I was in Trelawny, Jamaica for a few days in May, 2024 to attend a conference. This was my first visit to the Caribbean so I was very excited.
These are four amazing impressions that I had of Jamaica.
1. Dedication to tourism
Although I knew that Jamaica relied heavily on tourism and had huge hotels as a result, I was amazed at the level of dedication to tourism from all fronts. There appeared to be a well-synchronised and excellently coordinated effort towards the promotion of tourism. Right from the immigration officer who, after doing his duty, gave me a hearty welcome to Jamaica, the driver of the tour bus that picked us up from the airport was very jovial too and regaled us with stories. It is worth mentioning that there were fleets of buses from several travel and tour companies waiting at the airport to pick up passengers.
At the hotel, they welcomed us with a drink named “One Love”, very reminiscent of Bob Marley’s song. The hotel had several tourist desks to organise tours for guests. I visited Dunn’s River Falls and Park after the end of my conference and it was simply amazing! The authorities maintained all the tourism spots very well. Talk of the pristine beaches and beautiful sea which had such a unique shade of blue! The Glistening Waters Luminous Lagoon in Falmouth was breathtaking at night. What an exotic island!
The tour guides, on their part, were very friendly. They highly praised Jamaica’s Blue Mountain coffee as the best in the world! They also gave advice about the various delicious flavours of rum that were available for sale and the spices to buy for cooking authentic jerk chicken. Our tour guide went the extra mile by giving us tips on how to marinate chicken for about three days before cooking it to ensure an awesome, finger-licking taste.
She went on further to say that when our neighbours who were wowed by the smell of delicious jerk chicken coming from our kitchen came over to our houses back home, asking for some of the Jamaican spices, we should boldly refuse and ask them to book a flight to Jamaica to buy their own spices! Thus, everything was directed at encouraging you to visit Jamaica and to get others to do the same.
2. Sense of Patriotism
On the whole, you could tell that Jamaicans are very patriotic. The tour guides were quick to mention that their country had given birth to so many icons in the fields of civil rights, music, philanthropy, sports and the arts. These included the legendary reggae musician Bob Marley, the outstanding Olympic athlete Usain Bolt and the political leader, publisher and civil rights activist Marcus Garvey.
Our tour guide also informed us proudly of Jamaica’s natural resources of bauxite, limestone, marble and sand. She also told us that in the field of agriculture, Jamaica produced sugar, bananas, coffee and condiments. Listening to these knowledgeable tour guides, you could feel their sense of patriotism and you were happy to be in Jamaica, even if only for a few days.
3. Sassy Ladies
I realised that Jamaican ladies knew how to stand their ground and didn’t tolerate bullying of any sort. This may be reminiscent of Bob Marley’s song, “No woman no cry” which was an ode to female empowerment and how the woman was a bedrock to society. I remember an incident at breakfast. There had always been croissants for the two previous days. However, that morning, I didn’t see any croissants at the table. Hence, I asked the attendant whether there were any croissants and she replied that there weren’t.
I subsequently asked whether there had been croissants previously which were finished awaiting a new batch to be placed on the table or whether there had been no croissants at all for the day. She then replied, “Ma’am, if you don’t see any croissants on the table, it means that there are none!”. Whereas from the hospitality point of view I would say that this comment was rather rude and lacking in etiquette, her no-nonsense attitude made quite an impression on me.
Similarly, the travel guide who was making arrangements for my pickup from the hotel to the airport was also sassy. The travel and tour company initially booked me for a pickup at 1.45 pm. However, I wanted to get to the airport early so I asked the travel guide to change the booking to 11.45 am. She initially told me that that was not possible. I subsequently asked her if she could call the management of her office to clarify. She did so grudgingly in my presence and told me that the person in charge said that there was no bus available to do so.
I then informed her that I had spoken previously to other travellers in my group at the hotel and that they had indicated that the bus would pick them up at that time. As such, I would appreciate it if she made a further effort to get me to join that bus. She then made another call to her office and subsequently informed me that the management confirmed that there was a bus available for 11.45 am and that it could pick me up.
Despite my relief, I was obviously surprised at this conflicting information in a matter of minutes. Thus I jokingly asked her that I thought that she had just said that there was no bus available for 11.45 am. Seemingly irritated by the implied accusation of her supply of inconsistent information, she retorted, “Ma’am, I was just repeating to you what the person on the phone told me. He said that there was no bus available at 11.45 am! Now there is one available.”
Although I was rather disappointed by her defensive stance which I thought she could improve no matter how annoying I (the customer) was, I admitted to myself that this was a person that you could not intimidate. I thanked her for her services and left. While walking away, I entertained the thought that she would have loved to have added “Take it or leave it and stop disturbing me with your endless questions!” Hence, I made a mental note to stop asking so many questions in future to avoid getting unpalatable answers. First the incident with the croissants, now this!
4. Positive Attitude
At most places in Jamaica I could hear, “Yeah Mon!” and “No problem Mon!” What a positive attitude! All that positivity impressed me! The Jamaicans seemed to have found a cure to stress. Life is short and it is pointless for us to worry about so many things which, in the long run, may be of no consequence. In support of having a positive mental attitude, Dennis S. Brown, the motivational speaker and author, said, “Stay positive. The only difference between a good day and a bad day is your attitude.”
The Jamaican spirit of patriotism and positivity was infectious. I therefore felt sad when it was time to leave and I wished that I could extend my stay for a few days. I could now fully identify myself with Harry Belafonte’s song, “Jamaica Farewell”. The lyrics keep on ringing in my ears:
Down the way
Where the nights are gay
And the sun shines daily on the mountaintop
I took a trip on a sailing ship
And when I reached Jamaica I made a stop.
But I’m sad to say I’m on my way
I won’t be back for many a day
My heart is down
My head is turning around
I had to leave a little girl in Kingston town.
Fare thee well, Jamaica!
Do you have any impressions of Jamaica? Are there other countries that have made a strong impression on you? Kindly provide your comments by clicking on the chat icon underneath the heading. Please subscribe below to get updates delivered straight into your inbox:
