Sir: During the past few years, Nicaragua and Costa Rica has experienced a huge increase in organised student "expeditions". Ometepe Island, which has a wide array of tropical ecosystems and outdoor activities, is one of the most popular places. Each student is required to raise £3,000 to cover the return air fare, 30 days of travelling in Costa Rica and Nicaragua, food, camping, and lodging in dorms or in inexpensive hotels. The tour operator gives each student £400 pounds for expenses. This must cover guides, overcrowded and under-maintained local transportation, private transport, taxis, taxes, entrance to national parks, museums, food, medical emergencies, lost money, internet services, lodging and, where appropriate, tips. Given the present prices here, this puts the well-being of young people at risk. The travellers do not have sufficient resources to survive nor the local knowledge to get the most out of the experience. Hiring local tour operators with bilingual guides who will handle finances can minimise problems and increase safety. Local cell phones are not provided. Student groups are in jeopardy because of the lack of proper nutrition; they also fail to hire a sufficient number of local guides, particularly to hike the volcanoes. To save money, students skip meals, sleep in hammocks, eat junk street-food or in unsanitary restaurants with pit toilets, and share single beds. They do not have enough money to buy bottled water and so they drink untreated water, with the expected consequences. In the past three years, five foreigners have died in Ometepe, one a British citizen, along with an American, because they made an economic decision not to hire a local guide for $10. Extensive resources have to be spent to find bodies and send them home. The emotional cost of dealing with families and relatives is also enormous. The present standards of British tour operators are not sustainable. Please help us provide a safer experience for these youngsters and reduce the emotional fallout of unnecessary emergencies. ALVARO MOLINA
Posted on: Sat, 13 Jul 2013 14:10:30 +0000
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