‘Hey Rasta 🙂, thanks for the unforgettable tour days!’

Full joy Mayfield Falls-Rappa Rasta

…and so the story of Mireille starts. She, her two sisters and mom went exploring Jamaica with rappa Rasta. Her enthusiasm about their three day adventure is infectious; you don’t want to miss this.

By Hettie, Sonja, Mireille en Sofia

“Together with Sandra, we made plans and formed a schedule for e fun days. Within this schedule there’s space to ‘go with the flow’. As practical Dutch people, we could not have suspected that this ‘go with the flow’ would turn out to be the most beautiful experience.

We stayed in a beautiful hotel in Ocho Rios from October 28 till November 7. A place to relax, swim and enjoy the white sand beach. Nevertheless the adventure in Jamaica started on our first day at 9 am with Rappa.

1 Bob Marley Mausoleum

We met friendly people along the way, stopped at a fruit stand where we got a training on all kinds of Jamaican fruit and we were introduced to the “no flush toilet”. It was already past noon before we entered the Nine Miles Bob Marley Mausoleum, when we realized we were already very happy.

Plenty additional interesting stories

Nine Miles itself was very nice and impressive. In addition to all the interesting information about local sights, politics, culture and nature that Rappa already shared with us along the way, he also managed to add beautiful stories to the information which the location guide shared with us. Tired and satisfied we went to bed early that night.

2 Mayfield Falls

Again a perfect day. Huge distances were filled with awesome stories. The sturdy Jeep brought us safe along the bumpy road as Rappa avoid the most crazy potholes with ease. We enjoyed magnificent views; the wind blowing though our hair. It was one big, unique experience with souvenirs, Jerk chicken and “irie” views.
Once we arrived at Mayfield Falls we were the only guests. How wonderful that we could experience these beautiful waterfalls this way.

On a quad at dusk…

Wherever we go, it’s always a lot of fun with chats to the people we meet. But we need to keep on going; Blue Hole Mineral Spring and herb plantation is today also on our wish list.

Once we arrived, it was dusk and it was very very quiet. Staff had already gone home! From our Dutch perspective it was clear that Blue Hole and herb plantation was closed… long time.
But Rappa kept running back and forth, literally, and before we knew it, we were tearing up the hill on the back of two quads.

The owner and his sons personally gave us a very special tour of the plantation at dusk. What an awesome experience! Back down the hill, my two sisters together with the owner, pushed, shook and simmered the now-struggling quad back to base. Also superb experience!

How to smoke ganja

The son of the owner of Blue Hole demonstrated his acrobatic diving skills. We did spend enough time in the water at Mayfield Falls, so we just watched.
After a crash course smoking ganja in some kind a pipe we left again.
On our way back to Ochi we stopped at Rick’s Café and ate the famous Jerk Chicken in a popular bar.
While reminiscing on our 2.5 hours driving to our hotel, Rappa managed to drop us off safely in Ocho Rios.

3 Port Antonio

Those two, amazing days had a huge impact and we kept talking about it. We spent a few days on the beach to get a nice tan. One more day to go though… on tour day 3 we were ready at 8 am to explore Port Antonio.

Some kind of a historical building

Our request to “visit another historic building or so” was quickly granted. The closed gate at the ‘Fire Fly’ turned out not to be a show-stopper. Rappa asked around and not much longer the location guide of Fire Fly jumped in the Jeep and we drove him to his work. The location guide informed us about Fire Fly. We enjoyed the stories, the beautiful view and this ‘go with the flow’ experience which was not planned at all.

Off we went again, passing lovely bays and villages. We ate at a local restaurant in Port Antonio. Rappa met old friends which leaded to great stories about culture and the background of Jamaicans.

Wonderful smells and sounds of the evening

Unfortunately the Blue Lagoon was closed. This time there was no way to get in, but Rappa ensured that we were able to take a few good photos.
Via a beautiful local beach we drove back to Ocho Rios with the windows down. This is how we got the wonderful smells and sounds of the evening from the passing villages along the way.

Hard to say goodbye

After 3 of these intensive but authentic days, we found it difficult to say goodbye to the special, sweet, intelligent and caring ‘Rasta’.
He has given us unforgettable days with plenty information and beautiful wisdom. Thank you Rappa, your loving attitude and goodness will be with us for a very very long time.”