Renting a car

Every time I rent a car in the US I am impressed. Within minutes you have your car (if it does not say go straight to lot A25, your car is waiting for you) and the return process is even faster.
Renting a car in Jamaica is a slightly different experience. It took over an hour for a simple 2 day car rental. Things were typed into a calculator and separately into a computer, hand notes were taken, copies of the cover pages of our passports (the red outside with the white cross on it...) were made etc. In the process she could not read my hand writing and took the time to show me how some letters and numbers should be written…
In the end we got a document which said 3 days instead of 2 and none of the key facts were covered. She explained that it had to be done like that but everything will be ok.

Arriving in Kingston

Any book you read warns you about the high murder rate in Kingston. Most books also clarify that this only applies to some western suburbs and is typically drug, gang or politics related, not targeting foreigners. Following the advice, we booked a hotel in new Kingston in the north, far away from all of this. In the taxi from the airport to the hotel we chatted with the driver and also spoke about crime. He said “no problem, that was in the past when we had political tension but today it’s all good. Especially the area you go to is perfectly safe”. We felt pretty good till we reached our hotel. The first road was blocked by the police as was the second. We then tried to walk to the hotel but where stopped by the police. “There is a crime scene and investigation is ongoing”. Well, a bit a weird welcome after all we read and heard about Kingston.
We never got the official story but were told it was an accident involving a police scooter where the driver of the car fled and the police shot in the air.

Jamaica

It was once Spanish and named Santiago before the English took over in 1655. In 1962 Jamaica gained independence. Today Jamaica is very diverse with touristy beaches in the north, a considerable cruise ship port in Ocho Rios, relaxed blue mountains in the east and the capital.
Given its size, there is suriprisingly little coverage of Jamaica internationally, except when Usain Bolt is in action.
2'900'000 people + roughly as many living outside the country
GDP / capita (nom/PPP) 5'600 / 9'200 USD

Banking on the Bahamas

Guess there are worse places to work at ...

 

Contrasts on the Bahamas

Contrasts is probably the best one word summary of the Bahamas. With over 700 islands and many more cays, it is a large and very distributed country with a lot of diversity. Even just within the city of Nassau, there are huge contrasts. You have the harbor area, where up to 6 (!) massive cruise ships come in at the same time, flooding town with souvenir hunting tourists (6 boats x 4000 people = 24’000 temporary guests).
Then you have paradise island, where the massive Atlantis hotel offers it all and the Yachts are bigger than any boat ever seen on a Swiss lake (not a good comparison but they are really big). Last but not least you have the residential areas, where you have to be careful where to go as crime is a challenge.

Bahamas

As on many islands, Columbus was here first but the English colonized the Island(s) until independence in 1973. Today it feels like being colonized by the US… Besides the US fast food offering, the majority of visitors are American and the US dollar can be used anywhere. The economy is built on tourism (60% of GDP, 50% of jobs) followed by financial services.
320’000 people spread over large area
GDP / capita (nom/PPP) 23’000 / 31’000 USD

Shape your body

Not gaining weight is difficult wherever you go but especially in the US as servings are made for families if not armies. The good thing is that there is an easy solution to it. Enjoy your full size breakfast at IHOP, Denny’s and the like and stop at 7 Eleven on your way to work to buy a “weight loss” pill...