Viajes, guías y vacaciones de Jamaica

Intenté tan hacerle al festival gordo del neumático de Jamaica a tiempo al retén en el este paseo día pero las cosas no se resolvieron simplemente. En la manera de Negril a Ochi me forzaron hacer una parada y reparar los frenos del frente en el Vannette. He estado teniendo cierto apuro que encontraba las piezas para él y tuvimos que aprovecharnos de la oportunidad de conseguir las reparaciones hechas antes de que continuáramos en cualquier viaje interurbano más otro. Los frenos estaban necesitando la reparación y así que tomamos una rotura de medio día en Mobay en los mecánicos auto. Esto sopló hacia fuera el resto de mis planes del recorrido y terminamos encima de llegar en Ocho Rios a tarde en el día para cualquier montar a caballo con el equipo en bahía de los Robins. Decidíamos en lugar de otro pasar el día en el bosque de la flor de Cranbrook que era absolutamente impresionante pero probablemente no absolutamente tanta diversión como la montaña biking para el papá por lo menos. Sin embargo lo hicimos encima a Oracabessa en St Maria y pasamos el día en la playa en enlace de James para el 1r golpe anual de la bicicleta de Jamaica puesto encendido cerca SMORBA, el Santo Maria de la asociación de la bicicleta del camino. SMORBA es a no para la organización del beneficio afiliada a IMBA eso se contrata activamente al edificio y a oportunidades que montan en bicicleta que mantienen para los residentes locales de la costa del norte famosa de Jamaica.

SMORBA es apoyado por Island Sports, una organización no lucrativa patrocinada por Island Outpost que maneje el complejo en enlace de la playa de James junto con un número de características grandes en la isla, y su meta es promover su Trabajos que montan en bicicleta programa a la ventaja de la juventud del área. The Jamaica Fat Tyre Festival has been held in Negril over the past 8+ years and was primarily an off-road event limited to participation of 3 to 5 Jamaicans and a larger number of international competitors. This years goal was to open the event up for more community participation and the number of races days was paired down in favor of cycling activities for locals such as the ramp for kids to jump on, the big dirt jumps pictured below we’re reserved for professional dirt jumpers who put on a show and the highlight of the day had to be the Rambolympics.

The Rambolympics were staged to show the ingenious usage of bicycles in Jamaican society. A bicycle can be much more than a form of recreation in an impoverished nation like Jamaica and in many cases it can be the sole form of transportation for a person and even an entire family. Watching Jamaicans ride their bicycle to work in the morning one can never expect what to see being carried away in a basket or dangling from the handlebars in a grocers bag as the move about their day. The Rambolympics were broken down into three events, the most popular event was a skill test to see how a rider dealt with carrying odd objects that you may find a Jamaican carrying on their bike each day. The ride was three laps around the oval track with the rider being required to pick up a large cumbersome item on each lap. The first lap a rider had to carry and empty Red Stripe case around the field and proceed to the empty gas cylinder so common in kitchens around Jamaica. The Red Stripe Case and the empty gas can seemed difficult enough for most riders but it was the final piece that gook most of them out. The number of Jamaicans seen walking around with a weed whacker can only be surpassed by the number of Jamaicans you see walking around with a machete. Carrying one on a bicycle in the streets of Jamaica is a whole different trick and riding with a weedwhacker, an empty gas gan and a case of Red Stripe makes for some damn good fun for everyone. This was without doubt the most fun and most popular event with everyone enjoying watching the locals spank the international professionals in every event except of course the pro dirt jumping.

Jamaicans are very resourceful people and they seemed to be more adept at carrying odd loads on their bicycles when compared to their “farrin” competitors. The “white boy” riders from America and Canada were not prepared for the sweltering heat and excitement of the days events and you can see it in their faces. The Jamaican riders are more at home in the tremendous heat and better able to deal with the physical activities of the Rambo race. I predicted a Jamaican youth would win and I was right. The young man being covered with flour below was the winner of not only the most favored event but he also won the most challenging event when he took the “5 Mile Rambo Race around Oracabessa” which is a three lap loop through the city center ending back at James Bond Beach. IN Jamaica it is a tradition to cover a person in flour in their birthday. This was a pretty hot day and it was obvious the sun was taking its toll on the vacationers who had already ridden for 2 or 3 days each.

