I can finally admit on not being able to keep up with myself. I haven't even finished the Japan blog and here i am trying to offload the moments from Jamaica while its fresh in my memory.
Montego Bay was not part of my travel plan for the year but whilst i was researching another adventure, i stumbled across a ticket to Montego Bay and it turned out to be cheap and cheerful so i signed myself up for the adventure. The major reason i haven't considered visiting Jamaica until now is because of how solo unfriendly it could be for women in terms of safety. Jamaica and my country of origin has a couple of things in common with the most prevalent one being poverty, i would hate to visit a place like that and stay in a resort (for safety reasons) without interacting with the locals or having an inclination into their struggles.
Over the years, travelling for me has evolved from purely going to have a great time to actually impacting people i meet on my travel positively. More than ever, i'm keen on listening to peoples stories, understanding their perspective on life and listening to their struggles. I knew my travel to MoBay would not be any different, in fact, it was easy for me to blend in as a lot of people already thought i was local and one of them. People would actually speak Patua to me (i put the pieces together) then reply speaking proper English, i do feel embarrassed that i constanty have to reiterate that i'm not from there so they don't think i'm acting fancy by not replying in Patua.
Traveling solo to Jamaica was a brave decision, i decided to book a airbnb mainly because i wanted any funds i spent on this trip to be directly impactful to the locals. I had also not booked any tour asides for my dives which i already hired a local instructor for, my plan was to ask for recommendations as i go and it worked perfectly.
On arriving, I took a regular taxi from the airport, after we concluded the initial haggling, we settled for a price that's fair for both parties. He took me to my airbnb, I was careful not to disclose that i was alone for security reasons. Once i had settled into my airbnb, i took a stroll, then i saw the security guy who gave me the recommendations on the best places and beaches to visit, i took the liberty to ask him for where i can get my hair braided. Within minutes, he was able to refer me to one of his friends who braided my hair neatly, then i asked her if she knows someone that's local that do tours, again i got linked up...and this was how my entire trip became referral based.
My stay in MoBay was just for 3 nights and i had planned to dive for the 3 days. My Dives were for 7:00 till 12:00 so i would still have the whole day for other activities. The only challenge was i could not drink as much as i would have loved given my judgement cannot be impaired prior to diving which is fair!
On the first day, after my dive, i spent the day by the beach, swum a little and drank bottomless cocktails, by the time i got to my apartment, i was really tired so i had a nap to gather enough energy for the night out.
Nightouts in MoBay is wild, fun and has an interesting connotation to it, there were mainly 3 clubs that people gravitated towards, Pier One, lounge 2727 and Marguerites. I remember arriving at Marguerites and i thought i had arrived at a BBL factory, almost every woman i saw had the funny backside going on, i must say they were mostly American tourists. Another thing that was really scary was how confident the island guys were approaching women for sex, i have never seen men hawk sex so shamelessly, it's almost like you are being harassed to have sex, they have mastered the elevator pitch around their proposals too. It was scary! I did have a chat with someone i hired as a designated driver throughout my stay and he had mentioned that apparently a lot of people come to the island for the purpose of getting laid, which is why the guys are so brave with their offerings. Yea, think sex tourism LOL
During my 3 nights on the island, once i arrived at the club, i look for a group of girls and politely asked to join their table so i'm not seen alone. That worked perfectly! I must admit that during the day I do fall victim of these advances mainly because i'm alone but that i can handle.
On day 2, the tour guide that got introduced to me put together a package that included bamboo rafting, swimming in the luminous lagoon and a tour of the island. I would have sworn that i would never do the bamboo rafting tour given how it has been bastardised on social media but the tour guide gave an excellent pitch and how its one of the most traditional thing to do on the island. Let's just say i was sold and we went ahead with all the activities, it was a long and entertaining day. By the time i was back to my apartment i was exhausted but still went clubbing at Pier one, the music was extremely good, met a group of girls whom we hung out together the entire night and there was a lot of shots involved too.
It's now Day 3, which is my last day on the island before i leave the following day, after my morning dive, i decided to curate a tour around taste of MoBay. Asides from couple of beef patties, rice and peas, i had not really explored the food as i would like, so immediately after my dive, i went on an eating spree, i had a lot of jerk chicken, plantain, curry, rice and peas. Then, i went back to my apartment, took a nap then went back to the beach in the evening to take a dip while watching sunset and sipping fine cocktails. I had not seen any impressing sunset until this evening, it was one of the most beautiful sunset i have seen, it was almost like the universe decided to reward me. I enjoyed it so much. At around 9ish, i headed back to my place, had a change of cloth and went back to Marguerites, the night was purely dancehall which was what i have wanted since i arrived. We all danced till i couldnt breathe due to the humidity, i called it a night earlier than i usually would. But it was such a lovely night.
My flight was around 11:00, i had called my driver to collect me at 9:00, he could not make it so he sent me his colleague who was such an amazing guy. I was finishing up my roach when he saw me, then he said i love that, while we were having the usual small talk before heading to the airport, he said "yah still got time to kill, i will take you somewhere you can have an original taste of MoBay" so i agreed, we chatted in the car about different aspects of life and he said he was happy about how open minded i was and wish we had met earlier, i could not agree more, i appreciated his perspective on the topics we had discussed, he was also very intelligent, after i had finished with my food, he then showed me around before taking me to the airport and that was how my trip ended with one of the most beautiful encounters.
