Kingston
14-20 Feb
Population: 700 000
Kingston is totally different from the other places we’ve seen during our travelling in Jamaica. We weren’t hustled to anywhere near the degree as we were in Negril and some in Treasure Beach. Prices here are lower, the people are nicer and there is a huge ethnical mix. During our stay here we’ve been to a coffee farm in Blue Mountains and Bob Marley museum and also preparing for the stay in Cuba (buying €, snacks and other necessities).
We’ve stayed in Uptown Kingston, a quiet and safe place at the Mikuzi Guesthouse (http://mikuzijamaica.com). The owner is very kind and will do her outmost to make your stay pleasant.
Nice to know: there are cheap flights with Air Jamaica from both Montego Bay and Kingston (via Montego Bay) to Habana and you’ll get your visa at the airport on the day of departure for 15 USD, which is very convenient. You cannot buy the ticket on-line, but any travel agency or Air Jamaica will help you with that.
It’s advised to take a taxi after dark and stay away from the ghettoes in West Kingston. Public taxies are very cheap. During day New Kingston and Upper Kingston is safe for walking. We haven’t experienced any danger here and Kingston seemed much safer than its well known reputation (75% of the murders occurs here, but most of them are drug-related or politically inspired and occur in the ghettoes (source Lonely Planet). Compared to Caracas, Kingston is very safe ;-)
Blue Mountains
17 Feb
After 1hr drive and thousands of road turns, we arrived at the small coffee farm; Old Tavern Coffee Estate in Blue Mountains (1300m), known and awarded for the good quality and taste of their coffee. It tasted excellent, naturally sweet and has a long lasting after-taste. The strength of the coffee varies depending on how long you roast the beans. The longer you roast them, the stronger it gets. Per-Ove’s favorite was medium dark. We had a walk in the mystique coffee slopes, which was partly covered in clouds. You can order their coffee directly from the following web page: http://www.oldtaverncoffee.com/
ATM Issues
16 & 18 Feb
On a Saturday we tried to withdraw money from an ATM and we got out the JMD (Jamaican dollars), but the USD dollars were stock in the machine. We saw the money behind the lid and tried to pull it out, but we’ve only managed to pull out a half of a 20 USD bill. The bank hosting the ATMs was closed, but we were able to reach their sales office and a few days later the transaction was corrected on our account.
We went to the same bank on Monday (is the closest one to our guesthouse) to buy Euros for the stay in Cuba, as you will be charged 10% fee if you exchange USD or use credit cards. In the bank we were told that we couldn’t buy the currency with a debit- or credit card – only cash, thus we were shown to their ATM machines (yes – the same as on Saturday!) We explained the situation from Saturday, but they were quite relaxed about it and asked us to try the other machine. Paradoxically, the same thing happened with this ATM and in addition to that Per-Ove’s card was stocked. 20 min before the bank closed Per-Ove got his card back and we looked for another bank.
The moral of this story: make sure that you withdraw or exchange your money before you run out of it. Banks are usually inefficient has long queues and close earlier than at home (2 pm).
Bob Marley Museum
19 Feb
The museum is the most visited site in Kingston. We joined the one hour-long tour, which gave us fascinating insights into Bob’s life.
It’s former home of Bob and his wife Rita Marley. They bought the place from Bob’s manager and he lived there for five years before he passed away on May 11, 1981. Rita opened their home for public exactly 5 years after he passed.
They lived a simple life here. There was a replica of their record kiosk from where he and his wife tried to make a living from selling their music in the early days. (Did you know that Rita was one of Bob’s backup singers?) The Tuff Gong recording studio also used to be located in the house, but it’s now moved to another place in Kingston.
Can you imagine: the Legend album was the best international album and got triple platinum award in 1984 and diamond certificate in 1999.
We were told that Bob bought a BMW because he believed that it stands for Bob Marley & The Wailers.
An assassination attempt by some gunmen took place in the house, just two days before the legendary One Love peace concert in Kingston in 1978. Bob got shut in his arm, while Rita in her head. Luckily they survived the attempt. You can still see the bullet holes in the walls…
To our big surprise Bob’s four year old grandson joined the tour as well. Per-Ove was happy to great him the typical Jamaican way you do on the streets (fist against fist while you reply respect).Not bad for a four year old ;-)
Update: we added a page with some Bob Marley facts for your pleasure.
Extras
Music:
Kingston is the ‘Nashville of the Third World’, with recording studios pumping out as many as 500 new titles each month.
Rastafarianism:
100 000 Rastafarians. They adhere to an unorganized religion – a faith, not a church and it’s composed of a core of social and spiritual tenets that are open for interpretations. Not all wear dreads, for example and others don’t smoke marijuana.
(Source: Lonely Planet)
Next:
The next step after Cuba, approx 21 March, is Mexico (most likely Tulum as a base), then Belize, and Costa Rica. There might be a detour (depending on the availability) for one week with Per-Ove’s father on board the cruise Sea Dream I, where he is working. The tour goes from Puerto Rico to Guadeloupe and back.
Jamaica photos collection: http://www.flickr.com/photos/perove/collections/72157603859689296/
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