That was probably
the best dive ever.
Good morning Vagabuddies.
Welcome back to Jamaica.
It's the last day we have here,
and we have a pretty awesome day
planned out. What are we up to?
We're on the northeast side of the island
next to Port Antonio.
This is the Goblin Hill Villas in San San.
It's a beautiful place.
We're going to start the day off by going
whitewater rafting down the Rio Grande.
It's going to be very fun.
Good morning, gentlemen.
Good morning. How are you guys
doing today?
Not bad. Fine.
Yeah. It's a fine day.
These are straight up, like,
Huckleberry Finn rafts.
Huge polls of bamboo that are
lashed together.
Apparently, the story is that back in the
day, these rafts used to be even bigger,
and they would transport bananas
and sugarcane from the mountains
down to the ports.
It's not whitewater rafting,
but it's definitely rafting.
What is your name again?
Walford. Walford. Alex.
Walford's going to be our raft guide,
and we're going to hop in this bamboo.
It's made out of bamboo, right?
Yes. The raft is made with bamboo.
How big are these pieces of bamboo?
Twenty pieces of bamboo to make.
According to myth,
this method of relax rafting
was developed by the actor Errol Flynn
who has a long time love affair
with Jamaica.
Apparently, he was stranded
in a storm on his boat while sailing.
He came up here to Port Antonio.
He loved the place; he moved here.
He used to see people coming down
the river on these rafts,
and he decided to have his own parties
with his crew of ladies.
They had parties here that became
pretty famous, and it was the birth
of this relaxed form of rafting.
You know it's funny because when we
do our videos, a lot of the time we're
trying to get as much action as possible,
but this is just a really nice change of pace.
There is something extremely relaxing
about moving at the pace
of flowing water,
just cruising with the river
and being surrounded by
pretty much unspoiled greenery
everywhere. It's awesome.
Something to think about, though...
Jamaica is home to the American
crocodile, which a species that exists
throughout the Caribbean, but
especially here in Jamaica
in the Rio Negro.
I do imagine that there are a couple
of crocodiles around here.
But we are in the Rio Grande.
So they might be a little more "grande?"
I like the northeast of Jamaica.
We're in the Parish Portland.
Jamaica is divided into 14 parishes,
Portland being one of them.
It's just really chill.
It's beautiful. You've got mountains,
but they kind of run down the coast
and there are palm trees
and there's a very mellow relaxed vibe.
This is just a gorgeous stretch of river.
We've got all sorts of bird life,
tons of little egrets and blue herons
on the riverside, but
we're just surrounded by
dense jungle as far as the eye can see.
What an amazing, relaxing experience.
Floating at the most languid pace.
It's very nice.
Well, two hours and eight miles later,
one enjoyable trip is coming to an end.
That was honestly one of the most
relaxing things I have done in years.
How did you like it, Bro?
I liked it a lot.
It was like slow TV......just sitting
here watching. Very chill.
Alright guys, we have finished our rafting,
and we've headed over to a place called
the Canopy House.
It's just above the famous Blue Lagoon.
It's a hotel and a restaurant, but it's
all kind of built in tree house style.
Permission to come aboard, sir?
Come aboard, man. Okay.
Yeah, man. Come on board.
We're in the Blue Lagoon now,
and we're heading to the natural spring
that feeds this little lagoon which is
why you have the salt and
the fresh water.
We're going to do a test.
This is the fresh water,
and there's a little barrier right here.
and that is the brackish ocean water.
Apparently, this is a lot colder,
and when you put your foot in there
it's almost feeling hot, like a jacuzzi.
Oh my god. You're right.
It is like night and day.
I actually want to .....
I'm going back in the Caribbean water.
Bro, what a trip.
Seriously. What a day.
It was raining when we left L.A.
We came down here.
It's super good weather.
This is a great time of year to come.
And I think that for me.....
I don't know a lot about the Caribbean,
but for me, Jamaica has it all.
A lot of places here have sand
and beaches and sun.
but this has culture; it has deep cultures.
It's got a lot of personality, a lot of
character, great food.
Great food, great music. Nature.
I personally was just blown away
by how rugged the mountains
and jungle-y the terrain was.
And meeting up with the Maroons.
The fact that there is an entire
autonomous community that lives
within the country is entirely
because of those mountains that
allowed that sort of culture to have
preserved through all these years.
It was such a privilege to be able
to go meet them, hear their story
and learn more about the history
of Jamaica.
Definitely awesome also just to go to
that Rastafarian village on the
Sabbath and get a bit deeper
understanding about what Rastafarianism
actually is. I think that so many of
global preconceptions
about Jamaica are colored by
Rastafarianism, by ganja, by Bob Marley.
And while all of those things are
a part of Jamaica,
going and experiencing
Rastafarian culture first hand
in that village was a really eye- opening
experience for me, personally.
I think, in general, Jamaica, as we said,
has a really distinct personality.
But it can also be a victim of that
success because people have
preconceived notions of what Jamaica is,
whether it's Bob Marley or whether
it's Cool Runnings, that movie we saw
when we were kids.
The reality is that this is a country
that's quite, quite deep.
In the short time we were here,
we weren't able to explore all of it,
but I hope that these videos
have given you guys
a fuller understanding about Jamaica
and have hopefully inspired you guys
to come and check it out yourselves.
What was your favorite moment?
For me, it's a toss up.
The coffee, the Blue Mountain Coffee
was amazing.
I think the best travel experiences
for me these days
are going to meet producers of
global goods, such as coffee,
who are doing it in a really unique way.
I think that the Old Tavern Coffee Estate
was just so incredible
how such a small scale production
making such a unique product,
that was amazing.
What about you, Bro?
I really enjoyed
when we went down to the river
with the Maroons and we hopped
in this old beat up dilapidated truck,
and we're just driving and making a
racket blowing on their horns
to let their ancestors know that
we're coming and ask for protection.
And when we were down by the river,
this group of fishermen came
out of the water with
their spearguns and snorkel masks
and were just sytematically
fishing this hole,
and we managed, just out of pure luck,
to capture all of that.
It was such a unique experience.
Guys, if you enjoyed this video,
you know what to do:
give it a thumbs-up.
If you enjoyed this series, let us know
your favorite moment from the series
down in the comment section.
If you haven't subscribed yet, make
sure you click subscribe and turn
on notifications.
And once again, a big up
to Jamaica, Visit Jamaica
for bringing us out here.
We've had an amazing time.
If you want more information
on the country, we'll leave some links
down below to their website and
social media. In the meantime,
stay curious, keep exploring, and
we'll see you guys on the road.
Peace, man.