Kingston ᛫ January 29 – February 4, 2018

Jamaica | 0 comments

From Southfield, I took three different transportations to reach Kingston. First, a route taxi to Junction, then another one to Mandeville and from there a bus to Kingston. This journey took about 3.5 hours and cost in total J$ 950 (6 €/US$ 7.5). When I arrived, I took another taxi to Halfway Tree, the part of town where I met my Couchsurfing host. He was actually British Jamaican, very friendly and there was also another couchsurfer from Sweden staying with him.

Rasta girl and Bob Marley statue at museum in Kingston, Jamaica

Bob Marley statue in front of his house that is now a museum. On the picture underneath you can see the “three little birds”, his background singers Marcia Griffiths, Rita Marley, and Judy Mowatt. ONE LOVE!

I was really excited to finally visit Jamaica’s capital because I didn’t get the chance to during my two previous vacations. Together with the couchsurfers, I visited the Bob Marley Museum, Tuff Gong International Studios, Devon’s House (very nice ice cream), the beach in Portmore which is a city right next to Kingston, and some nice Rastafarians.

We had a great time. In addition, we went to a couple of good food places, eating typical Jamaican dishes like patties (dumplings filled with chicken, beef or veggies), coco bread, jerk and curried chicken with rice and peas.

Learning More About Bob Marley

Although the Bob Marley Museum with a US$ 25 (20 €) entrance fee was a bit pricey, it was definitely worth the visit. I recognized many places around the house from pictures of Bob Marley. It was nice walking through the backyard where he used to play football and sitting under his favorite mango tree where he used to meditate.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t allowed to take pictures inside the house. The maybe most surprising and funny thing I learned about him that day was that he liked denim so much that even his bed sheets and pillowcases were made of denim. He had a nice big bed, but I just can’t imagine it to be very comfortable. 😀

One thing I didn’t like about the city was the traffic though. Luckily, our host had a car and drove us to many places but a big part of the time we spend in the car stuck in traffic.

On Friday night, we went out to a club. The party wasn’t as boisterously as we expected. At first, mostly foreigners danced and it took a while until the Jamaicans started too. By the time we left later at night, many people were dancing. To me, it didn’t seem like everybody was just enjoying themselves but rather like a competition who can move their ass the most. Even though it wasn’t my favorite party, it was definitely an interesting and fun experience.

View over Kingston from Blue Mountains during sunset

We arrived in the Blue Mountains just before sunset. The sun rays breaking through the clouds looked stunning. You can see Kingston and the ocean in the background.

The Blue Mountains

I also wanted to visit the Blue Mountains. Since spending the night there turned out to be too expensive, I decided to go just during the day. One time I went together with the Swedish couchsurfer. So we took a taxi and arrived after about half an hour, just in time for the sunset. At Bloom Café, we enjoyed tasty cakes (that we had actually bought at Cafe Blue – Irish Town), natural juice and an amazing view.

The following day I wanted to return and spend more time exploring the mountains. That didn’t go as planned though. I met up with a lady that I had met on my first day in Montego Bay. She had told me about her nice place in the mountains and that I should visit her.

We met up at the University of the West Indies after she was finished teaching her class when it was already early afternoon. She explained that her husband and son would pick us up when they were done with their work. So we hung out with one of her colleagues and had interesting conversations, but I couldn’t really enjoy it because I really wanted to see the mountains.

When her family finally came to pick us up it was already pretty late. As a result, it was dark by the time we arrived at her house. It was a very cool place but I wish I could have seen it during the day. I didn’t stay long because I didn’t want to get back to Kingston too late. If I had known how the day goes, I would have taken a taxi of course. But now I just have another reason to return one day. 😉

Traveling Back to the West

I left Kingston on Sunday to return to my “home” because I had to work on Monday. Since I had found out that traveling in Jamaica is a little difficult on Sundays, I booked a bus. It was more expensive than route taxis but hassle-free. The so-called Knutsford Express charged J$ 3100 (20 €/US$ 25) and took a little more than five hours to reach Negril (after stopping in some other cities).

From Southfield, I took three different transportations to reach Kingston. First, a route taxi to Junction, then another one to Mandeville and from there a bus to Kingston. This journey took about 3.5 hours and cost in total J$ 950 (6 €/US$ 7.5). When I arrived, I took another taxi to Halfway Tree, the part of town where I met my Couchsurfing host. He was actually British Jamaican, very friendly and there was also another couchsurfer from Sweden staying with him.

