Country #3 – Jamaica Day 2

Jamaican Ice Cream

Today I woke up to the sun shining, exotic birds chirping, and the most incredible view from my room at Neita’s Nest. Jamaica just continued to impress. I went to the kitchen to meet Michelle (Neita’s Nest Owner), Graeme, and Duncan (her sons) for breakfast. Authentic Jamaican again! We had a tropical fruit plate of bananas, otaheti apples, and papaya with yogurt and honey, as well as ackee and saltfish with fried breadfruit. Definitely the most unique breakfast that I’ve ever had!

After breakfast I worked on the deck overlooking the amazing view for a few hours. Eventually it was time to go and unfortunately time to say goodbye to the Neitas. I cannot thank you all enough! A great driver came to pick me up and we made a few fun stops on my way to the airport! He was a really cool guy - he actually lived in Brooklyn for thirty years and both of his children are U.S. citizens, his son even serving in the U.S. Army. It was great to talk about New York with him!

First, we stopped by Devon House Ice Cream. Devon House is a beautiful old building that is quite historic – it was owned by the country’s first black millionaire. The strawberry ice cream was incredibly rich and began streaming down my hand within a matter of seconds, but it was so good. We then drove through Kingston, past the airport, and headed to Port Royal. Port Royal has been around for hundreds of years and is definitely something to see. Unfortunately, seeing is all I was able to do – I had to head to the airport to catch my plane!

On the way to the airport, my driver suddenly pulled over. I was confused at first, but then I quickly realized what he was doing. We had been talking about how different it is to drive on the left instead of the right side of the road, and he wanted me to give it a try! I think he enjoyed it as much as I did, but it was so fun to drive for just a few minutes on the straight and empty road back to the airport, especially with him laughing a good portion of the time! The ride to the airport, Devon House, and Port Royal was $53.

After being dropped off at the airport I checked in and had some time to kill. I found the famous Jamaican soft drink that Graeme had told me about, called Ting, as well as a Burger King. Ting is a grapefruit soft drink and it was so much better than I could have expected! I also grabbed a few Burger King nuggets because who know what kind of food situation awaited me upon a late arrival in Trinidad and Tobago.

My flight was about three hours long and was a little bumpy but not bad. I arrived in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago around 8:00pm, and then had what was definitely my longest customs line wait so far of about thirty minutes, which still is not bad. After clearing border patrol and customs I found my driver holding a sign with my name on it outside! He told me he was expecting a guy because he had never heard the name Taylor used as a first name before. It is always annoying when people assume that I am a guy by my name, but I also always enjoy breaking their preconceived notions (it happens in emails about TrekWithTaylor all of the time).

My driver, Jose, was so nice though! We talked about my trip and how he has lived or knows people in many of the places that I will be going. He himself was from Saint Vincent. The most interesting part of our conversation though was hearing that his son went to a small school in Alabama of all places on a soccer scholarship -  it really is a small world!

We talked the entire forty-five minute drive to my hotel, Monique’s Guest House. I said goodbye to Jose and met Winnie inside. She was so nice and helpful with everything! I loved getting to meet her after having emailed her about TrekWithTaylor over the past few months. A huge thank you to Monique’s for providing my accommodations in Trinidad and Tobago! My room was so nice and was the first room to not feature any flying bugs, which was a welcome change of pace. One of my favorite parts of the room was probably the TV – so many American channels which meant I would be able to watch the Nashville Predators play in the Stanley Cup Finals live the next day!

After checking in I worked for a little while and then went to sleep. This was my first night where I didn’t have to check out the next morning, so I was very excited to get a little extra sleep!

3 countries down, 193 to go.

Read about my first day in Jamaica here.

To learn more about Neita's Nest click here.

For more information on Trinidad and Tobago click here to read my blog.

To learn more about Monique's Guest House click here.

Country #3 - Jamaica Day 1

What I want out of this trip… is days like today

My day started with a bang. Literally. I woke up at 3am to a banging noise and thought someone had broken into my room in Haiti. Turns out it was just my GoPro Karma Grip turning on randomly in the middle of the night and attempting to calibrate by banging itself into a table. After an already rough night trying to sleep, thinking that someone was breaking in did not help things. However, my day only went up from here. Way up.

After minimal sleep and paranoia induced by my hotel’s location throughout the night (tip: when visiting Port-au-Prince, pay the extra money to stay in the suburbs if you are concerned about safety) I gathered my things and went downstairs to find my wonderful guide from the day before ready to take me to the airport! One last drive through dust filled Haiti commenced, leaving me one last time to see the chaos and unfortunate reality of still destroyed Port-au-Prince.

I also realized, upon arriving at the airport, that I had not seen one other non-Hatian my entire time in Haiti from leaving the airport until returning. The airport itself contained missionary groups from the U.S., but beyond that I did not see one other obvious tourist like myself. Being so visibly aware of how much of an outsider I was and worrying about what the Haitians were thinking as I drove by was both scary yet enlightening.

