13.-16.05. - Negril, Jamaica

So now we're in Negril. Negril is a very touristy place and you can actually see - if rarely - someone with white skin here. The fact that it's a touristy place doesn't make our situation in Jamaica any better, there are even more people here who want to sell you something.

Our start here was a bit bumpy. When we arrived here on May 12th, our room was supposed to be ready at 2:00 pm. We arrived at 3:00 pm and our room was being cleaned. We were allowed to sit outside the door on the veranda and got the wi-fi password. This allowed Carolin to see on her phone that the Airbnb host of our accommodation actually wanted to cancel our stay here because there is currently no water. However, she only mentioned it in a message and did not cancel it 'properly'. Allegedly the plumber has already been called. After about an hour, around 4:00 pm, the plumber actually arrived. He went into the apartment, took off his slippers and lay down on our sofa. In the meantime, one of the people here also informed us that the water is currently not working, but everything is being done to fix the problem as quickly as possible. 20-30 minutes later, the plumber got up and went to work. Caro and I were also allowed into the apartment. We put down our things and took a small backpack to do some shopping in town. When we returned around 6:30 pm, of course, there was no water and no one was there. Once again, we contacted the local landlords. They told us that the water in the apartment is now working (it was just turned off), but the water pressure for the shower is too low. It should be repaired immediately on Saturday morning. To make a long story short: during our 5-day stay here, we couldn't take a shower once. We always washed ourselves over the sink.

Otherwise, we haven't done much in Negril. We spend our days here on the pretty beautiful 7-Mile Beach and we are happy to be approached all day long by dubious sellers who, depending on the state of the day, either want to sell something or ask for money for their daughter's education, their grandmother's hospital stay, for food or for other things.

Yesterday, on May 15th, when we came home from our day, we also received a nice email. Our flight to Cuba on May 19th was canceled without replacement. We will get a refund for the costs (supposedly), but we can't go to Cuba anymore. Various phone calls with the airline and the booking agency didn't help either. The problem is that we already have a connecting flight from Cuba to Colombia, which we can neither change nor cancel or reschedule.
Fortunately, we found a flight from Kingston to Havana today (originally the destination was Santiago de Cuba on the south coast of the country). This flight is with the same airline and we hope it won't be canceled either. Stay tuned!

Tomorrow, on May 17th, we will continue to Montego Bay. We will spend the two days until the 19th there and then take the bus to the airport in Kingston.

By the way, today (May 16th) we were able to get to know a new form of public transportation. Near the city, there is a place where many people on motorcycles gather at all times of the day to drink beer and smoke marijuana. We thought it was the local 'biker gang', but nope. These are motorcycle taxis for short distances within the city. The drivers are mostly drunk, definitely stoned, they don't obey any traffic rules and there are no helmets anyway. Just our thing we thought and asked one of the drivers if he could take us to our Airbnb. No problem at all - Caro in the front seat, the driver in the middle, and me with the backpack on the back. During the whole ride, the driver kept saying to Caro 'I take good care of you, Jamaica no problem' and Caro felt like she was getting drunker with every sentence because of the driver's breath. By the way, the driver had his rum cup wedged in the handlebar, just in case he gets thirsty during the ride. The ride itself was quite relaxed and we arrived home safely - probably because everyone here drives better when they're intoxicated than when they're sober.
All in all, it was a funny experience!