We could not get a bus ticket from Kingston to Montego Bay so took another Inter Caribbean flight. We braved the local buses to the airport and had quite a wait for the number 74 and when we connected with the 98 a bus inspector recognised us and asked how things were going. We then found out there are only two buses doing the route. It is very hard for the lovely air conditioned public buses to compete with the 'coasters' who trawl the streets, the registered taxis, and the private cars that pick up people.
It was a long day at the airport for our evening flight and there are hardly any seats for the number of people waiting to board flights. Our 30 seater plane had a smooth trip and we could see a few islands of the many in this area.
We checked into a resort, one street off the beach. It was an older style place with lots of gardens, a pool and restaurant. It sits at the end of what is known as the 'hip strip' where all the bars, clubs and restaurants are. A perfect location for us.We were told when we left the resort that we would be hassled by the locals in the hip strip. There are loads of clothing shops selling what looks like the same stuff. Tee shirts with Jamaica and various marijuana or ganja comments. We regularly got asked if we wanted to buy marijuana and every shop attendant greeted us with 'Shopping now'.as we passed several times during our stay.
The majority of the beaches are private, being taken over by the resort hotels, so we visited a couple of the beaches where the locals hang out. These get visited by guys on motorbikes selling ice creams from styrafoam boxes on the back of their bikes, accompanied by blaring music- when the driver gets the vibes. Pedlars roam selling nuts and cold drinks. The locals discard the rubbish on the beach and the bins overflow and blow about. We noticed some steel cage bins with masses of burnt and melted rubbish under them and a fresh load of rubbish above. There are always black plastic bags of rubbish on the side of the street and they get torn apart by homeless people looking for food or roaming cats and dogs. We saw the streets being regularly swept of leaves and rubbish but a lot of it seemed to just get thrown over the bank out of sight near the beach. Our tourist map told us the locals like to use black plastic bags when they buy goods from a shop as they do not want anyone to know what they have bought. They then went on to advise us, the tourists, to buy fabric shopping bags to reduce the rubbish. I thought, there is something not quite right with this message.It is not the tourists throwing the rubbish over the banks.
After exploring the hip strip we decided to go into the downtown area. It was a short walk from the beach. We visited Sam Sharpe square named after the leader of a slave rebellion in 1831.
Nearby was the cage where the runaway slaves and sailors were kept awaiting transport to jail.
The whole place was dirty, noisy and a buzz with people. On the sides of the streets were men with their carts in the shape of a bob sledge, from the movie 'Cool Running', dashing between the traffic to sell their fruit and vegetables.Young men wanted to know if we wanted them as tour guides and taxi drivers wanted to drive us everywhere. It was quite claustrophobic so once we had seen the sites we were back to the hotel. A local told us unemployment runs at 30%. John enjoyed the pool all for himself as there are not many people in our hotel complex.
Aeroplanes come and go at frequent intervals all day from the local airport which has dozens and dozens of check in counters. There are always trails in the sky. It seems lots of people head off to resorts rather than stay along the coast near the hip street.
We saw a few tourists at the open air bar on the beachfront where they were enticed by loud music, happy hour and two for one drink offers. Catamarans met them outside the bar for boozy cruises and young people played about on the air filled cushions on the water. The bar turned into a nightclub in the evening. Some of the restaurants and bars not on the beachfront were empty and neglected as they were unable to compete.
One night as we were getting ready to go to the hotel restaurant for a meal, we got a call from the office to turn our air conditioner off for a few minutes.When we got outside we saw a local pest exterminator all geared up. As it had rained two days before, he needed to fog spray the whole outside of the resort to control the mosquitoes and the spread of zika. The fog was so thick we could not see more than a metre ahead. I lost John in the fog and ran off to find a clear space away from the fog so I could breathe properly. The fog rose like a Dacron cover over the lodge buildings and completely wrapped them. It lingered for quite a long time and felt like we were in a smokey fire. We were left with a tickle in our throats for the next day.
