one month backpacking jamaica

 

 

I recently backpacked Jamaica for one month with my best friend K.

Yes, I said "backpack" and "Jamaica" in the same sentence. It was incredible. The things you learn from getting deep into a different society is not only removing another block on the ignorance wall, but totally enlightening at times.  

 

I'll give you a colesnotes version of our vacay.

 

1. We start on Northwest side at Montego Bay. We stayed at The Birds Nest in Iron Shore, about 3 km from the city of Montego Bay. This hostel was run by some Germans and in a "richer" area of Jamaica. Every massive home was fenced and had at least 3 dogs. These dogs are aggressive and bark heavily if you walk by, especially at night.

 

Above is Kelsey with a Brazilian and Israeli at our hostel.

 

Downtown Montego Bay. Not many tourists here

 

 

We didnt care too much for Montego Bay as it has become very touristy and lost the cultural aspect of Jamaica.

 

2. Moving on, we headed south on the West coast to Negril. We took local taxis for a minimal price of 500JA(equivalent to 5$ Canadian)...most tourists would pay 40$CAN for this. GO LOCAL, man...You save tons of money. 

 

Above two locals, a local dog and myself on the 7 miles of Negril beach.

 

 

Negril, I love Negril. It has 7 miles of beach, totally 'lax and uber awesome energy. Jamaicans in Negril give you space while you're sitting on that beautiful beach, whether you're near the west cliffs or central. Here is where I fell in love with lobster everything..including lobster pizza. MMmMMmMmmm...

 

There is a special energy in Negril, it's strange, I love it.

 

We found a hidden gem in Negril, it is called Ras Rody's. Ras Rody's is an Ital Food stand near the west end cliffs. It's real Rastafarian food.

 

Let me give you a little background on Ital Food.
Ital means Vital. Life. All that we are is what we eat.

The Rastafarians have developed a rich culture of dietary traditions and ethnomedical knowledge all steeped in ancestral tradition. The fundamental values of Ital can only be pursued in a state of harmony with nature. Rights to the land are natural rights, as the fruits that it bears are for the shared consumption of the commons. This is in sharp contrast to the legal rights of ownership prescribed in Western society. Rastafarians work tirelessly to protect the natural world in service of Mother Earth who has graced them with a replenishing food source. Cultivating familial plots of land with diverse arrangements of crops ensures the health of the soil, the same soil that nourished their forbearers and their children alike.

 

Rasta at Ras Rody's

 

A real Rastafarian will not eat flesh of any kind, nor will it eat any animal biproducts OR any products with preservatives etc.

 

3. After my favourite city, we went a bit east and further south to Treasure Beach. This place is FREAKIN' WEIRD. It seriously felt like one of those horror movies where the town is quiet...a sole red pick up truck drives by and there are churches and bible thumpers everywhere. Oh, and alot of red heads(the scotts moved here years ago)

 

Me on the quietest beach...Treasure Beach in Fisherman's Bay

 

Here we stayed in a hostel called Shakespeare's Cottage. Hmm..creepy name but okay hostel anyhow. I think we paid 11$US/night. That being said, we only stayed one night. We had to get the heck out of dodge.

 

Can I say one more thing about Treasure Beach? We were at a restaurant called... Jake's , I believe. One of the only few in the town... It seemed all fine and dandy...Until we looked in this small fenced in area on the sand behind our dinner table. Guess what we saw? A grave. Yes, a grave. A 2 year old child was burried there. While we ate our dinner. Anyhow. We left Treasure Beach bright and early the next day.

 

Really nice people though.

 

4.Now... we took local taxis for almost 8 hours(from TB to Spanish Town to Kingston to Port Antonio...but only cost us 700JA- 7$CAN) to get us from Treasure Beach to the Central-East Northern beautiful town of Port Antonio.

 

Port Antonio is gorgeous. It has a port where the cruise ships used to come often, but over the past few years it no longer has cruise ships coming through except maybe once a week. The town's locals have lost alot of their jobs, but they still remain positive friendly and beautiful.

 

Port Antonio is a 2$ cab ride away from Blue Lagoon where the film Blue Lagoon was filmed with Brooke Shields. Blue Lagoon is also right next to a very quiet beach called Winnifred. Which is where we stayed in the forestfilled hill in a local's home. Winnifred beach has had one bar/restaurant on it for 25 years owned by Painter and his ex wife. 

