After a far too early 4am wakeup to brave the blizzard/ice storm covering Colorado, we arrived safely at the airport around 5. After fears that our flight would be cancelled due to the terrible weather were assuaged, we hopped on a plane to Dallas, looking forward to an in-flight nap. Tara and Andrew were headed in on a different flight, so we left them in Dallas and forged onwards to the Montego Bay airport.
After being harangued by a multitude of people trying to "help" us, we were able to find our car rental agency. The directions we had gotten sounded good at the time, but driving in Jamaica (as in any 3rd world country) was hairy at best. The horn is the Jamaican's average car-companion, not used to display frustration, or vent anger like in the US; but as a way of saying, "hello there, I see you." Although I had driven in Mexico a few times, even I was overwhelmed by the onslaught of people/bicycles/chickens/pedestrians/goats/trucks/motorcycles that could and would jump in front of the car at any moment. We had to kick Ty out of the front passenger seat because he was so afraid he kept jumping/yelling and scaring the shit out of me. For her part, Lexie did well to just look down at the floorboards and hug her seat.
We immediately found ourselves lost in a slum in Montego Bay; things were looking pretty bad, we had been prepared for poverty and were wary enough to have the sense not to get out and ask for directions. Thank goodness an employee who had just gotten home from his shift at the car rental spotted us, and led us out. He was highly displeased with only a 10 dollar tip for this service, and irritated that we weren't looking to buy any weed or xanex; but for our part, we were very grateful to have escaped unscathed.
We headed out on the very bumpy, ill-maintained 2 lane highway, towards Negril. I'm grateful we didn't stay at an all-inclusive resort, and I'm grateful we had a car, but the result of having our own means of transportation meant that we were able to see some rather graphic and tragic things that we wouldn't have otherwise seen. The poverty in Jamaica was far worse than I'd seen anywhere else, including the villages in Mexico I've been to where they resided in drafty pilapas with palm-frond roofs. Shanties and houses were put together with whatever material was available; this ranged from plywood, to cardboard, to fiberglass siding. It was pretty eye-opening.
After finally finding our hotel, just before dark, we ate a quiet meal at the restaurant and headed to bed. For some reason, Eric and I had 3 beds in our room, which we pushed together to make one giant bed. It was interesting to say the least. In the morning though, we were rewarded with a lush, floral landscape.
We took a walk down the road, and found a little cabana where we decided to get breakfast. We ended up spending the entire day there, snorkeling and enjoying good sandwiches and a Red Stripe or two.
Tara and I at said establishment...
We snorkeled and saw several puffer fish, and some coral, but little else. We watched this guy spear-fish without goggles or a snorkel, a pretty impressive feat.
We enjoyed our first Jamaican sunset.
The next morning, we took another walk down the road, looking for a place to eat breakfast, and stumbled on a restaurant/hotel "Sunset on the Cliffs". It was so extraordinary, that we vowed to eat there every morning. Things moved at a very Jamaican speed (very slowly), and we grew accustomed to spending a few hours there every morning. Fortunately, the reef there was really healthy, and there was some excellent snorkeling. The boys also spent time every morning jumping from the diving platform.
The best part was, we had the place to ourselves every morning.
We decided to go inland, looking for a the Royal Palm Wildlife Reserve to go for a hike. The mountains of Jamaica were beautiful, we were grateful for the occasion to enjoy them.
Goats...did I mention goats before? They are EVERYWHERE.
We didn't see a lot of wildlife at the preserve, but we did spot this guy warming himself.
We headed back to the shore for one of the most bizarre nights of my life. In a place like Negril, where we knew we were in danger of being scammed or mugged, we found ourselves hungry and tired. We walked down into town, and found ourselves putting our lives in the hands of a Rastafarian with a Louis Vuitton backpack. He told us he had the "best place to eat" at a "great party". Reluctantly, we followed him to a random locals only beach party. We gave him some money, and he got us some food from a makeshift kitchen on the beach. There were fires (and joints) blazing all around us. We ate gratefully, but nervously, while vendor after vendor kept approaching us, offering us jewelry, drugs, and handicrafts. Our Louis Vuitton acquaintance ended up being a true friend, sitting next to us, protecting us from the scowls of some of the locals around us. I have never been in a more potentially dangerous situation before or since. There was a strong sense there that we weren't welcome, but thank goodness there were six of us, so people were reluctant to outright threaten us. We did overhear several people asking Louis Vuitton "what the fuck" we were doing there, but we tried to turn a deaf ear and pretend to enjoy the blaring music. I was willing to stick it out and stay, but Eric was understandably too nervous to stay. We headed back to the hotel for the night, but everyone else went back later to see the fire dancers that were going to perform on the adjoining beach later on.
The next morning, We walked to Sunset on the Cliffs and prepared for a day of snorkeling and laying around.
We discovered a really good dinner restaurant, called "Sunset on the Beach" and decided that anytime something in Jamaica started with the words "Sunset on the..." it was promising.
The next day, we woke to find it was too choppy and cloudy to do anything in the water, so we decided to head inland to try and go to the mountains.
