My wife planned some excellent trips to different parts of the island for the next couple days. Today we woke up early and left for Negril. It was a bus tour and we were able to see much of the island. The country side is beautiful and green. Most Jamaicans are not wealthy. While there are some wealthy and upper middle class sections of the island about 90% of the island is lower class. They live in small shacks or huts. Goats and dogs are everywhere. Garbage is everywhere. I really liked the goats and dogs and really hated the garbage. I wanted to clean it up but it is truly a never ending job. I think it could actually be managed with some quality waste management companies.
On our trip the first stop was the Seven Mile Beach. It was pretty awesome. The tour guides were clearly getting kickbacks from the places they would take people. I remember hearing "Do not shop at the stores across the street because they will not give you a good deal and they charge tax. At the shops on this side of the street they will give you a great deal and charge you no tax." We decided to eat at The Boardwalk cafe even though our final stop on this trip was a restaurant. The food was pretty awful in comparison to our resort but I still gave a good tip. I thought this could have been my act of kindness for they day but it still felt a little weak.
Exiting the restaurant I noticed an elderly woman in a bathing suit trying to join her friends that were already seated. Nobody was getting up from the table to help her up that stairs so I helped her. I didn't even think about it at the time until my wife commented that it was a nice thing to do. The woman spoke German so I didn't get to converse too much with her but she did say thank you.
The Seven Mile Beach was broken into different sections that were maintained by the resorts. It was very clear which sections belonged to the resorts and which did not. The sections that were not maintained were over grown and covered with litter. Many Jamaicans had taken up temporary residence along these unclaimed sections of beach and were selling things or repairing boats or sleeping.
We got back on the bus and headed to Rick's Cafe. The crazy rich white guy on the plane had warned me that Rick's Cafe was a tourist trap. I guess it was but I didn't mind. It was awesome. It was established in 1974 and has been knocked down by hurricanes twice and rebuilt twice. There are cliff jumpers that dive from nearly 80 feet in the air. It's freaking sweet. Seriously check this out:
Money spent so far: $94.65
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