The hotel restaurant had a television that the staff watched as the Olympic Games in Rio were on and many Jamaicans were competing. They screamed the place down whenever a Jamaican won. Although there were only a few choices on the menu, we did find something nice to eat but also found a Chinese restaurant so we could enjoy some fresh stir fried green vegetables.
It was an early start on our last day to take a flight to Providenciales on the Turks and Caicos Islands.
It was a long day at the airport for our evening flight and there are hardly any seats for the number of people waiting to board flights. Our 30 seater plane had a smooth trip and we could see a few islands of the many in this area.
We checked into a resort, one street off the beach. It was an older style place with lots of gardens, a pool and restaurant. It sits at the end of what is known as the 'hip strip' where all the bars, clubs and restaurants are. A perfect location for us.We were told when we left the resort that we would be hassled by the locals in the hip strip. There are loads of clothing shops selling what looks like the same stuff. Tee shirts with Jamaica and various marijuana or ganja comments. We regularly got asked if we wanted to buy marijuana and every shop attendant greeted us with 'Shopping now'.as we passed several times during our stay.
 |
| The private hotel beaches that were guarded by men and cameras |
The majority of the beaches are private, being taken over by the resort hotels, so we visited a couple of the beaches where the locals hang out. These get visited by guys on motorbikes selling ice creams from styrafoam boxes on the back of their bikes, accompanied by blaring music- when the driver gets the vibes. Pedlars roam selling nuts and cold drinks. The locals discard the rubbish on the beach and the bins overflow and blow about. We noticed some steel cage bins with masses of burnt and melted rubbish under them and a fresh load of rubbish above. There are always black plastic bags of rubbish on the side of the street and they get torn apart by homeless people looking for food or roaming cats and dogs. We saw the streets being regularly swept of leaves and rubbish but a lot of it seemed to just get thrown over the bank out of sight near the beach. Our tourist map told us the locals like to use black plastic bags when they buy goods from a shop as they do not want anyone to know what they have bought. They then went on to advise us, the tourists, to buy fabric shopping bags to reduce the rubbish. I thought, there is something not quite right with this message.It is not the tourists throwing the rubbish over the banks.
After exploring the hip strip we decided to go into the downtown area. It was a short walk from the beach. We visited Sam Sharpe square named after the leader of a slave rebellion in 1831.
 |
| Sam Sharpe Square |
 |
| The cage was originally made of wood |
The whole place was dirty, noisy and a buzz with people. On the sides of the streets were men with their carts in the shape of a bob sledge, from the movie 'Cool Running', dashing between the traffic to sell their fruit and vegetables.Young men wanted to know if we wanted them as tour guides and taxi drivers wanted to drive us everywhere. It was quite claustrophobic so once we had seen the sites we were back to the hotel. A local told us unemployment runs at 30%. John enjoyed the pool all for himself as there are not many people in our hotel complex.
Aeroplanes come and go at frequent intervals all day from the local airport which has dozens and dozens of check in counters. There are always trails in the sky. It seems lots of people head off to resorts rather than stay along the coast near the hip street.
 |
| The boozy beach bar |
One night as we were getting ready to go to the hotel restaurant for a meal, we got a call from the office to turn our air conditioner off for a few minutes.When we got outside we saw a local pest exterminator all geared up. As it had rained two days before, he needed to fog spray the whole outside of the resort to control the mosquitoes and the spread of zika. The fog was so thick we could not see more than a metre ahead. I lost John in the fog and ran off to find a clear space away from the fog so I could breathe properly. The fog rose like a Dacron cover over the lodge buildings and completely wrapped them. It lingered for quite a long time and felt like we were in a smokey fire. We were left with a tickle in our throats for the next day.
The hotel restaurant had a television that the staff watched as the Olympic Games in Rio were on and many Jamaicans were competing. They screamed the place down whenever a Jamaican won. Although there were only a few choices on the menu, we did find something nice to eat but also found a Chinese restaurant so we could enjoy some fresh stir fried green vegetables.
It was an early start on our last day to take a flight to Providenciales on the Turks and Caicos Islands.
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