Long Long Ago When I Went to Jamaica

I am way behind on posting about my fabulous trip but someone took awhile to send me her pictures, and then life got busy.  But back in September I spent a week in Jamaica with my best friend Kristen.  We had been planning a trip for a couple months and one day Jamaica just came to us.  We both had never been there, and we both loved the show "Cool Runnings" (kidding) so we decided to book a trip.  People always ask why I didn't go with Neil.  I would have loved to(not taking anything away from Kristen here) but having a child with special medical needs makes it hard to get away.  Only Neil and I know how to care for all his needs so both of us leaving the country is out of the question, at least for now.  Besides, Kristen is always up for an adventure and I think she would have preferred my company over Neil's!  

We left SLC at midnight on a Thursday night.  We flew to Charlotte and arrived about 3 am SL time.  I sure hoped to be able to sleep on the plane and again in the airport but then I remembered that I can't sleep anywhere except a bed.  

Once we got to Charlotte we discovered that we were VERY undressed for the temperature of the airport lobby.  We both had shorts on with long sleeves.  I had randomly thrown one of Jackson's blankets in my backpack and Kristen had a pair of wool socks in her bag.  We pulled them out and tried to warm up.  I actually managed to catch a few minutes of sleep on the floor of the Charlotte airport.  Classy, but true.  Desperate times call for desperate measures.

 We spent about 5 hours in the Charlotte airport and then finally we were on our way to Jamaica.  Once again, I couldn't fall asleep on the plane.
Once we finally landed in Jamaica we no longer needed our 2 jackets, blankets and socks.  It was beautiful there!  The airport was tiny and a bit trashy but we found a very willing taxi driver to take us 90 minutes up the coast to our hotel.

I don't have any pictures of us in the taxi for very good reasons.  The driving in Jamaica is bad enough to make a grown woman cry.  You pass on hills and curves, you go as fast as possible, and you tailgate like it's nobody's business.  When you are ready to pass someone on a hill, going 65 mph, you just give a honk with your horn and swerve around.  Luckily, if someone is coming, they are nice enough to pull to the shoulder to let you by.  There were times I had to stop looking.  I decided to enjoy the beautiful scenery instead of the atrocious driving.

Kristen and I really did our homework before this trip.  We both ordered a thick book all about Jamaica.  One thing it said was to be sure and sample all the wonderful, local fruit.  We passed several roadside fruit stands and so we asked our driver to pull over so we could buy some local fruit.

 There were lots of little stands like this one off the busy, busy highway.  Our driver just pulled over, yelled to the owners and then their young child walked across the busy highway to deliver our fruit.

Here is Kristen holding our first Jamaican experience.  Naseberries.  We were told that they were similar to a peach.  Wrong.  They were not good.  In fact, we didn't enjoy any of the local fruit.  The names and looks of them were great but very, very different tasting from American fruit.  But you have to give us credit, we tried every kind available.  Some kinds we tried were naseberry, jackfruit, ackee,guinep, passion fruit, soursop, and star apple.  We arrived at our beautiful hotel about 1:30 local time.

Here is the view from our hotel balcony.  We flew into Montego Bay, Jamaica but our resort was 2 hours away in Ocho Rio.  The first thing I noticed about Jamaica was their wonderful accents.  And yes, they really do say, "No problem maan."  In fact, they say it all the time.  I found it a little weird that they even said it to girls but I eventually got use to it.  Their accents were great and completely understandable.  Until they talked from one Jamaican to another.  Then they used their own dialect and we couldn't understand a word they said.  It did not sound one thing like English, even though technically it was.

Now onto the Jamaican food.  I ate my fair share.  And bless Kristen's heart for keeping up with me.  When we went, Kristen was about 11 weeks pregnant.  Luckily her morning sickness didn't really keep her down and she was able to handle the change in food.

 Here is some traditional Jamaican Jerk chicken.  It was quite delicious.  There are 2 different kinds of sauces, one very sweet and one quite spicy.  I could tolerate a little of both.  The Jerk Pork was my favorite however.  All the food was buffet style and it was good.  It did get old after a week of eating buffet style food but it was good nonetheless.

Here is a view of our modest room.  2 beds, a TV and a bathroom.  What more could we need?

