When is a taxi not a taxi?

November 30, 2009 | Category: Articles | Nicaragua

When is a taxi not a taxi? It’s an important question to ask yourself when traveling anywhere in the world. It’s incredibly important question when traveling in second and third world countries.

If the driver is too eager to prove his credentials, he’s probably not a real taxi driver. If someone is guiding you to a certain car instead of a dozen other taxis waiting on the road, it’s probably not a real taxi. And never, ever share a taxi with a random stranger, no matter how nice they are, especially if they insist on one specific taxi.

When you meet nothing but incredibly kind and generous people it is very easy to fall into a false sense of security and ignore these basic rules. But your sense of security should never override your instincts. You don’t need to be rude or defensive, just ask a lot of questions and if you are uncomfortable with a situation it’s better to step back and rethink things. Under no circumstance should you get in a car that you are uncomfortable riding in.

I learned this lesson the hard way and lost everything of value that was in my backpack and camera bag, including the camera bag itself. Bruises will heal but the photos from Costa Rica and Nicaragua are gone forever (along with my laptop) so there won’t be many photos from the first part of my trip. And there were some amazing photos!

In the end everything worked out – we ended up meeting even more amazing people and left Central America with few regrets. And I finally got to use my travel insurance policy (which is a good idea no matter where you are traveling).

You can’t let one bad experience ruin your view of a country or a city or group of people. There are bad people everywhere you go – you can get robbed in Calgary or New York just as easily as in Nicaragua. Unfortunately knowing how to avoid these people only comes with experience.

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