Jamaican Me Crazy

Turns out internet has been harder to find in the States than it was in Jamaica. We found out the Starbucks across the street provides free wi-fi though so here's a watered-down version of our trip. I realize you've come to expect a certain caliber of wit but there's just too much to write about. 

Here's a map of our trip provided by iPhoto. Who knew?

Our first taste of Jamaica was Montego Bay. Our plane landed around noon which gave us nearly a full day to explore before we left for Negril the next morning. This is our guest house below. AJ's holding a huge cup of peanut porridge that we each took one bite of. It was probably a taste that needed acquiring. Mo-Bay seemed scary to me but we braved the "Hip-Strip" anyway (a stretch of very touristy street lined with peddlers, shops, and bars) and I'm glad we did. We discovered a water park at Margaritaville. No purchase necessary. What??! It was awesome. Even more awesome for all the parents at the bar with kids, I'm sure.

 

(These are pictures we found online. I wanted you to see how cool this water place was but we didn't take any pics of our own here.)

The next morning we hired a driver to take us to Negril where we stayed the remainder of our trip. We got to see a lot of the country and its people while listening to the sounds of Bob Marley from both the radio and our driver, John. 

 

We stayed in the Negril Yoga Centre, across the road from the beach, where each room was its own little hut made private by window shades and surrounding jungle. The views were just as lush from each window.

We ate alot of Jerk Chicken. They sell it in 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, or whole portions. You ask for a quarter and he pulls out a whole chicken, chops it into four parts, gives you one, and you're stuck using your hands to separate meat from bones. You can get it on the side of the street but we usually came to this place because they also had fries and ketchup. 

We loved Negril. The walk to the beach was easy, the beach was beautiful, and the water clearer than any I've seen. We spent most of our time on the beach but tried to explore a little of the city as well. We took a cab to Rick's Cafe which is a popular tourist spot and I think it was the only time we saw other American tourists. We met mostly Europeans everywhere else. Ricks Cafe was fun though. It's a restaurant built right on the cliffs of West End, the other side of Negril. Several local teenage boys and a few hired divers performed tricks off the cliffs into the water. The more tips they got the better the tricks became. It was quite the show. AJ was really cool and jumped off one of the higher platforms too. We finished the night with dinner as the sun was setting. Jamaica really is a beautiful place. On Sunday, we found an LDS church nearby and thought a walk would be nice. We could see the locals laughing when we walked in and one of the ladies told me later it was because of how sweaty we were. It was a longer walk than we anticipated and mostly uphill but the humidity is what killed us. There were probably 20 members total, half of them kids and two of them missionaries. It was so fun! One of the missionaries was a kid from my high school which was a much welcomed surprise in such a foreign place.

The rest of our pictures were taken the day we left. We woke up at 6 AM so we would have time for Mayfield Falls on the way to the airport. We drove up into the mountains where the roads are sketchy and men can't contain the plants. I've never seen a place so lush. I don't think they have places to stay up here but if they did, this is where we would stay next time. If you ever find yourself in Jamaica, make it a priority to hike Mayfield Falls. The water was the perfect temperature and totally clear. It was shallow in most places but occasionally it'd get deeper allowing us to dive and swim around. The pictures aren't doing it justice. Part of what made it so cool was its surroundings. Trees and bamboo shoots around and above us so thick it was hard to see the sky. Our tour guide, Jermaine, was perfect. Funny, helpful, humble, acrobatic, and was nice enough to carry our camera and take pictures for us the whole way. This is the off-season for Jamaica so we were the only three on the river.

We loved our trip. Thank you Paul and Deb!