Episode 59: Bob Marley's Jamaica - 5 Unmissable Experiences in Kingston with Kris Griffiths

Angie Orth:

White sand beaches, cool turquoise waters, hiking, tickling your taste buds with some spicy jerk, and of course, a classic rum punch or 2. There are so many sides to Jamaica, but perhaps the most famous one is its musical contribution to the world, Jamaica's reggae legacy. Even if you've never set foot on the shores of this petite Caribbean island, there's a good chance you've heard the iconic music of her most famous son. If you love reggae, then you owe it to yourself to make space on your bucket list for the birthplace of the legendary Bob Marley. For this mini-episode, Kris Griffiths is here to tell us about the top 5 Bob Marley experiences you can have in Kingston.

Hi, Kris!

Kris Griffiths:

Hello!

Angie:

Welcome to the show, I am so glad that you're here. Thank you for joining us. So, you're a prolific traveler, travel writer, you've been all over the world, and I'm particularly excited to talk to you about this because you've covered this quite a bit.

There's a movie out in the U.S. called One Love, and it's about Bob Marley's life. I grew up listening to Bob Marley, but not knowing about Bob Marley. Why did he have such a wide-reaching impact around the world?

Kris:

He basically was, and still is, the avatar of Jamaican music, culture, and identity, and more specifically the Rastafari religion, which he popularized around the world. Although he wasn't the first international reggae star, he was the one who put the genre on the global map. It was the music itself that played such a huge role in promoting peace and unity in his homeland, as well as in African nations and the rest of the world. It was that global legacy of his music that really fostered an immense sense of pride amongst Jamaicans. He basically became very much part of Jamaica's collective consciousness, and his tunes will constantly be heard floating on a breeze wherever you go.

Angie:

What are some of the hotspots that a Bob Marley/reggae fan would love to see on a trip to Jamaica?

Kris:

If you are doing a Bob Marley tour, you're going to see the hotspots mainly around Kingston. He grew up in a deprived part of the city of Kingston called Trench Town. They've got the Trench Town Culture Yard there, and that's where a lot of reggae musicians still hang out.

Angie:

So, the Trench Town Culture Yard is stop number one.

Kris:

For me, it was, yeah. For instance, visiting Trench Town, the famous line in No Woman, No Cry, “in a government yard in Trench Town,” and finally visiting that government yard where that song was written did tie it all together and made the experience just more fitting and more special.

Angie:

In your Rough Guides article, you talk about first impressions saying, “Some tourists are deterred from visiting by a prejudice about local ghetto culture at odds with reality.” Can you elaborate on that for us?

Kris:

Trench Town does have a reputation for being rough. It's just like a lot of deprived areas of cities, not just in Jamaica, but around the whole world. What I found—particularly there—is yeah, there might be crime, but it's mainly Intercommunity crime. They don't really target tourists. Why would they? The tourist dollar is what generates vital revenue for that community, particularly that community, because the Trench Town Culture Yard is the tourist magnet spot, and it's all about keeping that.

Angie:

Good to know. This is probably a good time to mention that the U.S. State Department has issued a Level 3 reconsider travel advisory for Jamaica with additional warnings for specific areas, including downtown Kingston and Trench Town. Be sure to check the department's website for the latest. And when you're in Jamaica, consider taking a guided tour of Bob Marley sites. Speaking of which, next up is the Bob Marley Museum, which is where he actually lived. Tell us what you'll see there.

Kris:

You can visit his house uptown in Kingston, which they've preserved as a time capsule, keeping it as it was in his final days, all these decades later. That's pretty special. The young Bob wouldn't have known that that house would basically become Kingston's most-visited tourist site. The utensils in the kitchen date from his final days, his bedroom is left exactly as it was, bedspread embossed with lions from Zion, his favorite guitar still by the bed, poignant family photos hanging on the walls. His recording studio is also preserved, and that's part of the house complex, and that's stuffed with priceless memorabilia like platinum discs, album artwork, wallpapered with press clippings. On a darker note, you can also see the bullet holes that were left from the infamous 1976 assassination attempt, and that's just a grim reminder of the evil that Bob also had to contend with during his lifetime.

Angie:

Can you give us some context about the assassination attempt?

Kris:

He had agreed to headline a huge concert to try and diffuse simmering political tensions in the country. There were obviously people who didn't like that, who didn't want to see that unity, and so they tried to make sure that he wouldn't do that concert and they tried to shoot him. He did get shot in the arm, his manager got shot in the leg, his wife Rita had a shot graze her head. Miraculously, no one died and the concert took place. He laid low after that and came to the UK for a while. Tragically, it was cancer that took him only a few years later.

Angie:

The next spot for every Bob Marley fan has to be Tuff Gong Studios where he did a lot of recording. First off, where does that name come from?

Kris:

It's called Tuff Gong because Bob Marley's nickname when he was young was “The Gong,” and he was a tough cookie growing up on the streets of Trench Town you can visit to this day. Again, there's a time capsule aspect to it, where you can see the vintage analog equipment that still in sits alongside the newer digital technology. You can get intimate access to the spaces, the very spaces where Bob recorded songs like Redemption Song and Buffalo Soldier. So again, massively special if you love those songs, just seeing exactly where they were recorded.

Angie:

Next up, what can you tell us about Reggae Month? This has to be the best time to go if you want the full-on musical experience.

Kris:

The first time I went to Jamaica was for Bob Marley's 70th birthday celebrations, basically Reggae Month in Jamaica. Every year, around the time of his birthday, is a huge national celebration focused on the capital city of Kingston. During Reggae Month, you're spoiled for choice. There are live bands, there are DJ sessions, and there are more festival-y type parades going on. You get a good mix of races and ages and religions, and everyone comes together. That's what Bob Marley was all about. That one love spirit, doesn't matter who you are, how old, or what color you are, and that's what I really love, that sense of unity. That's why I can't wait to go back and do it all again.

Angie:

Tell me about Bob Marley's favorite drink, Irish Moss. What is it and where can you find it?

Kris:

This is one of those unique, almost delicacy-type drinks that I've only ever seen in Jamaica. You see it everywhere in restaurants, grocery stores, and particularly streetside vendors. It's basically a thick, creamy drink—supposedly aphrodisiacal—made from seaweed and condensed milk flavored with cinnamon. It's made from a light-colored algae native to Ireland that they basically ship over, and the most important ingredient is produced by the moss itself. It's an extract or carrageenan, which you might have heard of. It's a natural thickener that dairy producers use to thicken yogurt and give it a creamier mouth feel. Yeah, I loved it, I definitely loved the taste and the consistency. I'm a fan of milky drinks in general, so this one really hit the spot.

Angie:

A day following in the footsteps of Bob Marley, checking out his studio, exploring Trench Town, and topping it off with a mossy aphrodisiac. Who could say no to that?

Kris Griffiths, thank you for joining us and thank you to our listeners for being with us.

If you're planning a trip, be sure to connect with a AAA Travel Advisor, check out AAA.com/travel, or visit your local branch.

This podcast is a production of Auto Club Enterprises. If you enjoyed it, please subscribe and leave us a review. I'm Angie Orth, thank you for traveling with AAA.