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Arrogance
Hi Gang..
Just back from a wonderful fishing holiday in Cuba! Two weeks of bonefish, barracuda and snapper on the long rod. Hooked my first tarpon, estimated at 100-120 pounds by the guide, which threw the hook 20-odd feet into the air after a 200-meter run.. totally awesome! It's a beautiful country, with such friendly people. Every day, my guide had everything organised.. all i had to do was turn up in the hotel lobby each morning, all else was taken care of by Juanito. My boat guide, Orlando, was top-class too! Both guides worked their hardest to put me onto fish each day, their love of fly-fishing just shone through and made the holiday almost perfect! ALMOST??? i hear you say???
Yes, almost! On my final few days fishing, a party of Canadians were fishing from the lodge too... around seven or eight of them. Their loud behaviour, bad language,abuse of the guides and sheer arrogance(or should that be ignorance??) upset me. After such an amazing 2 weeks in paradise, i was looking forward to returning to Cayos Paredon,Romano and Coco again next year... now I am not so sure! I have to write up an article on the Cayo Paredon bonefish for the travel company... and to be honest, i'm not sure my heart is in it now! I have my memories and photos, both of my fish and of the wonderful, hard-working guides who made that holiday superb.... but also the memories of these discourteous and arrogant a***oles. Although they had all the gear, they weren't fly-fishers... they didn't have what it takes to be a fly-fisher!
Sound-off finished for now... look forward to your feedback! Thanks, Andy
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As featured in Trout Fisherman, UK, Jan 2005! I'd still rather be fishin'!!
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Eh! Not all of us Canadians are jerks. I am sure that all of the various cultures and countries are all equally capable of producing such "people"
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SheTies,
I'm sure each and every country produces these 'people'.... I didn't insinuate otherwise! I met many friendly, well-adjusted Canadians,whom i got on well with, at the hotel on Cayo Coco. Unfortunately, the people i met whilst fishing WERE Canadian, and i feel they not only let themselves down with their behaviour, but were very poor ambassadors for both fly-fishing, and their parent country!
Andy
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As featured in Trout Fisherman, UK, Jan 2005! I'd still rather be fishin'!!
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I am sorry that these people almost ruined your holiday, there is really no excuse for discourteous behaviour, esp while on vacation. Maybe you should come over to BC and try out some of our trout fishing with some of the nice Canadian locals here. http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/biggrin.gif
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SheTies,
Its on the list of my places to fish;
Belize (bonefish)
Massachusets (stripers)
Canada (trout/salmon/pike)
Hopefully, by the end of 2006, i will have experienced the warm Canadian hospitality and caught a few fish.
Andy
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As featured in Trout Fisherman, UK, Jan 2005! I'd still rather be fishin'!!
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Drop me an e-mail if you're going to visit the west coast.
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Andy,
Sounds like a great, great trip with the exception of those few distractions......
When you if/when you come to Massachusetts to fish for stripers, look up Capt. Charlie Lemieux. He knows Plymouth and Duxbury bay like no other. He's an Orvis endorsed guide so you can find him on thier site or shoot me an email and I'll get you the info.
Rich
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SheTies,
I most certainly will email you when its time for my visit to the west of Canada :0)
Quillg,
I am hoping Dave Micus may be persuaded to show me some striper action! If not, will look up your mate. Many thanx, both!
Andy
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Andy,
Ever hear the term "Ugly Americans"? Borne of the same type awful behavior. When I was stationed in VietNam & saw China, Japan, the Phillipines, I was amazed at how many of my countrymen seem to forget they are "guests" & should behave with appreciation toward their hosts and the country/customs of that country. The worst part is that those folks will go home complaining of the lack of hospitality they were shown...I think it's more like "sow & ye shall reap".
I think you should go back...the treatment you received from the natives seemed like it was excellent. You'll run into "jerk tourists" just about every vacation.
Mike
[This message has been edited by ohiotuber (edited 07 March 2005).]
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Andy,
I've got to agree with OhioTuber. In my travels around the world, courtesy of Uncle Sam, I have seen far more Americans exhibit rude and uncalled for behavior than those of other countries. In several instances I took those offenders to task for the poor manners they were showing the rest of the world. Those citizens from our host country were amazed that an American would dress down a fellow American for behaving poorly.
Every country produces a few ill-mannered and poorly reared individuals. Unfortunately they are the ones who gain notoriety.
I'm sure you can write your story with an emphasis on the fine people who were your guuides and host and the wonderful fishing and surroundings you experienced. Those are the memories that you should share with your readers.
REE
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andy, you haven't seen rude behavior until you fished with me! i'll start drinking now so i'm primed by your visit.
(i'll mail your flies tomorrow)
Dave
aaarrrggghhh!!!
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Rude Canadian, is not an embarassment for citizens of Canada, only for those who were being rude and uncaring of others, by their total lack of good manners.
