6) Haiti
The Caribbean country of Haiti should be a paradise, but alas it is not. The country is plagued by political violence and has been for a century or more. Peaceful demonstrations regularly turn nasty, and you don’t want to be anywhere near one when it kicks off.
The reason why most people are probably familiar with Haiti is the devastating storm they endured a few years back which killed thousands, followed by an earthquake that killed hundreds of thousands. They’ve never really recovered.
The country was poor and had a low-grade infrastructure before the storm and earthquake, the natural disasters certainly didn’t improve matters. Hurricane season runs from June to November too, so if you have to go, don’t go then.
On top of the imminent threat of political strife there’s an ongoing cholera epidemic and Chikungunya virus to contend with. Chikungunya is a nasty disease spread by mosquito. The gov.uk advice is as follows:
You should take steps to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes.
I’ll tell you the step I’m going to take to avoid being bitten: not going to Haiti.
Well, I hope that’s helped you narrow down your possible destinations for this year’s jolly. Oh, and you can take Florida off your list too, it’s mental over there.
