Kingston 6/7 JA Travel Blog

In February, the birth month of Robert Nesta Marley, there is another reason to visit Kingston city. Let us say that you are the type of tourist interested in more than just entertainment and want to venture into an inspiring and intellectual space to see the research and innovation being undertaken within Jamaica. So apart from listening to music and entertainment, perhaps you want to talk with some bright minds and young academics within this developing country to find out what problems they are studying and trying to address. Or you are simply interested in learning more about the university and its technological and research output and contribution to the region? Well, Kingston is definitely the place to be and early February is the month to visit Jamaica. Discovering one of the leading research university on the island, the Universty of the West Indies, Mona Campus, should be one of your priorities. For free of cost (minus your travel expenses), you can attend the many ev...

A big question for those visiting Kingston is "How safe is the city?" In this post, I attempt to address this question. I know objectivity is at stake with this question and that the Jamaican government and tourism companies would want to present a crime-free image. Clearly, my own objectivity will be questioned as I want you to travel to Kingston. However, I plan to tackle this question as best as I can while checking my bias and presenting the information with sources/facts. BACKGROUND   I am actually embarrassed to address this question and definitely wish it never had to be addressed. But last week in the Jamaican press, it was reported that the US Embassy issued a cautionary travel warning for Americans visiting Jamaica ( "Americans  warned to 'exercise increased caution'" ;  Richardson, 2018 ) . In my opinion, I attribute this action as a direct response to the death of an American citizen in December 2017 (" Police identify American mu...

When you think about Jamaica, you can be forgiven for thinking about sand, sea, and sun. After all, that is the dominant image of Jamaica that big tourism businesses want you to see. However, if you want to go beyond the coastal natural beauty to exploring the culture and life of Jamaica, your first stop should be our capital city, Kingston. For the intellectually inquisitive, I present in this post this list of 3 things to know about Kingston city. 1: Pirates "Ahoy, mate"  If you are crazy about pirates, then you may want to know that Jamaica served as one of the homes of the notorious seventeenth-century buccaneers, otherwise known in pop culture as the pirates. And if you watched the movie "Pirates of the Caribbean", you may want to learn about the real history of the people and the setting that is fictionalized and glorified in film. If so, Kingston is your destination of choice. The city is next to Port Royal, the home of buccaneers or pirates like the...

I am going to be honest with you. I am starting this blog for two reasons: 1) to share my passion for my birth city and the place that nurtured me for my early years and my university years 2) to make money as a potential travel consultant to those visiting or planning to live in Kingston. In essence, I want to share my passion for Kingston city, the Jamaican edition, and hopefully, get paid for it.  With that in mind, I want to offer those who visit this blog information that I hope you find useful, relevant, and even informative about my special city. I plan to post at least once a month on events in Kingston or historical information or other cultural information about this special city. This creative city of Kingston is home to great music and several fantastic genres of music. It may not have the beaches, but it is a good city. And you will learn more about it from me within the next few months.  I also promise you that I will post credible sources ...