortunately for her, my relative got to see parts of Aruba that many tourists may never see and that left a lasting impression on her. She left that evening and will never return. She informed her boss that she would NEVER return to that place and he could fire her if he insisted that she go back. This could have been an isolated incident and not typical of a visitor's usual impression of Aruba except for the fact that I have heard of SEVERAL such stories from other people since then. No matter the beauty of the beaches and the niceness of the hotels and some of the restaurants on Aruba, there is a side to it that is not safe for a woman alone on that Island. We now know that other women have been accosted on beaches in areas that are considered safe and that although they provided descriptions to the police of their assailants, nothing was done and no one was caught. It was a year after the fact that this latest sketch of a man who attempted to assault some women was presented to the public for help in finding him. As far as I know he is still out there. The moral of this story is that although you may decide to visit Aruba and you may have nothing but pleasant experiences ....there is a dangerous element as there is anywhere else, so be cautious and don't stray too far from your safety zone. If you are a female..don't wander around alone there or anywhere because the world (including a small Island paradise called Aruba) is not a safe place. It was not safe for Natalee Holloway either and I wonder what parts of Aruba she saw before she disappeared into the night. ------------ About the author: Meri has a Medical/Legal background and is a former forensic researcher specializing in psychological profiling. https://www2.xlibris.com/bookstore/bookdisplay.asp?bookid=27335 Email: writers2@cox.net Comment on this article here! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com. Please link to this article rather than copying and pasting it onto your site (which would be unauthorized and illegal). |
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