After getting lost as usual, we found ourselves again trusting a random man to get us somewhere. We pulled up next to him, he was sitting on his motorcycle, looking bored. We asked him for directions to some destination in the mountains, but he told us we didn't want to go there, it would be "boring". He suggested that instead, we follow him, and he would organize for us to take a "tour" of a waterfall and a "real Jamaican" village. As we discussed it, a European couple, just as lost as we were pulled up to ask for directions as well. He explained to them what he had just said to us, and we all agreed (what the hell) to follow him.
Thank goodness that every time we put our trust in somebody, they proved trustworthy. We did things in Jamaica that we would've never done alone, hoping that the number of us would keep us safe. I don't ever want to be suspicious or to think badly of people; it goes against the grain of everything I believe in to stereotype people--particularly people living in poverty, so I am glad that our experiences turned out well, even though we trusted some people that looked rather suspect to begin with. We ended up with this guy...our "tour guide" who actually was pretty knowledgable about local flora and fauna. He took us on a tour of his village, showing us how people in Jamaica lived on a day-to-day basis.
He took us to the local swimming hole, next to their water treatment plant, we gratefully jumped in, as the heat inland was a little stifling.
Can you see the elephant?
There's your typical Jamaican home, pretty sad...
We wandered around, sampling all kinds of fruit that we should've been weary about contracting GI issues from. We ate Ackee, Sour Sop, Padoo fruit, Malay apples, Breadfruit, and the best mango I've ever had.
Cocoa, tastes nothing like the chocolate we eat.
And of course, there was wild ganja! We ended up climbing this weird half-mountain, going to our guide's friend's house that overlooked a huge marijuana crop. We asked him how they maintained the ganja fields, since marijuana was HIGHLY illegal in Jamaica, and he told us that every couple years, the government would send people to go down and burn the entire crop, but that there was little else they could do to control or stop it.
Looking out at ganja fields as far as the eye could see. This was certainly not your average Jamaica tour, we would've never seen or experienced these things had we not set out on our own and blindly trusted a few good locals.
We gave our towels away to the local girls, since they didn't have anything to dry off with after swimming.
Lexie and I with the guy we followed (left) and our tour guide (next to me).
We headed back to the coast, enjoying another sunset.
After deciding Eric had finally recovered from his corneal abrasion, he was finally able to join the boys in their morning quest to jump off shit.
We decided to go horseback riding that day. They actually made us wear helmets. Safety first in a country with the worst drivers ever!
They let us take the horses into the lagoon and swim; it was pretty incredible, but I ended up feeling sorry for my skinny horse.
The next day, we decided to go to Jackie's on the beach, a place we had stumbled upon while trying to find our hotel the first day. We got sidetracked by some kind of touristy Margaritaville-like place. They had a little platform where you could jump from 35 feet into the ocean. Yikes! Crazy Andrew actually paid money to climb up onto the higher platform to jump 45 feet. Eric stood there and psyched himself out for about 20 minutes before finally jumping. I still can't believe he did it after standing there looking over the edge for so long. I know my limits--I would've never even tried it, but if I had gotten up there and frozen, I would've never jumped. I commend him for doing it.
Andrew jumping from the higher platform...crazy.
We made it to Jackie's on the Reef in time to enjoy (or not enjoy rather) some healthy aloe vera shots, and tasty lunch. Jackie used to live in Utah, but moved to Jamaica and opened her own place on the beach, a little sanctuary with yoga, massages, and tasty, healthy food. She told us that she'd go for a snorkel with us, and that she did!
The reef there was incredible, we really enjoyed it. I saw my first octopus, and Tara fully got over her fear of being in the ocean, it was great. I saw a large moray eel and some gorgeous tang. It was a great snorkel.
We decided to spend our last afternoon renting jetskis and terrorizing the ocean, I didn't know better yet. We had rented them a few days earlier, and I scared the crap out of Eric, enjoying him screaming while I eventually (and accidentally, I assure you) dumped him off the back, sending his hideous glasses to a watery grave. I wanted to take Tara out, we had gotten into our first really bad argument on the trip, and we needed some alone time to get things better again. For being terrified of the water, she screamed less than Eric did!
One thing to mention, is that it is very abnormal for a woman in Jamaica to drive...or operate any kind of machinery. This guy was more than a little nervous about letting me take his jetski out for a run.
There are moments in life where the pieces all just seem to fit...this was one of them. We were all alone, on glassy water, flying around in the sunset. It was one of the most gorgeous moments in my entire life. There is no one besides Eric I would've rather shared it with.
A group goodbye shot from the hotel lobby. Sadly, Andrew was too passed out to participate. Maybe it had something to do with the starfish?
I enjoyed our experience in Jamaica, but sadly, it isn't a place I want to go back to. The poverty and drug addiction there are so sad that you can't help but be affected. Not to say that you shouldn't be...I think it's really important to experience life through other's eyes. One of the best conversations I've ever had with a stranger happened one night in Jamaica. We met so many cool people, but saw so much sadness too. I was definitely left with a sense of gratitude for all that I have, and reminded that it's my responsibility to give some of that back.