A view from the resort.  We were steps away from the ocean and it was beautiful.  September is suppose to be their rainy season but we got lucky and it only rained the morning we left, for about 20 minutes.

Our first excursion away from the resort was to the famous Dunn River Falls.  It was so much fun and a great experience.  It is their most popular tourist destination.  Let me just say though that what we did would never be allowed in the United States.  We climbed natural waterfalls, with no safety gear, and without signing a waiver!
                                     
Right before we left on our climb!  I obviously had gotten a taste of the Jamaican sun the day before.

                                           
This is a picture of part of the falls that we climbed.  It was never super steep or seemed dangerous at all.  We had 2 guides who told us exactly where to step and it was a blast.

Our first time getting in the actual falls.  It wasn't cold but it certainly wasn't as warm as the Caribbean Ocean.  It actually felt nice in the warm weather.

 Self portrait.  Kristen and I were first in our group which made me nervous at first but it all worked out.

 Kristen relaxing in one of the areas.  The guides were very insistent on taking pictures for you and making sure you got pictures.

 Kristen and I doing our "I love Jamaica" chant.  The guides were also videotaping us (to later try and sell) and so they always wanted us to dance and sing.  You all know how much I love singing and dancing, especially on camera (NOT).  Kristen looks like she's done her fair share of Karaoke....

 Here is the rest of our group climbing.  We were with mostly American tourists.  Which was fun because it seemed like we were some of the very few Americans at the resort.  There were tons of British people and Portuguese people but I ran into very few Americans.

 These were our awesome tour guides.  They went barefoot up the falls and you could tell that they probably rarely wore shoes, by the looks of their gnarled feet.  They were very lively and made sure to let us know that they expected a tip.

As we left the falls we tried to steer clear of the groups of people selling souvenirs.  We purposely didn't bring any cash.  Then I saw this nice old man with a decorated donkey who asked if I wanted my picture taken with her.

I said sure.  Then Kristen reminded me that he expects a tip to get a picture with his donkey.  Oops.  We had no cash.  I vowed to remember that people who want you to take pictures, want money.

And here's Kristen with the beautiful donkey.  We were using our waterproof camera still so we have some waterspots and such.

 Remember how I vowed to not forget about the picture taking=tip money?  Well I forgot once again.

At our next excursion a fire breathing man came right up next to me and told Kristen to take a picture.  I didn't really want to be close to this man but didn't want to be rude.  Kristen told him we didn't have any money and he was disappointed but still allowed a picture.

Our next excursion was bamboo rafting down the White River.  This was a very mellow ride but still fun.  How many times do you get a ride down a beautiful river on a man made 50 ft bamboo raft?

Kristen and I enjoying the scenery.

 Here is our guide Jack guiding us down the river.  It was such a smooth ride and the raft never got stuck.

The other days were spent relaxing at the resort.  There were a couple of pools and of course the ocean. 

The Caribbean Ocean is wonderful.  The perfect temperature and very calm.

We enjoyed a lot of eating, cold drinks, swimming, reading, and paddle boating.

 A view from the boat!

 I even did a little snorkeling although there wasn't much to see where I was at.

                                               

 We both managed to read some good books and take naps by the pool or beach.

Evenings brought dinner and reading in the lobby while skyping with our families.  Thank heavens for the internet! After dinner we would head back to our room and usually be in bed before 10:00.  The best part of the trip-all the sleeping we were able to catch up on!

 More traditional Jamaican food.  There were several restaurants to choose from and some were suppose to be fancier than others, but truthfully they had a lot of the same foods and all had a similar taste!

 Our last morning in Jamaica.  This picture just shows the humidity in the air.  It was extra thick this morning after the short rain storm.

On our way to the airport we were about 1 inch from rear ending another car.  Luckily our driver managed to swerve at the last second.  I will be fine never riding in a car in Jamaica again.

 We had a great trip but we were both ready to be home and to eat American food.  I was so ready for American food that I bought a butterfinger in the airport.  It was a bit stale but still satisfied my craving for candy!

 Goodbye Jamaica!  It was a beautiful country with very nice people.  The Jamaican people are very laid back and very welcoming.  One thing to know about Jamaica is that there are no problems in Jamaica.  Only situations!  Thanks for going with me Kristen and being the perfect travel companion.  I'm thinking the Dominican Republic in about 2 years, when baby Petersen is a bit older!