There was a lot of bike riding going on throughout the day and some of the most action was at the dirt jumps with professional riders from around the world showing off their talents to the local youth. Of course the local kids were just waiting for the pro riders to crash on some of the big air jumps they pulled but everyone had a good time and the kids were super stoked to see these pros do their thing. Professional Riders Cam McCaul and Kyle Ebbet did some superman style dirt jumps and the residents of Oracabessa loved it.

The Rambolympics and the Rambo Race around Oracabessa were big fun for the older riders but I think many of the youth actually had more fun riding bikes on the ramp and participating in the bunny hop contest. Jamaicans are very competitive people and each of them was looking to win the Red Bull bunny hop challenge. The goal was to bunny hop your bike over the bamboo rail set on top of stacked cases of Red Bull. I think they got up to 5 cases before everyone started missing them.

SMORBA is working to teach local youth on how to own and operate their own mountain bike guide services and JamaicaMAX.com is going to help. If you want to do some mountain bike riding in Jamaica or take a Jamaica mountain bike tour then contact us so we can arrange a mountain biking trip in Jamaica for you and your group for a small donation to SMORBA. What they actually need is some equipment such as used mountain bikes and cycling gear to outfit local youth and begin their training. If you donate a Jamaican youth a quality mountain bike then JamaicaMAX will deduct 50% of the value of the equipment from your tour costs. For more information about SMORBA and what they do visit their website at http://www.smorba.com or look for our upcoming article featuring more details on their program.

Shipping a barrel from the US to Jamaica was relatively easy but picking up a barrel in Kingston was a separate matter. I have spent a considerable amount of time in Kingston and consider myself very familiar with the town layout and transportation systems. I have driven all over the city of Kingston and most outlying areas but for whatever reasons I have never spent a lot of time in or around the Kingston harbor and wharves. The port of Kingston is where most of the countries import and export takes place and some 70% of the the total goods imported are processed on the Kingston Wharves.

Our barrel was shipped over on an ocean going vessel and dropped off to Jamaica customs in Kingston harbor per our instructions. We could have picked up in Mobay or even had it delivered direct to our home here in Negril but we chose a road trip to Kingston instead and as usual I am glad we did. We had a great trip and the worst part of it was dealing with driving around the Kingston Wharves. It’s a pretty backwards system of one way roads and no signage that kept me spinning in circles quite a bit. I arrived on the first day with the wife and kids in tow but quickly realized I needed to come back on my own so I took care of the first step in paperwork and returned on my own the next morning. Things went much smoother at the harbor before 9AM and it is suggested you arrive as early as you can.

The first step in retrieving our barrel was to stop by the local office for Finlays Shipping which was only two blocks away from the harbor but one of the most difficult streets for me to find me. The Jamaican lady in the office kept giving me bad directions and it took me almost an hour to find it once I arrived in the general area. At Finlays I paid the $2,000 JA for local handling charges and received my Arrival Notice and Bill of Lading documents to be presented to Jamaica Customs agents. Finlays filled out all the necessary documents for me and made things quite a bit easier in doing so. I only had to make one simple modification to any of the paper work we received from Finlays in order for Customs to accept it and all the document transfers went pretty smoothly. I bailed out here and came back the next morning with the necessary documents in hand ready to deal with the Jamaican customs process all in one day.

I got to the docks at roughly 8:30 am and things we’re still kinda quiet. I grabbed a banana porridge and coffee from one of the many vendors in the area and hung out in front trying to catch a photo opportunity. The entire area is a security zone with no children and no cameras allowed. The first time I pulled up to the gates in the van I had my camera on the seat next to me and they told me I had to take it home. No cameras allowed. I came back with my smaller camera and was only able to grab the one shot above without being seen.

They have a special parking lot for individuals picking up imports and the parking lot attendants are the first to verify you have the proper docs before you even park. Once they let you in they will send you across the street to the clerk in the Customs Manifest Branch where your documents are processed. You have to present identification at this step and all persons receiving imports must now have a Jamaican TRN number as well. I paid roughly $2000 JA for this service to the Jamaican government and was sent over to the Warehouse manager who would find my barrel amongst all the others. The warehouse manager actually waited about 30 minutes while a number of us finished the first stages paperwork that morning and then he disappeared into the warehouse for about another 20 minutes before returning with everyones barrel on one flat trailer. All the barrels were lined up in front of rows of tables and each of us was told to stand before our barrel as we awaited the customs inspections.

