It has been a long time since I posted something on here...
So I went down to Freeport this afternoon to say hi to the Driver family... Robert has been down with Grace Church(TX) many times to JDV and he had contacted me that they would be in and would like to at least say hi.
I got down to the cruise dock and as I was waiting for them to come I was just observing the taxis and people coming back. One taxi pulled right up close to where I was standing and as the couple was paying, voices started raising and the tourism cops came over to see what was up. The woman turns to me as if asking for help and so I asked what was the problem. Here they had hired this taxi to take them into town to a grocery store, then after spending close to $100 they then asked to be taken to an orphanage(Blossom Garden) to hand out goodies and things to the kids to bless them and the staff. The whole 'excursion' was about an hour and a half from the time they left the boat until they got back. The taxi, after already having agreed to a price before leaving, was demanding they pay him $100 US for his 'service'. The couple was outraged, and rightly so, since he more than doubled the 'original' cost, especially since all they were trying to do was bring some happiness into some orphans lives. Thankfully the cops sided with the couple even as the taxi man cursed them for being cheap. I talked with them for a little after that and that is something they do at most of their ports of call and they were so upset about it they won't be coming back to Jamaica ever again. And people here wonder why tourism is bad and the economy is bad?!?! Treat people that are not sight seeing, but actually trying to help the less fortunate in your country like this?? The 2 tourism cops were so embarrassed and upset at this man's behavior they called in his cab to report it.
Unfortunately, never did actually meet up with the Driver family.