Daniele Somenzi's Jamaica

Jamaica Here too, you drive on the left. It's true that the English left their mark over much of the world; one could say a quarter of the world's states drive on the left.

This is the homeland of reggae and of Bob Marley; this kind of music was born here in the Caribbean. Besides, it's also the homeland of joints. As for me personally, while walking in a market in Ocho Rios, I'm offered some weed, which I naturally refuse, and then again and again; but is the drug legal here? I wonder, but where are the police? It's a bit odd that tourists are approached so easily in broad daylight by these individuals with all their hair in knots.

The bus takes us to a beautiful spot; I think that all those who come to Jamaica come to see the Ocho Rios waterfalls, a series of little cascades that come down from up high to the sea, with jumps no higher than 2 metres. Many tourists in a chain holding hands walk through the water climbing up the falls, and every now and then they take a dip.

The water is anise-coloured, and comes from a spring. The surrounding scenery is made up of frames of palms and tropical broadleaf trees; some hummingbirds flit over the flowers beating their wings at 300 beats per second. A Jamaican dressed in a local costume has himself photographed next to the tourists and his little donkey.

The little market is full of Bob Marley, or anyway people who look a lot like him, some even sing his songs, and I film them with my camera.

Here they also sell musical instruments of every kind, some made with bamboo canes.

Nearly 3 million are the inhabitants of the island that gained independence from England in '62; now they have the Jamaican dollar and the official language remains English anyway.

Many cars are run-down, the American third-hand ones that, as well as going to Venezuela, come here.

Many are the cruise ships that stop for a day on this island, at least 3 a day all year round, but they don't go to Kingston the capital; they all stay on the north coast of the island.

You can do horse-riding excursions in the jungle on the mountains, for enthusiasts, and also scuba dives, surrounded by great manta rays and dolphins.

In the late afternoon we return by bus from the little tourist centre, to board again on the Majesty of the Seas.

bye bye