January 9, 2025 - Week 50

Happy New Year!

Amidst the nation's most anticipated NYE/NYD event: Vybz Kartel's Freedom Street concert, beginning at 11:59 pm Dec 31, 2024, a few friends and I escaped the road and air traffic into Kingston to go up north to Ochi. The likes of Spice, Popcaan, Busta Rhymes, and Skeng were present. By chance, we also avoided the crazy traffic into Ochi (Jan 4) where Buju Banton and Beres Hammond performed their Intimate Concert (sidenote: Rihanna was at that concert!).

I managed to get a good snap of the last sunset of 2024 on the Margaritaville beach.

We greeted 2025 with fireworks from Ochi Beach, although much smaller and shorter than the lights I'm used to, the Jamaicans made up for this with many powerpop/crackers and "starlights". Admittedly, I was slightly worried I'd get hit especially since the government warned people to refrain from "gun salutes".

January 1, 2025, started swimmingly, with me getting into trouble with a security guard for scaling a fence into the beach (granted I had access, but the entrance was inconveniently far). After negotiating my stay, I welcomed the first day of the year on the white sand with some coffee.

Following this, we headed to Laughing Waters Beach - one of my most anticipated beaches. This was where a famous scene in Dr No. was filmed with Honey Ryder and James Bond. No matter how I tried, I could not emerge from the water and walk up the beach as gracefully as she did.

Perhaps channeling my inner Bond Gyal, I was in trouble with security for the second time that day for venturing too far off the beach onto private property.

Moving off from this River meets Sea beach (and yes that means there are pockets of cold-river and warmer-sea, water), we made our way to yet another beach, which DJ Khaled recently also visited.

Wrapping up the adventurous week, I 'hiked' at Holywell and was very much unprepared for the cooler weather in this Blue Mountain National Park. However, I was very excited to find an Eucalyptus tree all the way from Australia.