 

Kelsey at Blue Lagoon

 

 

 

There is a lot to see in Port Antonio, a great amount of kind people to meet and awesome food.

 

While in Port Antonio make it to the street parties on Thursday nights and the scrub a dub party ..haha.. east of Winnifred beach. Travel with the locals, for the most part they're kind and gentle and friendly.

 

 

5. From Port Antonio we went West towards Ocho Rios. Ochie, as the locals call it, is very familiar to us as we were there only a year ago. We visited some of the schools and brought school supplies down. We also made friends with a rasta, who now rides a horse around town, that is a school teacher and artist. Funny guy named Glenville.

 

Glenville on his horse named Phoenix

 

We realised after touring more cities that Ocho Rios would actually be one of our least favourites, but with our favourite food in the entire country being found at Calabash on James St in downtown Ochie...we have to go. And not to mention all fo the friends we have there including a sweet boy named jahWayne and Glenville.

 

Back to Calabash on James St. You have to go. If you're in Ocho Rios or nearby...just GO. This place is run by Rastas named Iwah and the cook Andrew.  The locals that head to Calabash are generally quiet, rastafarians who practice bush medecine and study society as a whole. Very intelligent with knowledge to share.

 

At Calabash with Kelsey, Wayne and Glenville

 

We were in Ocho Rios for 15 days...we had booked 20, however got a bit bored and had to mosey on back to Negril...but FIRST ... we had to climb blue mountain. If you're in Jamaica...CLIMB BLUE MOUNTAIN.

 

6. From Ochie, back through Kingston to the Blue Mountains near Mavis Bank.

 

We stayed in a hostel owned by Jah B. DO NOT GO TO THIS HOSTEL. This "rastafarian" is NOT a rastafarian. He is a money hungry, rude, inconsiderate and ignorant business owner in the mountains. Stay far from him. Please.

 

Climbing BM was harder than I expected. We left at 2am from Jah B's hostel (which I did not sleep because of weird stuff going on with some locals and british...not to mention, I did not eat because he was such a rude man...our room was freezing cold damp and stunk ...etc)

 

The sight of Kingston at sunrise from the Blue Mountains is beautiful.

Top of Blue Mountain at sunrise

 

 

 

This took us four hours to climb...but it was worth it. It's a long story, but a local actually joined us. His name was Chad...this is just another example of how incredibly humble and beautiful the Jamaican people are. We met this kid on the bus near Ocho Rios...he asked us if we wanted help getting to the top of the BM because he used to live there. If it wasn't for him we wouldn't have made it. He took amazing care of us. And actually had skipped work that day.

 

 

7. Back to Negril.

 

Our best friend Nuria met us for the last week in Negril.

 

 

And so the story ends...

 

But it doesn't, because the owner of our apartment in Ocho Rios didn't refund our last five days...so we have to use that time up somehow in the next  9 months.

 

 

 

If you want to travel to a place with loud great music, a love of healthy food, beautiful sights and inexpensive...hit up Jamaica. Do it the backpacker way. It's well worth it, I promise.

 

 

 

 

 

 

world's 100 richest earned enough to end extreme poverty worldwide four times

Please read . It gives me goosebumps. It's hard to think of the world from such a negative stance but clearly turning a blind eye won't help anybody. Oxfam's report argues that extreme wealth is unethical, economically inefficient, politically corrosive, socially divisive and environmentally destructive. 

The problem with us as humans and from our North American society is that it takes selfish reasons to change .

the idealist: World’s 100 richest earned enough in 2012 to end g...: The world's 100 richest people earned a stunning total of $240 billion in 2012 – enough money to end extreme poverty worldwide four ti...

my style interior design

 



 

Being the nature loving hippy real estate interior design character that I am, I absolutely love these spaces. I love the blend of natural wood, classical structure and modern industrial accessories to really pull a home together. Maybe it's ablend of my personalities, maybe it's just a unique fresh feel.

 

Either way, these spaces get me excited...

 

 

 

extenz....what?

My uncle recently sent me a text saying, "I'm getting extenzo done to my ceiling tomorrow"

My first thought was, "..."

