The images in the holiday brochure are irresistible: sun and sand of tropical beaches bordered by palms, washed by translucent seas, where lovers amble hand in hand along the edge of the water. What could be more blissful? Where do I sign up?
When you arrive, of course, you'll find that the deserted beach has serial hotels hogging the shoreline, while busloads of star-struck lovers arrive and leave daily as the great wheels of the tourist industry churn without end.
There will be a hidden world, too, mostly unseen by the visitor, in the the surrounding towns, villages and countryside. This wider local population remains out of sight, especially in the hotel formula known as “all-inclusive” (which should really be termed “all-exclusive”), the average visitor getting only a fleeting glimpse, on arrival and departure, from the windows of the airport bus. They may take note, briefly, of townships, ghettos, shanty-towns, the ramshackle effects of poverty, dust and dirt, run-down vehicles, and neglected infrastructure.
Maybe, too, they’ll catch sight of areas of fine villas with enclosed gardens displaying high-profile security protection. Some of this extreme contrast may remind them of the troubling and chilling depiction of Rodrigo Plá’s excellent film La Zona (Mexico, 2007), where slum and rich condominium sit side by side.
But the bus will soon pull in past the gate-keepers and into the walled paradise of the beach hotel. During the visitor’s stay, those “other people” of the parallel world of the slums and townships will remain visible only in the form of the myriad waiters, bartenders, cleaners, cooks, laundry servants, and so on, who silently keep the great ship of leisure steaming along.
Then, after the holiday in paradise, the visitor will return home via the same rapid bus journey to the airport, none the wiser about the greater landscape of the country they have blessed with their foreign currency.
What of the impact of such tourism on all those workers, and on their lives? What of the impact on their families and communities, back in the ghetto homes where they live, and where they return at night? What of the impact on local agriculture and resources, traditionally based on providing for local needs, and unequipped to deal with the vast daily appetites of the thousands upon thousands of invading hotel guests?
Captureland, my novel written for young people, but equally for any inquiring person, takes a look at this other unexplored world beyond the hotel gates, with its shanty-town communities built on land seized by squatters (hence “capture land”).
In the story, based on true events, a young white boy comes to work in a Caribbean beach hotel but soon finds himself allied with a group of black friends in their daily fight for survival amidst poverty, injustice and violence. We see the parallel world now through his eyes, as he shares the joys and hardships of his breddren, born and raised in the ghetto but with an irrepressible spirit and zest for life.
I wrote most of this book on site, in the Caribbean, where after a whole lifetime of travelling without incident, I was mugged within twenty-four hours of my arrival. The telling of the story, then, has a certain edge to it – which doesn’t take away from my exploration, and admiration, of the deeper customs and values of traditional communities faced with the ruthless and insatiable demands of the modern consumer world, otherwise known as "Babylon".
The book will in due course be available through Amazon, but there is an opening 25% discount until January 31, 2012, on all orders from Lulu (see link above and order using code LULUBOOKUK305). An e-book version is also available from the same site, and eventually Kindle, etc.
CJM
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