keskiviikko 28. joulukuuta 2016

Jamaica - The wrap up

Two and a half weeks in Jamaica have been relaxing, fun and warm. We have been traveling the coast of Jamaica from place to place by local minibuses. We have visited Port Antonio, Treasure Beach, Negril and Ocho Rios which have all been places worth visiting. Although we can't recommend Kingston due to its filthyness, dirtyness and dangerousness. There are two international airports which are in the two biggest cities Kingston and Montego Bay and you should only land and take off from them and spend the rest of the time somewhere else. 



A stunning sunset in Negril, Jamaica


Here are some notes that we've pointed out during our trip in Jamaica: 

1. The smaller the place where you go the kinder and hospitable people you're more likely to meet. 

2. Walking outside after dark in big cities isn't recommended especially alone due to the high risk of getting robbed. If you are a white woman you will get a lot of attention from the men here especially if you are alone. You are lucky If they leave you alone if you say no. 

3. You will hear gospel EVERYWHERE! There are most churches per square mile in the world in Jamaica but the rules of the Bible are bent so that people can take advantage of them. 


Seems legit, Port Antonio, Portland


4. People eat chicken A LOT here in Jamaica. The quality of the chicken is mostly bad and the portions come with bones almost everytime. So prepare to find bones and joints in each traditional order you purchase. 

5. People are helpful especially with anything related to transportation. If you need to find something or need a ride somewhere you get the answer if you ask locals. Some information for example local bus schedules you can't even find online so people are your Google.

6. Trash, trash, trash... You see it everywhere. Locals eat their takeaway and throw the trash on the ground. Smaller cities and tourist traps are usually cleaner. 

7. There is no rush in Jamaica so you can forget your tight schedule before entering the country. If someone gives you an estimated time you can always at least double that to get the real time. 

8. There is no need for jackets or trousers since it's warm around the year in Jamaica. 

9. In Negril you can usually pay with US dollars also but we don't recommend it because you get a really bad exchange rate.

10. If you go to some waterfalls or other attractions you should always hire a local guide instead of taking a package deal from some travel agency because they have good knowledge of the places and they take good care of you and your stuff during the trip and it's also cheaper to hire a local guide.

11. There are different prices for travelers and locals on taxis, entrance fees and tours. It's always wise to ask locals what do they pay for route taxi ride so the driver won't fool you when discussing the price. Otherwise the fare can be 3-6 times the amount locals pay. In some cases you can't help the fact that being non-local pays a lot more that Jamaican residents. We had planned to go to Dunn's River Falls in Ocho Rios to see what is it like there and to write a blog about it but when we checked the prices they were 600JMD for Jamaican residents and 2800JMD for travelers so we decided not to support that kind of rip off and ended up going to Blue Hole which we heard to be a much better place. 

12. Countlessmilesandsmiles doesn't recommend renting a car in Jamaica because the traffic is quite aggressive and it's cheap and easy to use taxis, route taxis and local buses. 

13. Don't carry a lot of cash with you when roaming around Jamaica in case you get robbed. The poorer you look the better. 

14. Openly homosexual behaviour is not well tolerated. You would at least get rude comments, staring and might even get your ass kicked. The same things might happen if you are white and somehow wander into a bad area in big cities.

15. If you are into smoking weed it is really easy to get it here. In every corner there is someone who asks if you want to buy ganja. It is legal to have a small amount of it with you but not in a vehicle.



Negril, Jamaica


PLACES WORTH VISITING

 - Treasure Beach and especially Pelican Bar 
 - Negril which has a lot of good snorkeling spots and stunning sunsets
 - Blue Hole in Ocho Rios
 - Reach Falls and Frenchman's Cove in Port Antonio

You can easily explore these places in this order traveling the coast of Jamaica by local buses and route taxis. 

At the beginning of our trip in Jamaica our Airbnb host told us that in every situation someone would try to take advantage of us because we are white because it's a common thing here to believe that white people have a lot of money. Now when we think back of our trip it is very true even the host that warned us did the same thing to us on our last two days here. She said that we could stay at her place for the last night before our flight back to Fort Lauderdale since we had booked her place for a week and only stayed there for 4 days in the beginning of our trip. When we got to her place at the end she said that it would cost $23 to stay there even though she never mentioned it before. The same thing happened when she offered us a ride to the airport. When we were about to leave she said that it would cost $18 and the taxi would be way more expensive. In both situations she wanted to help us and eventually told that it would cost us. We both felt she wasn't being honest about the details so we wouldn't even consider other options. 


Countlessmilesandsmiles wants to point out that you should always make sure what everything costs for you here in Jamaica so you won't get ugly surprises. We also that 2 weeks is enough to see and experience everything worth doing here in Jamaica. When we encountered some racism towards us on Jamaica it was so disrespectful and hurtful. We think that every racist person should be sent to a place where someone is racist towards them and really feel how racism hurts and how pointless and absurd it is.



This is something you'll never forget. Negril, Jamaica



Negril, Jamaica


In the next blog you'll hear about our first experiences of Los Angeles. 

Thanks for reading & see you soon! 

Emmi & Henkka