Jamaica Rum Festival 2020: Recap & Highlights

Time sure flies when you’re having rum, I mean, fun. 2019 was the inaugural staging of the Jamaica Rum Festival and social media would not let me live it down that I missed it! The pictures looked epic and even my friends and colleagues were speaking about it for days. Thus, I eagerly anticipated the second staging, knowing that the event would be here to stay given all the success it had in its first showcasing and I was not left disappointed. The Caribbean produces some of the world’s best rums and our history is intricately intertwined with the spirit. Rum production dates back from the 17th century on plantations where my enslaved African ancestors toiled to produce this lovely liquor from sugarcane and its by-product molasses, and rum became the region’s chief export product after muscovado sugar.

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Rochelle | Adventuresfromelle30 Comments

The Art Exhibit in Kingston You Need to See: ‘Jamaica, Jamaica’

‘Jamaica, Jamaica!: How Jamaican Music Conquered the World‘ is the latest art exhibit being shown at the National Gallery of Jamaica. It opened on February 2 and closes on June 28, 2020. It’s one of the most exciting exhibits ever launched by this gallery and was aptly opened in February, locally observed as Reggae Month. This exhibit was previously shown at Philharmonie de Paris in 2017 and titled “The General” after the 1985 hit song by artiste Brigadier. Renamed Jamaica, Jamaica! after gracing local shores, this exhibit documents how the tiny Caribbean island of Jamaica was able to become a global musical force to be reckoned with. The capital city of Kingston and venue of the exhibition is recognized as the birthplace of six distinct musical genres which led to Kingston being designated official UNESCO creative city status in 2015.

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Rochelle | Adventuresfromelle15 Comments

2019 Year In Review

2019 had its challenges but it has been the best year of my life yet. I accomplished everything I wanted to, and then some. I pushed myself and had a lot of “wow, can’t believe I did that” moments. It was an amazing year of growth, risk-taking and change. Adventures from Elle turns three today too and 2019 has also been my blog’s best year ever, tripling last year’s views and engagement. 🎉 I’m all for reflecting at the end of the year so read on for a succinct recap of our 2019.

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Rochelle | Adventuresfromelle33 Comments

10 Things I’ve Learnt in 3 Years of Blogging

December 2019 will mark three full years since I began Adventures from Elle: my baby, my sanity and one of my favourite hobbies. It’s also one of my proudest and most prized “possessions”. I don’t get to write much less travel as often as I’d like but I’ve managed to churn out over 100 articles as a full-time medical student (now doctor) and I’m pretty proud of that. My blog hasn’t had a dry spell of longer than two months either.

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Rochelle | Adventuresfromelle58 Comments

Why I Won’t Swim With Dolphins in Jamaica.. Or Anywhere

Dolphins are the number three top tourist attraction in Jamaica. Swimming with dolphins is a bucket list item for many and these adorable smiling ads make it easy to see why. Regarded as some of Earth’s most intelligent animals, dolphins are as smart as apes with brains surprisingly similar to that of humans. They are very social mammals living in matrilineal groups that hunt and play together with as many as 1,000 members. Each pod has its own language, every individual has a name and survival and nurturing skills are taught. Their language is highly complex and to date has scarcely been deciphered by humans. They can swim 100 miles in a day and have been recorded to dive to 1,000 feet. Their hearing is better than adult humans and their sense of touch and sight is well-developed. Their biggest threat though? Man.

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Rochelle | Adventuresfromelle67 Comments

2019: Mid-Year Mark

Last year I wrote a post titled “2018: Mid-Year Mark” because I wanted my readers to know I was alive and well despite two months of inactivity. Life was busy and I just didn’t have any shareable experiences to publish so it was a personal sort of check-in post, made complete with the goals and plans I had for the remainder of the year. You can check that out here if you’re interested. This year my blog hasn’t been inactive at all– in fact it’s probably the most active it has ever been. I made time for writing and travelling rather frequently while completing my medical degree, but I quite enjoyed putting together that post and thought I’d do one for 2019 even if we’re 21 days past the midpoint of the year.

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Rochelle | Adventuresfromelle30 Comments

73 Vogue-Inspired Questions Answered

Happy June! We’re almost at the halfway mark of 2019! The 73 Questions Vogue series is a popular YouTube series by the Vogue team that interviews our favourite celebrities, models and influencers with 73 random questions that help us get to know a bit more about them. I was tagged in this series by Ornella from As Told By Nella in April, really enjoyed learning more about her through these 73 questions and thought this was something my own readers might enjoy.

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Rochelle | Adventuresfromelle23 Comments

Why Jamaicans Are the Coolest People on Earth

I know this article will not sit well with many but I said what I said. Jamaicans are the coolest people on Earth. I never say anything I can’t back up with fact, so read on to find out why I know my people are the best.

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Rochelle | Adventuresfromelle59 Comments

Long Walk to Freedom Highlights

Born in the year of ‘Til Shiloh, Buju Banton’s first album released after his conversion to the Rastafari faith, Buju is the reggae legend whose success story my generation has had the honour of witnessing. Us younger folks didn’t grow up under the likes of Bob Marley and Dennis Brown. We grew up instead knowing that life’s Not an Easy Road and learning how to walk like a Champion. Another ghetto youth who showed us that hard work and dedication to one’s craft can elevate one from poverty, Jamaicans everywhere felt disappointed when we heard the news of Buju’s USA DEA charges for conspiracy to distribute and possess cocaine in 2009, especially given that we crooned the lyrics to Driver three years prior.

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Rochelle | Adventuresfromelle19 Comments

50 Photos: Jamaica through My Lens

I’ve been trying to count my blessings more this year, as comparison is the thief of joy and I really have a lot for which to be grateful. Living on a tropical island is one of those things, as Jamaica is warm and blessed with an astonishing range of lovely landscapes– rolling green hills, deep valleys, lazy rivers, majestic waterfalls, lush tropical plants, alluring limestone caves and grottos,  breathtaking cliffs and precipices and of course, postcard-perfect beaches.

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Rochelle | Adventuresfromelle29 Comments