19th-20th April - Port Antonio, Jamaica

Appendix to 18th April: The day itself was rather stupid for us, but it ended up being funny: In the evening, we went to a pizzeria in town to get pizza to take home. There, we were approached by 2 Canadians who have been on the island since December and are staying on a sailboat in the bay. We talked for a long time and ended up in another bar (a wooden hut with a corrugated iron roof) on the way home, where many locals also came. All in all, a very funny evening, although there was a bit of a commotion among the Jamaicans towards the end, but we kept out of it.

On the 19th of April, we visited the Reach Falls, which can be visited in two ways: either from the bottom up (you hike / climb up the river to the beginning) or you only visit the upper part without seeing the rest of the individual cascades. The Reach Falls are located about 40 km from Port Antonio. You can easily get there by shared taxi (which is about the size of a T3 or T4 bus and can accommodate about 21 people including the driver. No air conditioning, but lots of physical contact) and it only costs 200 J$ (1.20 €) per person. An alternative to the shared taxi is a chartered taxi, which you have all to yourself for the entire trip and is air-conditioned. But it costs at least 8,000 J$ (about 48 €). We opted for the shared taxi. The journey takes about 1 hour and 15 minutes and you drive on unpaved roads (worse than German forest paths) at speeds of up to 100 km/h and don't even know if the driver is sober. We arrived safely at the junction to the Reach Falls. We had read on the internet that we should ask for a local named Dorian here. 'Dorian' was then called by a local street vendor and was there within 15 minutes. I suspect that everyone there simply calls themselves Dorian and the street vendor simply calls a 'guide' who takes the tour with you. The tour with 'Dorian' costs the equivalent of 15 US$ (13-14€) per person and was worth the money. The water is crystal clear and comparatively cool. Definitely a beautiful area. Of course, in order to get from the junction to the Reach Falls, you still have to take an additional taxi, because the starting point is very far off the road. Since there is no normal taxi route here, it is naturally more expensive - but that's just the way it is (6 € per person for round trip). After the tour, when we were back at the junction, we had to wait quite a while for a route taxi (over 30 minutes). A local wanted to prevent us from getting in because he 'had already made an agreement with a friend that he would take us back to Port Antonio'. That sounded like a bad deal to us, as it would have definitely been more expensive. So we got in anyway. He complained a lot, but we saved some money. That's it. On the way back, we had the driver drop us off at Frenchman's Cove, another dream beach in Jamaica. However, the entrance fee there is 1800 J$ (11 €), which we were too stingy to pay. So we walked to Winnifred Beach, which is 3.5 km away, and went swimming there for a total of 200 J$ (although the 200 J$ were voluntary, you could also go in for free). Then we went back to Port Antonio and ate something at the Airbnb.

On the 20th of April, we had a hike planned with Edgar. Edgar is from Port Antonio and we met him a few days ago in the city. He showed us around a bit and told us a few things. He seemed very trustworthy to us because he didn't ask for money right away for directions (he also didn't ask for money for the short tour with him). We met at the agreed meeting point and walked up a mountain on the outskirts of the city with him. The paths seem much steeper at 30°C than they actually are. At the top, we met Brandon, who runs a farm there with bananas, pineapples, coconuts, coffee beans, and of course, weed. Besides his work as a farmer, Brandon also makes music and has traveled quite a bit (especially in Europe). We were able to enjoy freshly brewed tea from the plants in his garden - for free. Brandon and Edgar then got into a heated argument about who was to blame for the enslavement of black people. Edgar said that the black people were to blame themselves, while Brandon tried to correct him, saying that white people enslaved black people. For us, both being white, 'privileged Europeans', it was a rather uncomfortable situation. After the argument was settled (Edgar ignored Brandon and went outside the small jungle bar), we talked a bit more with Brandon. Then we started the journey back home with Edgar, who was waiting outside. In the end, Edgar wanted 40 US$ from us for the short hike, but we ended up agreeing on 3000 J$ (18 €), which was also okay for him.

All in all, tourism here in Jamaica works a bit differently than it did in Mexico. Apart from the route taxi drivers, who always cost 200 J$ regardless of the distance, almost everyone here tries to rip you off. It seems like every Jamaican works as a tour guide in addition to their regular job and offers tours to nearby attractions. The prices for these tours are always high initially, and there is room for negotiation. If you're not careful, you'll probably end up paying too much everywhere. But by now, we have a pretty good idea of how things work here and what to look out for.