When Roy, Mark and Martin want to visit Jamaica, they ask Rappa Rasta Tours for an authentic, adventurous 10 day round trip. Read about Roy’s experience throughout the trip.
Roy, January 2019
‘I’ve got the impression that you, Sandra, were listening precisely to our needs and you brought out our underlying wishes. We discussed all kind of options and no question remained unanswered.
As we told you earlier we did check out other travel agencies, but they didn’t smoothen our concerns: questions were ignored and a standard so called hot spot tour came out.
We just mentioned some places we love to see and you did make a mixed schedule with an “off the beaten path” possibility, where we could meet Jamaicans. The days we could not decide on beforehand you were flexible and told us: “go with the flow.” The real Rasta vibes! We said to each other: “This is exactly the travel we are dreaming of.” Yes, you deliver customized offerings.
Right place – right time
Already in the first two days we did get many impressions: scents, tastes, views… you know. We were “full joying” from the beginning even when it started to rain at Roaring River, where we needed to find a shelter. First at the bar and later we took a run to the veranda somewhere near the river. Here we met people from the village and the young DJ, where we shared a peaceful moment with, while the rain poured down.
Mark and I exchanged a look of mutual understanding: “We are here, and exactly at the right place on the right time!”
Fairy tale
We are looking back on an awesome, real Jamaican experience and we’ll never regret our stay with the Rastafari couple at the far south coast. I felt a little ashamed arriving late at night at the homestay with too much rum, but it melted away by the warm welcome we got of Sister Audrey and Rasta Trevor. She told us about fruit trees, nature and how to connect with your environment, and we’ve got Rastafari teachings from Ras T. In the evening before going to bed, Audrey walked with incense sticks through the house, which created a mystical atmosphere. Like we find ourselves in a fairy tale. We slept like a baby in the old bed: it was fantastic.
We got plenty great experiences, too much to tell them all but to mention shortly: the meeting with the Rasta en the chief in Moor town, the hidden bar in farmland up the hills in Port Antonio and that tiny, hidden beach in St. Mary were we drove another extra mile for, not to forget the awesome hours in the Jeep where we were filled with information. All magnificent adventures.
Friends for real
One story needs to be told though!
We found Casey, Rappa’s sister, in a bar in a small village tucked away in the bush close to Milk River Spa. This is Rappa’s birth area, therefor plenty people do know him and so he met some old friends.
We had such an (J)amazing time making jokes, drinking rum. The funniest thing was my lighter with the bottle opener at the bottom. The friends kept on saying, with unprecedented enthusiasm and great humour, they never saw a lighter like this before.
We drank some more rum and left the lighter as a gift. They react surprised and happy. Every time the guy came back to thank us and to let us know he wanted to give something back… “but what to give now?” He didn’t know yet.
The next day we were even more astonished when Rappa stopped the Jeep, he chatted a little and waited. We didn’t know what was going on, but then one person came and handed Rappa a plastic bag with three stones in it. We looked carefully into the bag with the white stones. They came from deep down out of the earth and sparkled in the early but bright sunlight. We greceived our gift: magnificent, glistening Jamaican crystals!
This is the Real Jamaica with her optimistic, happy and positive people! It filled us with gratitude.
Love
“Rappa is unique, nuh true!?” There is only one Rappa and in fact it is hard to explain the impression he left on us.
It is about the conversations and teachings we’ve got, the people he met on our trip and how they deal with each other. On the road with a real Rasta, we laughed, sang and drank… Rappa is just the way he is and that is precious.
We said to each other we never met a person with so much love. Maybe that sounds strange mentioning this as a man, but when you speak about One Love, having that same attitude, than this is how to spread the word.
Rappa is steady, cheerful and he has a great sense of humour, can be very serious too and spiritual in any way. It’s about the vibe, the positive vibration and that’s what we have experienced.
You and Rappa are Rappa Rasta Tours!
Your underlying explanation, from your Dutch background, made matters even clearer to us. This cultural translation was helpful to understand the way of thinking and the movements of Jamaicans. Yeah, Rappa and you did make our travel. It is a unique combination!
Who needs to go on tour with Rappa Rasta Tours?
Adventurous travellers who love to explore and are willing to look ín Jamaica are the ones who need to tour with you.
In fact, you might get a phone call of some friends of us as we inspired them and recommended you.
Recommendation
I don’t think anybody could have done this better than Rappa Rasta Tours. You both gave unique colour to this trip. It is a huge 5 star rating!