Personal Imports information from the Jamaica Customs website

Persons to whom packages have been sent from overseas

1. Take your Arrival Notice, Bill of Lading and identification paper to the Freight Agent who is responsible for receiving and handling your goods.

2. The Freight Agent will process your papers and collect all fees due to them (not Customs import duties) and advise you when and where (wharf or warehouse) the package(s) will be available for inspection by Customs.

3. Take your documents (including Customs Form C78X) to the Wharf or
Warehouse at the appropriate time and present same to the clerk in the Customs Manifest Branch. The documents will be processed and returned to you.

4. Take these documents to the Wharf Authorities or Warehouse Keeper so that your goods can be located and placed in the Customs Examination area.

5. The Customs Officer may request that you open your packages for inspection.

6. After inspection of the goods, you will be sent to the Customs Cashier to pay the necessary duties and fees. On your return, after paying the duties and fees, the Customs Officer will issue the Customs Release.

7. The Customs Release should be taken to the Warehouse Keeper’s clerk who will supervise delivery to you of your packages.

The customs agents are fairly thorough in some cases I guess but they surely did not search my barrel at all. Not that I brought in anything illegal but I could certainly have carried a firearm amongst the many tools and other metal objects that walked right through untouched. I brought over a small tool chest full of hand tools and things and no one ever looked through any of it. I was open and honest and told them everything I shipped was my own used personal effects and they let me through pretty easily. Some Jamaican families shipped over lots of new commercial goods and they went over those guys much more thoroughly. It was obvious to me they were more interested in those shipments then they were in my crap.

My barrel was valued at just under $24,000 JA and my import duties were $3500. They underestimated by quite a bit. The total cost for shipping my barrel to Jamaica was about $170 for 260 lbs in a 55 gallon steel drum. I brought over a full tower pc with loads of accessories, a medium sized tool box of hand tools sockets and wrenches, power tools including a circular saw and a reciprocating saw, corded and cordless drill, most of my housewares and small kitchen appliances including my grind and brew coffee maker, a nice stainless steel wok and bamboo steamer, a counter top deep fryer and some new pots and pans I bought over the holidays and used at moms so they look old. We now have a complete kitchen and cooking is much nicer for us now. I grind and brew fresh coffee every morning and I’m loving our new place that much more. It really has become our new home and I can’t see any reason for us to ever leave this place.

Here are some relevant websites for you.

Jamaica Customs Website

Jamaica Customs Fact Sheet from E Jamaica

Finlays Ship to Jamaica

Come on and smile, we’re in Jamaica. Smile Jamaica Africa Unite is the theme for this years Smile Jamaica concert to be held in Oracabessa at James Bond Beach where we just went to the Jamaica Fat Tyre Festival and Bicycle Bash about a week ago. Its a really beautiful part of the island with more natural beauty around you at all times. The East Coast of Jamaica is what is left of the Real Jamaica in many ways. Look for that article coming up soon as I get back from this show. I have never seen Jr Gong perform and it will be a real pleasure to be able to see him and his brothers on stage performing at a concert their father started back in 1976. Damian seems to be the favored brother here in Jamaica and no matter what part of the island I go to someone has his music blasting almost as often as you here his fathers music. I think Ziggy plays better to white America with his happy cheerful melody makers than he does here in Jamaica where the Tuff beats of Jr Gong better reflect life in Kingston. Damian seems to me to to have been influenced by his fathers more militant side (or was that Peter Tosh?) and maybe Ziggy is the hippy kid who thinks we can save the world with one good spliff.

It should be awesome to see them both perform in front of their fellow countrymen so I can see how the crowd feels about them at a show. I know that I sometimes get people calling me Jr Gong when I go to Kingston because apparently I look more like him than I do Ziggy to the average Jamaican on the street. I get very strong reactions from older Jamaicans and especially older Rastas for my resemblance to the Marley clan and I have had it happen over and over that they think I look like Damian more than Ziggy or Bob himself. I don’t think I look like any of them but I guess i can see the confusion for some Jamaicans who rarely see a brown skinned Taliban looking dread like me. I also want to see how the boys handle the commercialization of their fathers image and his being packaged more as a product than a person here in Jamaica. I sure hope not to see his image used like it is all over the island. Bob Marley is used to sell Jamaica more like Colonel Sanders sells chicken or like Ronald sells McDonalds most often and I personally am disgusted by how “The Legend” is treated by most Jamaicans. Bob Marley has become a cash cow for almost the entire country and he’s rolled over in that mausoleum in St Anns a few thousand times I bet. I sure hope his sons maintain the high level of respect for him at this commercial show that I have seen in their commercial music and they don’t disrespect the King of Reggae during Reggae Month in Jamaica.

