Viajes, guías y vacaciones de Jamaica

Enviar un barril de los E.E.U.U. a Jamaica era relativamente fácil pero la cosecha encima de un barril en Kingston era una cuestión separada. He pasado una cantidad considerable de tiempo en Kingston y me considero muy al corriente de los sistemas de la disposición y del transporte de la ciudad. He conducido por todas partes la ciudad de Kingston y de la mayoría de las áreas periféricas pero para en cualesquiera razones nunca he pasado mucho tiempo o alrededor del puerto y de los wharves de Kingston. El puerto de Kingston es donde la mayor parte de los países importan y ocurre la exportación y algún 70% el mercancías totales importadas se procesan en la Kingston Wharves.

Nuestro barril fue enviado encima en un recipiente de alta mar y caído apagado a Jamaica costumbres en el puerto de Kingston por nuestras instrucciones. Habríamos podido tomar en Mobay o aún lo teníamos directo entregada a nuestro hogar aquí en Negril pero elegimos un viaje del camino a Kingston en lugar de otro y como de costumbre estoy alegre. Teníamos un gran viaje y la parte peor de ella se ocupaba de conducir alrededor de la Kingston Wharves. Es al revés un sistema bonito de los caminos unidireccionales y de ningún signage que me mantuvieron el hacer girar círculos absolutamente de un pedacito. Llegué en el primer día con la esposa y los cabritos en remolque pero I rápidamente observado necesitado para volverse en mis el propios así que mí tomó el cuidado del primer paso en papeleo y volvió en mis el propio la mañana próxima. Las cosas fueron mucho smoother en el puerto antes de 9AM y se sugiere que usted llega desde usted puede.

El primer paso en el recuperación de nuestro barril era parar por la oficina local para el envío de Finlays que era solamente dos bloques lejos del puerto solamente una de las calles más difíciles para que me encuentre. La señora jamaicana en la oficina guardó el dar me de malas direcciones y me tomó casi una hora para encontrarla una vez que llegara en el área general. 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

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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”.

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