Jamaica Darlinggg!
My first trip to the Caribbean of course, had to be Jamaica! I planned this trip for my birthday and my good friend Sherice was down to come with me. When we arrived we took a bus with a company called Knutsford express that was extremely cheap from Montego bay (where we landed) to Ocho Rios! The ride was about two hours away. We got in pretty late so we put our belongings in the airbnb and went across the street for dinner. We had pizza then called it a night.
The next day we wanted to get to know the area around us, speak to people, shop, eat, relax, everything you’d want to do on vacation. We ended up getting ice cream later on from this shop in Ocean’s 11 and they had FERRERO ROCHER ICE CREAM. It was sooo good, throughout the entire week we went back at least five more times, we even became friends with one of the workers there.
Sherice and I were soon roaming the streets like we were from there. We got familiar really quick and began speaking to some people who were offering us suggestions on where to go. The blue lagoon was one people kept mentioning so we were then off to the blue lagoon and met the coolest tour guide. I wish I could remember his name, but he did take a selfie on my phone. We jumped into the waters, took pictures, they even had a swing you could use to jump into the water so you know I had to do that a few times. It was extremely fun being in the clear blue waters and just swimming around.
We also took a “party cruise with snorkeling” catamaran to Dunn’s river. We opted out on the snorkeling but the entire excursion was still worth it. Good music, drinks, I can not recall if they gave out food, but regardless it was a vibe. There was a lady on the boat named beach mama who was dancing with about ten drinks balanced on her head too! Once we arrived at the river we all held hands to climb the slippery rocks to prevent someone falling and sliding down. It was absolutely stunning and so much fun trying to make our way to the top.
Another place we went to was Rick’s cafe. Now this place was four or five hours away from where we were staying, but a bus came and got us and took us straight to the venue. Rick’s cafe is a restaurant/bar right by the water where you can participate in cliff jumping! There are a few different levels you can jump from. I believe the lowest is around 10 feet and the highest being 35-40 feet. I jumped off with a girl who was hesitant and as scared as I was from the lowest height lol. I wanted to go higher, but my body wouldn’t let me. Next time I’m definitely going higher though lol, it’s mandatory!
For nightlife we went out to different clubs, our airbnb was placed perfectly as everything was walking distance for us. Margaritaville and the oceans 11 I mentioned earlier was literally right across the street. A little further from us was another strip of restaurants, clubs and bars too, but still all walking distance. I remember one was called Amnesia and they were playing my song, “You Rock My World” by Michael Jackson. In margaritaville, I was astounded when they started playing the teen titans theme song 😂 it was lit. We also went to see Girls Trip because the theater was basically in our airbnb, and they had an intermission for the movie. At first I was so confused, like why did this movie just stop, why are the lights on, why are people leaving? I knew the movie wasn’t over, and I thought maybe it was technical difficulties, but everyone looked so nonchalant. That’s when I put two and two together, like ohhhh this is an intermission. Why isn’t that mandatory for cinemas everywhere?! For example, I just watched Avatar, everyone knows how long that movie is, do you know how convenient it would have been to have a ten minute break to use the bathroom, get more food, or whatever…
Anyways, now on to the food. The food was delectable, delicious, tasty, mm mm mmm 😂. To this day, I still think about the jerk burger I had out there. I can’t recall where it was from but I do know if I was there right now I would be able to find it. The service was crazy though, it took about an hour just to get a burger, however that’s island time for you lol. Do not expect any food to come out at a reasonable time, you must never arrive starving. The wait is always worth it though because the food is chef kiss. However, I did have one bad experience, I tried ackee and saltfish for the first time and oh my gosh, I never choked on salt before in my life but that food was kicking my… I knew there was no way I was supposed to be dying like that. So later on during our trip, I decided to try it again elsewhere and thankfully I did because it was so much better the second time around. The man working there said the other restaurant probably didn't soak the saltfish long enough, and that I wouldn’t have anything to worry about here and he was right! Even the KFC was good, and as someone who does not like KFC at all, that speaks volumes.
Amazing food, music, vibes, beautiful towns, excursions, beaches. I will definitely be going back one of these days! It was a week filled with relaxation for the most part and I loved every bit of it!
Random things that happened that I didn't incorporate:
Stayed up til 5am with our airbnb security talking about life. I hope he’s doing well lol
Met four nice people who told us to stay away from the police that was trying to hit on me then ended up partying with them lol
One of the four we met actually had a daughter a few years after and told me she named her after me 🫶🏾
This guy walked with us all the way to a restaurant we were going to, sat at our table and asked for our food. I literally said table for two, they gave us a four seater and he just came along fr. 😂 I honestly don’t know how we allowed that looking back, but we got him to take pictures of us so it worked out I guess lol (we we’re only 20 years old)
Written by Akira S.