Go-Local Jamaica

Kingston, Jamaica:– Oraccabessa St. Mary will come alive on Saturday February 23 when the Marley Legacy is unleashed at the James Bond Beach. Bob Marley foundation and Ghetto Youths in association with The Rita Marley Foundation presents ‘Smile Jamaica – Africa Unite’ in tribute to the work of the late Nesta Robert Marley. The event follows an initiative of the Marley family to unite Africa and Members of the African Diaspora through Music and to perpetuate the message of Love, Strength and Hope that was the hallmark of Bob Marley’s career.

This is the second staging of the ‘Smile Jamaica’ concert since its rebirth in 2007. The first concert was held in December 1976, at which the legend himself, Bob Marley, headlined the show at the National Heroes Park in Kingston. Despite being attacked the night before, he bravely and defiantly stepped out and said he would only do one song, but ended up working the stage for ninety minutes. This year’s staging of the event represents an intersection, where The Africa Unite concert staged in Ethiopia and Ghana previously merge to create an experience that transcends culture, language, race and economic barriers.

The show features for the first time in Jamaica, on one stage, the Marley Brothers, Stephen, Ziggy, Damian, Julian, Kimani displaying their unique talents. Having amassed their own career wealth Grammy winners Stephen Damian and Ziggy are eager to display their unique magic on stage. Stephen is touted to take the stage with a new accolade as he is nominated for the coveted Grammy Award for his debut solo album ‘Mind Control’ the Awards will be staged on Sunday, February 10.

Other acts booked to appear are Rihanna, Javaughn,Elephant Man, Sizzla, Queen Ifrica, Capleton, Richie Spice, Lutan Fyah, Spragg Benz and Tarrus Riley and is touted to be the most colourful climax imaginable to the Month now Dubbed Reggae Month.

Smile Jamaica – Africa Unite takes place on Saturday February 23 at the James Bond Beach. Patrons will join in this historic event for $1500.00 and are guaranteed a wonderful demonstration of The Jamaican Motto ‘Out of Many, One people’.

So of course we are moving to Jamaica and I decided that on our return flight after the holidays I was going to bring back as much stuff as I could possibly carry on the plane. We had a whole house full of stuff back in storage in Florida and it made little sense to me to buy all new stuff here in Jamaica when shipping a barrel seems so easy and the cost was pretty cheap actually.

I carried over 8 checked bags for the 4 of us at a max weight of 50 lbs each for a total of just under 400lbs of stuff we had loaded on the plane plus each of us had a carry on piece with personal effects and two days clothing in case our luggage was lost. It seems like this would be enough for any family but I decided that I would bring even more stuff and load a 55 gallon steel drum with the really heavy stuff. I ended up stuffing it full with all sorts of housewares and in the end it weighed over 260 lbs.

We were driving to Fort Lauderdale Florida from Ocala with a rental vehicle so I got some pricing information on barrel shipping online and actually came up with a great deal via Spirit Airlines and their shipping partner at Finlays Shipping. I paid a total of $70 US to have them ship a barrel from Lauderdale to Kingston. In 8 to 10 days I could pick up my barrel in Kingston and not have the hassle of dealing with customs at the airport but on my own time and schedule at a later point.

It took me a little while to find the shipping terminal in North Miami but once I did it took less than 15 minutes to fill out forms and process our shipping order. The entire process of shipping a barrel to Jamaica consisted of me loading it on their ramp, filing one simple form and sealing the can for delivery. Finlays provided me with the wire to lock up my barrel and we wrote the shipping address on the barrel in permanent marker. It is suggest you lock you barrel but I only wired mine and everyting arrived here in Negril with no trouble mon.

Upon arrival here in Jamaica I had to pay an additional charge of $2,000 JA or about $30 for handling fees and of course my import duties. My estimated value for the barrel was $24,000 JA and my duties were $3500 or about $50. I’ll include more details on dealing with Jamaica customs in the follow up post “Dealing with Jamaican Customs at the Kingston Wharves”.