I got invited by the Jamaica Board of Tourism to experience Carnival in Jamaica. I have always wanted to go to Carnival in Brazil and Trinidad & Tabago, so was really excited to go to experience it for the first time.
I had been to Jamaica twice before, both when I was younger and with my family. I remember a few specific instances on both trips where I felt a little unsafe and uncomfortable, but totally went this time excited and with an open mind. I ended up having a great time, but there are some things you need to know about Jamaica before deciding to book a trip there.
I got so many messages and comments from people seeing my pictures and videos from Jamaica, telling me they want to go there because of my pictures and how I made it look. First of all, Jamaica is beautiful, so it’s not hard to take pretty pictures there. But, it is also my job to make places look way better than they actually are, or make a place look the best of its potential, and that is why I get paid to do what I do. There were a lot of things that went wrong on the trip, but we made the best of it and tried to capture the best content possible. Our phrase throughout the trip was JAMAICAN ME STRUGGLE because we had quite a few struggle moments lol.
Let me first rewind back to Carnival. I’m so glad to have had the opportunity to experience it there. I dressed up in costume and loved dancing to Soca, Dancehall and reggae on the streets with all the locals and tourists from around the world. I love dance, especially participating in the local dance culture in all the places I travel to. It was a lot of fun.
On this trip I spent time in Kingston, Ocho Rios and Port Antonio. Carnival was in Kingston, and we spent a day there exploring the city. I wouldn’t say Kingston is the safest place in the world, so be careful and aware of your surroundings at all time. We visited the Bob Marley statue and museum and a couple of their signature landmarks like the Devon House and the emancipation statue. We also stopped by a famous Jamaican fast food place called “Mothers” for some authentic Jamaican beef patties, which were heaven! Also stopped by Gloria’s for lunch for some fresh seafood.
-Gloria’s in Kingston-
In Ocho Rios, we visited the main town to explore the streets and the Blue Hole and Dunns River Falls for some waterfall action.
Lunch at Miss T’s for some oxtail and jerk chicken!
We experienced a few minor set backs, so I decided to extend the trip for a few days to ensure we had enough time to capture the content we needed. We spent our extra days staying in a jungle treehouse in Port Antonio. In Port Antonio we visited the Blue Lagoon, and Boston Beach was beautiful.
One thing you have to know when going to Jamaica is that it is not really safe to wonder too much outside of your resort on your own. The locals are pretty aggressive and pushy in trying to sell you stuff and get money. I also got all my cash stolen on the beach in Port Antonio, so just be mindful of your things. My friend got in a few confrontations with the locals because they were rude and a little too much in your face. Although we met a lot of nice and wonderful people there as well, I feel it’s important for me to be honest about my experience there, being it was my 3rd time visiting. That is why I started blogging in the first place- to be honest about my life experiences and share them with the world. But overall, I had a great time and a lot of laughs along the way even during those struggle moments. I think that is what makes a trip so memorable.
Stay tuned for the full video to see all the behind the scenes of what went down there. It explains it all!
9 Comments