Travel / Jamaica

The Best Thing About Living in Jamaica, Part 2

Backwoods Road Trip to Reggae Falls

When you look at GoogleMaps and you see a 65 kilometre route to be covered in 2 hours and 15 minutes, half of it not on the main road, then you know it’s going to be at least 4. It could be a long day.

But don’t let that stop you. Or the four wheel drive you will need to use.

Because if you do, you will deny yourself the opportunity to see the most untouristed and best parts of this island. It could be a great day.

I have been living abroad for 7 years and have collected some thoughts about the privilege involved in doing that:

I have started writing a bit about my experience in Jamaica, where I’m currently living and have written about some of the nuts and bolts of living on this island in the Caribbean:

Gradually, weekend by glorious weekend, my partner and I have been striking out from the busy city of Kingston for adventures to see the places that don’t always make it onto the Trip Advisor Top 10 must do’s. Here’s the first in the series:

One of the first pieces of advice that we were given on arrival in Kingston was to every weekend “just get in your car and go”. Kingston is a fairly large, fairly hectic place and getting out of it enables us to dive into the wild beauty of Jamaica. If you are open to working for it a little bit, you can find yourself in some spectacular places.

The goal today was a place called Reggae Falls, located in the community of Hillside in the Parish of St Thomas.

St Thomas is east of Kingston and comprises the south eastern part of the island, from the coast northwards to the Blue Mountains. I don’t have statistics to back this up, but I would imagine that it is one of the poorer parishes, based on the quality of the roads.

Its geographical position often puts it in the way to bear the brunt of hurricanes that come in from the Atlantic and the infrastructure repairs don’t always have the time to catch up before the next one. This is definitely not the part of the country that is featured in the tourist advertising.

But again, don’t let that dissuade you.

The road after the turnoff to the Kingston International Airport will hug the southeast coast and there are places you can stop for a swim. Maybe on the way back.

At the town of Yallahs, you could keep going and take an easier route, but Google in its wisdom will insist that you to turn left off the main road. There will be a few small communities to pass through, but before long you will find yourself going very much uphill, sounding the horn around curves and stopping to kick the transmission into 4 high. Maybe stopping to take in the view as well — green and lush as far as the eye can see.

It’s not an easy drive, but it is worth it. There isn’t much in the way of signs or directions, and the internet fades out and in, but people on the roadside are always helpful in a way that GoogleMaps will never be.

They’ll point you in the right direction, almost always with a wave and a smile. But sometimes they will want to chat, curious about where you are from and what brings you this way. It’s worth it to engage in a conversation. It’s out there alright, and you imagine that they don’t get many passersby. Maybe you give them a ride, maybe you don’t.

Eventually, a sign does appear and a few twists and turns later, you find yourself in a dry riverbed, clueless as to where to go next. Magically, a young boy appears to direct you to your goal.

And there it is. Splashing your way through a now less dry riverbed, you park wherever is best and put the swim trunks and water shoes on and shuffle your way through a deepening and increasingly cold river to come to the falls themselves.

This is Reggae Falls, but it is not a natural falls, rather it is the end of an abandoned hydroelectric project. At 20 metres high, it definitely roars and throws up a mist.

Once you’ve had a swim and chatted with friendly people — both locals and other people who are making a day of it, you can access that mental note you made on the way in of the man selling cold Red Stripes and of the woman who is getting the oil drum barbecue ready for chicken.

Of course, you could bring your own picnic but how is that better than eating locally prepared food and doing a tiny bit to support a local economy?

There is no entry fee, there are no steel drums, there is no all you can eat buffet, there are no rude people, there is nothing plastic cup cocktail about this place.

It’s definitely a place to spend a few hours on a weekend afternoon. Eventually it starts to fill up. Everyone says hello and good afternoon, everyone just wants some quiet time in nature. But not that quiet. Like everywhere else in the country, there is music going.

Often, when asking a Jamaican how they are doing, the answer you will get is “giving thanks”. What a great feeling to be able to say exactly those words to yourself or the person you are with, spending your afternoon in a place like this.

If you like what you are reading here and want unlimited access to thousands of writers, consider a subscription to Medium. It’s $5 a month and if you use this link, then I get a piece of that. It’ll go toward my own waterfall.