Welcome to Jamrock

Jamaica (or Jamrock as it’s called by the locals) is a fairly small Island (maybe half the size of Ireland) but due to the mountainous terrain and bad roads, it can still take some time to get around it. Our old skydiving friend from Ireland, Cónall, lives there (lecturing in a local University) and we also met up with Ena, an Estonian friend (living in Ireland) who came out here for a holiday and to visit us. After our time in Mexico and Cuba, it was nice to be back in an English-speaking country.....if you can call Jamaican English that!

We based ourselves in Kingston, where Cónall lives. Although this is the capital, it is not a particularly touristy area. This is partly/mostly due to the high crime rate. The city is smaller than Dublin but there are many gangs throughout the city fuelled by the thriving drug industry. There are apparently 1400 murders a year, with a further 400 shootings by the police. This is no exaggeration as just the other day, we heard a report on the radio of 5 killings the night before. Then later that day, we passed by the scene of a drive-by-shooting. Practically every house/shop/building has big bars and gates blocking all access points. Thankfully, most of this violence is between the gangs and outsiders are not usually affected, but spending time here certainly gives you a different insight than if we had stayed in the popular touristy beach resorts.
However, we don’t want to suggest that Jamaica is all bad. It has plenty of scenic mountainous views, waterfalls, coastal roads, beaches, parks as well as some lovely people. Kingston does have some beautiful sights. We spent a day in the mountains overseeing Kingston, and another day snorkling on tiny little beach island off the shore – there were just 3 of us on it :)

Surprisingly, there are plenty of Guinness advertisements around the place and they actually brew it in Kingston! It’s a bit different though (6% vol) and although it tastes ok, it’s not as good as the Irish Guinness.

The Chameleon and Doctor Bird (a type of Humming Bird) can be found all over the island.

Oh yeah...and Kadi has found a new favourite fruit: The mangos from the tree in Cónall's front garden :p