COMPASS
Caribbean
COMPILED BY BOB ROUSE
After being battered by a double dose of hurricanes—Irma and Maria—in September, Caribbean residents have
worked to restore their homes, lives and livelihoods. NTA members who live in or conduct travel to the area are
part of that recovery effort, and Courier’s coverage of the region focuses on them.
Taking care of clients—and neighbors
Based in Puerto Rico, the staff of Vámonos Tours has weathered the
worst of the 2017 storms. Despite facing personal and business-
related challenges, Vámonos owner Jorge Pardo and his colleagues
are moving forward with scheduled—and redirected—tours.
Vámonos Tours specializes in providing student groups
with cultural and language-immersion programs throughout
the Caribbean, as well as in Latin America, Spain and the
U.S. By continually assessing and reassessing the damage to
Puerto Rico and other Caribbean islands, Pardo says Vámonos
has worked to accommodate its clients.
“We will resume our Puerto Rico tours beginning Nov. 7,”
Pardo says. “We expect all of our hotel properties to have
water and power, and the vast majority of tourist attractions
will take precedence in terms of restoration of power.” He is
quick to add that the company puts a priority on safety and
will only use hotels that are fully operational.
Along with cultural, nature and adventure excursions in Puerto
Rico, the company’s tours have always included a service project, a
feature Pardo says will be especially timely in the months ahead.
“More than ever, I want my students to help with hurricane-
relief efforts, to chat with locals about their experiences during
the storm, and, certainly, to still enjoy the beauty of our island.”
Vámonos also offers five- and seven-day programs in
Martinique for French language students, and those tours have
already resumed. “Martinique is fully functional, and it’s the
ideal place for students to study French in a warm, tropical
setting,” Pardo says.
Itineraries on that island include sailing lessons, dance
instruction, a Creole cooking class and guided tours of
Martinique’s rainforests and waterfalls.
The company’s programs to Cuba, set to resume in October,
were complicated by a statement from the U.S. Department of
State warning citizens not to travel to Cuba due to illnesses
Vámonos staff members with the groceries
they purchased for Puerto Ricans in need.
suffered by U.S. diplomats. Pardo is offering alternative
destinations.
“We are advising all of our groups booked for Cuba to con-
sider Costa Rica, which is one of the safest and most peaceful
countries in the Western Hemisphere,” he says. “If you would
prefer a destination other than Costa Rica, we have Spanish-
immersion tours to Spain, Panama, Mexican-heritage San
Antonio, Cuban-heritage Miami and Puerto Rico.”
Along with attending to Vámonos staff members and clients,
Pardo has also focused on helping the people of Puerto Rico.
In late September he set up a GoFundMe page to provide
food and supplies to the island’s orphanages, rural schools,
nursing homes and soup kitchens. Donations to the Vámonos
Hurricane Relief Fund are administered by Pardo and his staff.
“Nothing will be handled by any third party,” Pardo writes
on the page. “We don’t play around. Your funds become sup-
plies delivered personally by Vámonos.”
To get updates on the company’s programs, visit vamonos
tours.com or email Pardo at [email protected]. To make
a donation to the company’s relief fund, visit gofundme.com/
vamonos-hurricane-relief-fund.
Safe haven in Jamaica
Not every island in the Caribbean was damaged by the hur-
ricanes of September. June Wright, a marketing consultant for
SeaGarden Beach Resort in Montego Bay, Jamaica, wants her
NTA colleagues to know that the 140-room, all-inclusive prop-
erty is operating as normal.
“I hasten to assure you that the countries in the Western
Caribbean, including Jamaica, were spared from the ravaging
effects of the bad weather,” Wright says. “Our location makes
us a safe haven that is impacted only when storms originate
off the West African coast and pass over the Gulf of Mexico.”
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November 2017
Wright says that Jamaica’s primary market is the United
States, where many people mistakenly believe that the
entire Caribbean was affected by the hurricanes. As a result,
the hotel has been less crowded than normal during the
fall season.
Wright is quick to add that the staff of SeaGarden sympa-
thizes with the plight of Caribbean residents and businesses
that did not escape storm damage.
For more information, visit seagardenjamaica.com or email
Tricia-Ann Bicarie at [email protected].