GPS - no substitute for local knowledge

Looks like an in-car GPS sent a group of tourists into a dangerous slum -- and a drug gang firefight -- in Rio de Janeiro.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/story.html?id=5530c87a-8740-404a-a81b-fa15050e64d2

No doubt GPS is highly useful, but it sure doesn't replace research, research, research into local conditions.

That is a problem when you travel, no matter if it be a GPS or paper map guiding you. In my experience you can usually get some clues that you are entering a less than desirable area before you get to the worst of it. Time for a u-turn...

One of the things I do is get out and explore. Since I live/work in the city bugging out is higher on the list than others who live in the country where there are more situations they can safely bug in. So I have my primary route and I start out exploring secondary roads around it. Plan trips to parks or other attractions to see what the side roads and towns are like that I may someday need to detour through.

I'll admit that I don't know a way to readily get information about the bad parts of cities that I'm traveling through but I'm not familiar with. If you have friends or relatives in the town you can use them. Otherwise it's not a factiod that I've found easily.

I don't see maps or GPS having an advantage over the other.

Does anyone know a relatively easy way to find information about more trouble prone areas?

Some cities have their major crimes on a map that is available over the miracle that is the Internet.

See for example: http://chicago.everyblock.com/crime/by-primary-type/homicide/

I understand that some larger cities will have this information available online. I recently took a roughly 900 mile (each way) drive with the family. I can see trying to look up this sort of information for the destination but I can't see trying to dig up statistics for every metro area between here and there where a little bladder might need to stop.

I guess sometimes it will be practical and other times it won't.

In this particular case, being in a foreign country, possibly not speaking or reading the local language, would make things harder than they might be in your home country...

Yeah, local language can be a big problem. My Portuguese is rusty beyond repair.

So would you drive yourself around, in a rental car, in a place like this?

Or do you ply a local taxi driver, who knows the rough spots, with lots of work and good tips? Perhaps someone recommended by the hotel manager?

Unless they're all hooked up with some kidnap-for-cash outfit ...?

What's the best move? Thoughts?

Safe bet for me . . . . Don't go at all. Pick a country where the national pastime is not kidnap for cash.

Intentional bad directions from a hotel clerk in Pasadena, Ca. sent me not to LAX but to Slauson and Crenshaw in LA.

Less than 24 hours later I owned a GPS. One week later I was back in Pasadena speaking with the young lady thanking her for directions. She really never expected to see me again I think. Found a nice new hotel though.

"...Slauson and Crenshaw..."

Oh no! Glad you made it out in one piece...

While planning a route from the Slabs near Niland CA to Yuma AZ, my GPS routed me via a road through the Chocolate Mountains. This turned out to be a military "Impact Zone" for artillery and missile target practice.

Fortunately the gate was closed.......

Nomad

The norwegians were quite lucky. Non annonced visitors aren´t welcome in drug controlled areas.

It is almost impossible to visualy diferentiate a "safe" poor neighborhood from a violent one in the outskirts of Rio.

In this case (and in other big cities in general) a good procedure would be to stay only in the main roads or in known tourist destinations. Don´t trust your map and GPS if it indicates a route througth smaller and smaller streets.

It is important to note that the violence in Rio de Janeiro is very localised. I was born in Rio and have never saw a shootout...

Fabio

Not to sound patronizing but I would assume going to any "poor" neighborhood in a place like Rio is a lousy idea for a bunch of green foreigners. Poor people are not necessarily bad. I've traveled a bit in third-world countries and it is not a "bad" or dangerous experience if you understand what you are doing. But one of the things I've learned is that urban slums should always be avoided if possible.

Traveling in the countryside is often different because the folks that live there, as poor as they might be, tend to bo friendlier, sometimes surprisingly hospitable and in many parts of the world they will actively protect any foreigners as long as they're not "dumb Americans" flashing their money and driving huge SUVs. There is always a chance of running into bad guys but as long as you're not ignorantly passing through a war zone or getting mixed up in a guerilla uprising you should be reasonably safe.

In big cities and slums though moral principles are often nonexistent, pretty much everything goes. You could literally get killed on the spot for a few dollars or just a pair of sneakers. But any reasonably experienced traveller should be able to identify such danger zones easily enough if only you pay attention to what is going on around you. One fairly reliable sign is the sudden lack of police presence. In many places bordering on dangerous slums you will see lots of heavily armed police protecting the safe areas, usually where decent (or at least rich) people live. A few blocks further down the road and you might end up in a hellhole where not even a police patrol would dare to enter.

Of course, if you happen to be too busy to maintain some basic situational awareness and prefer to take directions from the GPS you might as well find yourself in a really bad spot.

know before you go.

if you think it looks bad, it is.

Thanks, Fabio.

What's the best way to learn about the danger spots?

Ask the hotel? Ask the local police? Hire a taxi?

I would appreciate your thoughts.

OBG,

Wasn't that bad. It was 9am on a Monday. Everyone was sleeping. However, I really liked the gas station attendant down the road. " Your lost right? Get $5.00 gas (was 1998) and get the hell out of here. LAX is that way!"

Of course he was peering out of a window with bars larger than any jail cell I had ever seen before. I did notice the few folks around were watching me closely. Nothing like a Ford Taurus station wagon full of luggage with a Budget Rental Car bumper sticker to attract attention.

Could have been worse.

"...Nothing like a Ford Taurus station wagon full of luggage..."

Makes me think of National Lampoon's Vacation!!!

I used to work graveyard in that area, I thought it was fun back then...

I was solo. Headed from one town to the next for work. The GPS linked to laptop that resulted was nice to have though.

+1 on only going to Rio de Janeiro when you have local knowledge. Even then, it's probably not very safe either. I look American, and I was always keeping an eye on everyone. That, and the fact I always traveled in a medium sized group with people that looked local, probably helped me avoid issues.

Hello Doug,

If you want information about Rio, I’m going to be there next week. I can get some intel for you.

Fabio