Marieke, 8 oktober 2011
Jamaica , Kingston 32°

Jamaica, the best of both worlds

The mud, the bush, the rough lifestyle it’s been enough for now. I needed a break, preferably with a lot of nice food, hot showers and beaches involved. Jamaica it is. Always high in the rankings of my places to go list and from Guyana slightly cheaper than from Holland.
Similar faces, similar vibe, similar openness, I love the Caribbean culture. Jamaica has everything that I love about Guyana, beautiful nature, laid back lifestyle, dancehall and chatty people combined with the stuff that I miss from home. Just a little bit more luxury, Kingston actually feels like a city (instead of GT which is just a big village to me) and white sandy beaches with a turquoise ocean (instead of the brown beaches with garbage and a dead dog here and there and the matching brown ocean).
And… Jamaica has patties! Patties are everywhere in Jamaica and I love them. It is like a flap made out of dough, all nice and crispy with all sorts of different fillings: beef, cheese, chicken, shrimps, veggies etc etc. Mix and match is also a possibility. They even have a fast food chain all over the country which is called Juicy Patties which is almost like what I would imagine heaven to be like.
And… Jamaica has tree houses! Sergio, Jane, Raquel and I (fellow VSOs) cruised all around the island in our bright red whirlwind. From Kingston to Negril to Treasure Beach, Ocho Rios, Portland and back to Kingston. Our last few days were reserved for Portland, a rather undiscovered part of the island which was described to us by a few people as a hidden treasure. And it was, it really was. Rocky cliffs with small white beaches and deep blue water. And not as many tourists as in the other places. Being all integrated and all we skipped the planning part which meant that we didn’t have accommodation booked in any of the places that we went to. So bed-hunt on arrival. As a volunteer we don’t have too much to spend and as a volunteer in Guyana we do have a absolute need to be in a place close to the beach. Cheap and beach isn’t necessarily a logical combination so that caused some challenges throughout the trip.
After looking at a number of places in Portland which either had the beach (but high prices) or affordable (but far from the beach) a number of people advised us to go to Great Huts just a bay further down the road. Coming through the gate we had entered the jungle. All the huts we’re different from one another. From towers, to tree houses to cave like structures. We instantly fell in love with this place. A little bit of jungle (just to feel at home), right on the beach, a tree house with view on the ocean (while in the shower or bathtub), hot water and electricity what else could you ask for?
And… Jamaica has cheap lobster!
Treasure beach, I saw it on the map and heard from several people that this is the best place in Jamaica. Pictures of pirates and paradise doomed up in my head. The pirates we found the paradise not really.
We all had created a picture in our heads that didn’t really matched with reality. In the end we did have an interesting time mainly because of the Communist Tsjerman and cheap lobster. The Communist Tsjerman showed up at a little bay with his two dogs. He was clearly very happy to see us and started to become all chatty. Sharing all his wisdoms about today’s sick society, that we should embrace communism and that he couldn’t take Western money focused society anymore and decided to live like a vagabond on Treasure Beach in Jamaica.
In the late afternoon we were caught by rain. So we ran off to the nearest ‘bar’ or shag. Played some dominos with the locals, again had very interesting talks with pirate type rastas and eat the best fresh lobster and fish for only €5,-!
All in all the trip was lovely but way too short therefore I keep Jamaica in the high rankings of my places to go list.

More pictures will follow… keep an eye on the website.

Marieke in Jamaica bellen kan nu véél goedkoper met HalloBuitenland.nl