Jamaica, no problem!
Trip Start
May 10, 2009
1
46
48
Trip End
Nov 02, 2009
Where I stayed
Bethel Court Guest House
Montego Bay, Jamaica
Monday, October 19, 2009
Our flight from Quito was delayed which meant we missed our connection and spent a night in Miami to catch an early flight the next day. In our already relaxed state of mind we just rolled with the punches and got to Montego Bay a day later than planned, no biggie.
Upon arrival in Montego Bay (or Mobay) we were immediately introduced to the relaxed island vibes! A reggae band in the baggage hall at the airport is not a bad start! The guest house we found was great - a little far from the beach though but that allowed us to drive through the whole town every day and chat to some of the coolest taxi drivers on earth! A trip to the supermarket to stock up on Red Stripes (beers), local rum and some food and we were all set for the week.
Our time there was largely spent on the beaches and wandering up and down the 'Hip Strip' which is basically the main tourist street with all the beaches, gift shops, bars, restaurants and taxis. One of the bars there is the Bobsled Bar which is famous as it contains the first original Jamaican Bobsled from the 1988 Winter Olympics.
Montego Bay has some incredible beaches, the best of them being Doctors Cave. A short strip of white sand with trees and palm trees and the perfect clear Caribbean sea lapping on the sand... They have some floating trampolines out on the water and its great for snorkeling too! We also visited Walter Fletcher beach which is a little bigger and a couple of the other local beaches.
For the whole week the weather played its part except for the daily thunderstorms at around 3pm. One badly timed walk saw us getting soaked but other than that it was hot hot hot beach weather every day.
Another great bar was Margaritaville which had their own waterslide into the sea! It was great for sundowners although the beer-index there was a little steep, so as soon as the DJ arrived with his police siren sound effects and ruined the atmosphere we generally wandered elsewhere...
Jamaicans are without doubt the friendliest people we have met on this trip. So many times people just came up and shook your hands and just wanted to chat. There were never any hassles, we never felt threatened, and most conversations ended with them asking if we wanted a taxi, bangles, hair braids and finally an offer of some weed!
One such conversation we will never forget though. Craig and I were swimming at Doctors Cave and were about neck deep in water when suddenly a local guy popped up with goggles on his head. The conversation went something like this:
Diver: Yah mon, I'm a diver. Welcome to Jamaica.
Us: Thanks!
Diver: So you wanna buy some shells? These are special shells that never age mon.
Us: No thanks, we are ok. We don't want any shells.
Diver: (digging into his pocket underwater pulls out a bunch of soaking wet bangles) Ok, den. How 'bout a bangle?
Us: No thanks, we already got one.
Diver: Ok, den. You wanna ride a jetski?
Us: No thanks, maybe another time.
Diver: Yah mon, ok den. how 'bout a smoke?
Craig: Haha, surely that will be a bit wet now?
Diver (grinning madly): Naaah mon. I got that sh** wrapped up nice and dry mon!
It was Ang's birthday as well which entailed sneaking around a little to organise some presents and treat her to some awesome parasailing! It also gave us a chance to hit the Mobay nightlife, which sadly was a bit dismal in the tourist off season! After warming up with far too many drinks for not much of a party, the night ended with us banging on the door and begging to be let in to Burger King before finally giving up and hitting KFC...
On our last day we got a local taxi driver to take us down the road to Negril, another town on the west of the country. There is a great beach there (7-mile beach) and some cliffs with the most amazing turquoise water crashing beneath.
To sum it up, Mobay served its purpose perfectly: gave us a chance to catch up with Craig, do some swimming, catch a tan, drink some beers but most of all just take it easy and relax and have a holiday form our holiday!
Comments
Jamaica, Last stop!
I have so enjoyed reading all your adventures, and things you experienced that I can almost feel how you are both going to feel when back in 'old London town'. It'll take some getting used to, but in the meantime, you have so many memories to re-live together, and with your friends, that should keep you going for years!! xx