After wishing my wonderful driver farewell I attempted to find the line for my airline. The arrivals hall emulated the city: it was a crazy mess. Haitians were lining the hall waiting with folders attempting to, from what I was told, get visas. While waiting in line I ran into two other young female American travelers (shout out to Danielle and Paige!). They were from Nebraska and had just come from Panama, spent four days volunteering in Haiti, and were now headed to Costa Rica. After going through security and a painless border control we ran into each other again on the other side and talked for quite a while waiting to board our plane to Fort Lauderdale. It was so great meeting them and I hope to meet up with them again in Costa Rica!

Before boarding the plane everyone had to go through security again, and this time everyone had to be patted down and have their bags searched by hand. I’m not quite sure why this is necessary as we had literally just been through security, but at least the line for women was shorter as there were so few on our flight.

On the plane I sat next to another American from New Orleans. He had been in Haiti working with a team for two weeks. I cannot even begin to imagine! He was so excited to get back to the U.S., where we have street signals and hot water. We talked for a while and then I attempted to sleep. Upon landing in Fort Lauderdale I had a quick and easy customs experience as I have Global Entry. I have had it for a few years now (ever since I went on a trip with family members who had it) and it had never really come in handy until this journey. I can only begin to imagine the amount of times that I will use it, but I am already glad to have it.

In Fort Lauderdale I ate at the Food Network branded restaurant again as it was the only sit down restaurant in my terminal. I had an overpriced club sandwich with “cheese fries” that were literally just parmesan cheese on fries - needless to say this cheese fanatic was sorely disappointed – and a really good orange juice. I then had about an hour to work on things before boarding my flight to Kingston, Jamaica.

The flight to Kingston was pretty bumpy but otherwise there were no problems. I arrived and went to customs, where I was a little confused because the immigration officer asked me if I had seen the nurse in the airport. I said no and that was that, but I have no idea why she asked. After clearing customs I was met outside by Graeme, the oldest son of the owner of where I would be staying, Neita’s Nest. He was driving me to Neita's Nest but along the way gave me a wonderful tour of Kingston. The drive leaving the airport and going into Kingston was breathtaking. The bay on your left with the mountains straight ahead and the sun shining – it was incredible.

We then drove through downtown Kingston where we rode past the National Gallery and I learned about how Kingston is attempting to revive downtown and make itself a center of business once again. From there we drove by Fleet Street. According to my guide, Fleet Street is a poorer area of town, but an area where the walls of the run-down buildings have been turned into immaculate art through painting, most of which were painted by artists from the local school of arts. We saw a soccer match being played on concrete amongst the buildings and walked a short bit to see some of the coolest art. 

From Fleet Street we drove some more and saw landmarks such as Emancipation Park, Devon House (the first large house owned by a black person in Jamaica -  it is described as looking similar to an immaculate plantation house), the Cricket stadium, and past the Bob Marley Museum. We then picked up a friend, Renée, before driving up into the hills of Jamaica to Neita’s Nest.

Upon arrival I met the wonderful owner, Michelle, and her youngest son, Duncan. The bed and breakfast style accommodation of Neita’s Nest sits in the hills of Kingston overlooking stunning views of the mountains. I want to say the biggest of thank yous to Michelle and her family for hosting me and sponsoring this night of my trip – I could not have had a better or more welcoming stay!

The original plan for dinner was to go to a local Jerk restaurant. Jerk is a type of pork (and now chicken as well) that originated on the island from its first inhabitants who ate it in the hills while hiding out from the British on the island to avoid becoming enslaved. However, the car battery would not start so Michelle and a few others went to the restaurant to pick up the food to eat on the balcony at Neita's Nest. While doing so, however, I got to spend more time talking with Duncan and met Joelle!

Joelle had read all about what I am doing and was such a joy to meet. She was so excited to talk about what I was doing and had so many questions! Amazing in her own right, she just graduated from high school in the Netherlands. It was so cool to talk about the world with her and to see a young girl so excited about what I am doing! It made me so happy – thank you Joelle!

Once dinner arrived, along with Joelle's uncle Nevada, we then feasted on the Jerk as well as conch soup, fried plantain, and bread fruit. Needless to say it was a night full of trying new things, but it was fantastic! I talked at length with Nevada, who attended college in the United States and has himself traveled to over eighty countries. He had some amazing stories, especially about his time in India, and great tips for my travels as well!

After dinner we had the most amazing dessert – dulche de leche ice cream with rum cake. So yummy. We all talked for about four hours and I had the most incredible time. I learned so much about Jamaican culture, from the dance to the history and everything in-between. There was even a well-intentioned push by Joelle to get me to try and dance, but alas that was a little too much for me (the worst dancer in the world) – so I just learned about it instead!

I had such a great night and I cannot thank everyone enough for making me feel so welcome. From the tour to the dinner and the discussions about culture and the world, it was such a fantastic night. I hope to have many more like it on my trip. It’s nights like tonight that make me so excited for what is to come! I hope to meet many more people who are just as incredible and welcoming, as I did throughout my day from the airport in Haiti to Neita’s Nest in Jamaica.

3 countries down, 193 to go. 

Read about my second day in Jamaica here.

To learn more about Neita's Nest click here.