Then he sent me to the website www.Extenzo.ca

Wow , these ceilings resemble the concrete with polished lacquer flooring in the new loft style condos around town. Apparently, known to europeans (obviously), this extenzo ceiling has just recently made it's appeal to North American in 2008. It is currently being fabricated in Quebec, but I think this minor change to your oldschool stubble or flat white ceiling just makes a heck of a difference.

I am not aware of waht the pricing is on this product. As soon as I find out, I'll let ya know.

spring cleaning closet declutter

We've all been there... winter passes, spring comes around and it's time to go find our favourite pair of Michael Kors flats from the closet. But just wait a second, how do I get passed the snowboards, the winter coats, the useless empty boxes that are too big to throw in the small recycling bin so I hold on until "someday" I'll bring them to the BIG recycling bin outside.

Here we are. Spring cleaning. Time to declutter. Where to start...

Here is my how to with some help from Oprah's O-mag home section.

 The Housewide Shoe and Clothing Purge.

1. Remove all shoes from your closets and place in your hallway. Feel free to group shoes by sandals,flipflops,runners, etc

2. Any shoes that no longer fit, you do not like, or you haven't worn in the most recent season that the shoe applies will be put into a donation bin. If they are not in good condition you are to purge them.

3. You must donate at least ONE pair from each section : flip flop, sandals, heels, boots.

4. Repeat 1-3 for clothing.




Some websites that provide more information for donating :

www.donateyouroldshoes.org
www.goodintents.org
www.soles4soulscanada.com
www.donationtown.org

b squared blogging bandwagon

Hi!

My name is Krystal, I am a Canadian Realtor, a skydiver (CSPA) and a vegetarian.  I love my dog, I love social media, travelling, cultures, nature, interior design, American politics and all sorts of music.

I'm on the right, the other two are my beautiful cousins.

I want to welcome myself to the bandwagon that is known blogging.

This is the SPOT where everything that's cool,rad,awesome, interesting,intelligent,sometimes not so intelligent, and frankly just random are let out.

The number TWENTY TWO(22)myself. I find the number 22 whenever I am on the right track. It sounds crazy, I know. But I'm a bit crazy, so whatever.
 
It's long, but here it is, a bit more behind twenty two...

 Like the 11, yours is a Master Number, possessing all the intelligence, sensitivity, and electric creativity that such a power would suggest. You have the inventiveness of the 11 and the down-to-earth practicality of the 4. This combination can make you appear supremely capable of making your ambitions a reality.

  You radiate reliability and consistency. People trust you and feel secure with your judgment. You are seen as a cornerstone of a business and are relied upon to do your work efficiently and expertly. You have strength and respectability. You tend to dress in a utilitarian manner, concerned mostly with convention, practicality, durability, and price. You present yourself as someone who values correctness, control, and precision. All of this stems from the fact that your most prized characteristic is your work. You want to be judged on the basis of your performance, rather than your appearance.     
     You are a family person. You love the intimacy, consistency, and the security a family provides. You are a good provider and protector. But family members may take your efforts for granted. You are a true patriot. You love your country and are an integral part of your community. Your consistency and adherence to your well-laid plans usually pays off in a comfortable and secure future. Deep inside, you long to create something that will have a lasting impact on the world. Whether it is a political movement, a business, or a philosophy, you have a strong inner drive to manifest something of major importance.       You can be a great leader, inspiring and motivating with your vision and work ethic. Your ideas are so creative and superior that they inspire enthusiasm and sometimes even devotion among your co-workers. You should be involved in large enterprises or governmental institutions. You have the organizational diplomatic skills sufficient to keep difficult and delicate projects on track. Once you come into possession of your full power, there are many psychological and spiritual pitfalls to be faced. You can become arrogant and superior. You can become deluded into thinking that your judgment is beyond question, and that the advice and support of others is unnecessary. You may seek to control all power in a given enterprise. This dangerous and egocentric attitude is sometimes even extended to family members who you may seek to keep under your thumb. Your challenge, once you have begun to use your true gifts, is to remain humble in the face of your significant accomplishments. You perform best when your domestic foundation is stable and supportive; it is very important to have a partner who shares your dreams and has high degree of strength and independence to keep up with your drive. Challenges somehow draw the best out of you. Your human qualities - creativity, humility, understanding, and compassion - increase with the level of your performance. Therefore, commitment to excellence is central to your success and inner development.

Source: decoz.com