Every country has it embarasments, of people who travel outside their county. Also how visitors are treated at the countries they visit. I have seen this time and time again, in my many years of traveling around the world.
"Ugly American Tourist Syndrome", that treat Third World Nations citizens are something less than human, then there are the "Samari Japanese Businessman" who like to boast how American products are inferior to those made by Japan. Then there are the French who are rude to visitor to their country, who do not speak French, and treat the visitors with contempt. Then there are the British who make fun of how Americans cannot speak English properly.
No country is exempt from their share of rude individuals. So do not feel offended when you see some one being *** in public.
~ Parnelli
"Remember! Everyone we meet in life, give us happiness. Some by their arrival, others by their departure!"
http://www.animationlibrary.com/Anim...Flyfishing.gif
[This message has been edited by Steven H. McGarthwaite (edited 07 March 2005).]
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Andy,
I think running into rudeness is the luck of the draw. It is an international problem, and happens everywhere. I am sorry that you had to run into it, 'cause that kind of stuff is uncalled for.
Come to Massachusetts, and we can show you a good time. Dave is prepping now and so are the Stripers. Figure May-June or late September-October.
jed
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I have travelled to many countries over the years and my anecdotal experience is that tourists are en masse ruder than the typical folk back home. Obviously this is a generalization, but I have a theory that folk who travel tend to be better off and with that often comes a degree of arrogance and a heightened expectation of how they think they should be treated.
For those with a Monty Python bent, it brings to mind the Fawlty Towers skit wherein the American tourist hauls out a wad of notes and says to Basil Fawlty: "How much of this Mickey Mouse money do you need to keep the kitchen open?"
My personal style is to try "act like a local" when I travel by eating at the non-touristy places, going into supermarkets to shop, etc. It has given me some of the most memorable experiences - I still don't know what I ate in Tokyo when I ordered with sign language!
Kev.
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Hi Guys,
Yeah, glad it was only for a few days... couldn't have hacked a full two weeks with these guys! It truly is an awesome place though... all these lovely cuban girls wearing only thongs, and all i could think about was the bonefish.Guess it had a profound effect on me! :0)
JC... looked at Yellow Dog for Belize, looks promising!
Dave... i never stopped drinking, so should be in good shape for October time! Thanks again for the flies, will send you some by return mail!
Am looking forward to my travels over the next year or two... just gotta tie up some HEAVY dumbell-eyed flies to cast at the 'travelling jerks'
.... is a licence required for catch & release jerk-fly-fishing??
Andy
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Andy, you may need a hunting permit in addition to the fishing license. The fishing one for the jerks on the water and a hunting one for the ones still standing on the shores http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/wink.gif
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Andy,
I can tell you for a fact that these Canadians are not typical Canadians. I have been to Canada many times and the folks up there have always treated me with respect. I also traveled the globe in the U.S. Army. I always remembered the fact that I was an american in a foreign country and always did my best not to offend the people of that nation. Like Ron, I used to bawl out other soldiers that acted like jerks.
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Eric "nighthawk"
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Andy
I'm a bit confused. You say that you had a great time, other than those bad guests you encountered. You said the place was great, the guides did a great job and the fishing was excellent.
But then you say that after dealing with the less than polite guests your heart just isn't in writing a promo piece on the lodge. Call me crazy but what did the lodge have to do with those less than stellar guests? It certainly wasn't the guides fault either. So while it really is a bummer when guests cause problems (it's happened to me as well) why would you punish the lodge that just did such a great job for you?
Seems to me that the thing to do would be to write a great piece about how nice the place was, how good the guides were and how wonderful the fishing was and leave it at that.
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Jeff - AKA Dr. Fish
If it has fins and swims than I must chase it!
[This message has been edited by Dr. Fish (edited 09 March 2005).]
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Jeff,
I have started the article, and hope to finish it in a week or so.
There is more info on my trip on 'Back From Cuba' post in the Saltwater board.
Ten days into the holiday, my thoughts were that this would be such an enthusiastic article... the last few days kinda knocked that enthusiasm! Kinda like introducing an alien species (i.e.mink) into the countryside... then watching the destruction unfold!
I have no intention penalising the guides, or anyone else local to the Cayos for the disruption caused by a few 'alien species'!
The article, when completed, will be forwarded to JC & LF in the hopes that it will provide some useful info for anyone considering a trip to the Cayos. It will be balanced, informative, educational and with no mention of any negatives.(except when i skunked... but thats' another story! LOL)
The whole point of me sounding off about these jerks was really just to 'get it off my chest'.... i know it happens the world over, its not the first time for me either, but after that, and a ten hour flight back to the UK, jetlag etc., I JUST NEEDED TO SCREAM!!! AAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHHHHH!!! :0)
Hope this removes any confusion???
Andy
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As featured in Trout Fisherman, UK, Jan 2005! I'd still rather be fishin'!!