Rasta girl and Bob Marley statue at museum in Kingston, Jamaica

Bob Marley statue in front of his house that is now a museum. On the picture underneath you can see the “three little birds”, his background singers Marcia Griffiths, Rita Marley, and Judy Mowatt. ONE LOVE!

I was really excited to finally visit Jamaica’s capital because I didn’t get the chance to during my two previous vacations. Together with the couchsurfers, I visited the Bob Marley Museum, Tuff Gong International Studios, Devon’s House (very nice ice cream), the beach in Portmore which is a city right next to Kingston, and some nice Rastafarians.

We had a great time. In addition, we went to a couple of good food places, eating typical Jamaican dishes like patties (dumplings filled with chicken, beef or veggies), coco bread, jerk and curried chicken with rice and peas.

Learning More About Bob Marley

 

Rasta girl in front of picture wall at Bob Marley Museum in Kingston, Jamaica

From left to right: Bob with his wife Rita and children Sharon, Ziggy, Cedella, and Stephen;
Bob sitting in front of his mango tree (see gallery below);
Playing football not far from where I was standing;
Rolling a splif, smiling at me 😉

Although the Bob Marley Museum with a US$ 25 (20 €) entrance fee was a bit pricey, it was definitely worth the visit. I recognized many places around the house from pictures of Bob Marley. It was nice walking through the backyard where he used to play football and sitting under his favorite mango tree where he used to meditate.

 

Unfortunately, it wasn’t allowed to take pictures inside the house. The maybe most surprising and funny thing I learned about him that day was that he liked denim so much that even his bed sheets and pillowcases were made of denim. He had a nice big bed, but I just can’t imagine it to be very comfortable. 😀

One thing I didn’t like about the city was the traffic though. Luckily, our host had a car and drove us to many places but a big part of the time we spend in the car stuck in traffic.

One Love mural at Tuff Gong International, Kingston

I really hope the messages of this mural at Tuff Gong International will become true around the world one day. One love! <3

On Friday night, we went out to a club. The party wasn’t as boisterously as we expected. At first, mostly foreigners danced and it took a while until the Jamaicans started too. By the time we left later at night, many people were dancing. To me, it didn’t seem like everybody was just enjoying themselves but rather like a competition who can move their ass the most. Even though it wasn’t my favorite party, it was definitely an interesting and fun experience.

The Blue Mountains

I also wanted to visit the Blue Mountains. Since spending the night there turned out to be too expensive, I decided to go just during the day. One time I went together with the Swedish couchsurfer. So we took a taxi and arrived after about half an hour, just in time for the sunset. At Bloom Café, we enjoyed tasty cakes (that we had actually bought at Cafe Blue – Irish Town), natural juice and an amazing view.

View over Kingston from Blue Mountains during sunset

We arrived in the Blue Mountains just before sunset. The sun rays breaking through the clouds looked stunning. You can see Kingston and the ocean in the background.

The following day I wanted to return and spend more time exploring the mountains. That didn’t go as planned though. I met up with a lady that I had met on my first day in Montego Bay. She had told me about her nice place in the mountains and that I should visit her.

We met up at the University of the West Indies after she was finished teaching her class when it was already early afternoon. She explained that her husband and son would pick us up when they were done with their work. So we hung out with one of her colleagues and had interesting conversations, but I couldn’t really enjoy it because I really wanted to see the mountains.

 

Big mural at UWI in Kingston, Jamaica

There was a nice big mural at the University of the West Indies in Kingston.

When her family finally came to pick us up it was already pretty late. As a result, it was dark by the time we arrived at her house. It was a very cool place but I wish I could have seen it during the day. I didn’t stay long because I didn’t want to get back to Kingston too late. If I had known how the day goes, I would have taken a taxi of course. But now I just have another reason to return one day. 😉

 

Traveling Back to the West

I left Kingston on Sunday to return to my “home” because I had to work on Monday. Since I had found out that traveling in Jamaica is a little difficult on Sundays, I booked a bus. It was more expensive than route taxis but hassle-free. The so-called Knutsford Express charged J$ 3100 (20 €/US$ 25) and took a little more than five hours to reach Negril (after stopping in some other cities).

See More Pictures of My Time in Kingston

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