Jamaican Journal- Wednesday Night

While packing I discovered the horrid truth. Gumby has turned into Rumby!

Jamaican Journal- Wednesday

Just sitting outside in the shade, reading, blogging, enjoying the Caribbean breezes. Today its actually quite a stiff wind, but enjoyable nonetheless. There's really not much to say about today. Just soaking up as much atmosphere as possible to take home with me. And trying to really relax, not worry about the life I'm heading home to tomorrow. We'll be leaving here right after breakfast for a 2 hour ride to the airport in Montego Bay. With luck we'll get there with no delays. But I'm not concerned. I think we did the right think coming here to Treasure Beach to be pampered, so I'm sure we'll get home just fine too.

We've tried all the Jamaican dishes we've come across, including Mackerel Rundown and Banana Porridge for breakfast today. I saw patties the other day, but not at a time or place where we were ready to eat, but I thought Josh would like to know they really make them. :) The food is terrific! They make everything from scratch, so there really is no fast food. And they give you a reasonable portion of food, which allows you to be pleasantly full, not stuffed.

We'll probably take a walk later on, and maybe a swim, but its just too hot out in the noonday sun to go out right now. So I guess I'll just keep sitting here. No problem.

Jamaican Journal- Tuesday

We awoke in the early morning to the sound of rain on our tin roof. It was just a passing shower, but welcomed by the locals nonetheless. Our planned outing for the day was a trip to YS Falls. Its a beautiful parklike area where you can swim under the falls at several of its many levels. The water was quite brisk, but it was refreshing after walking up a steep set of stairs to get there. That part of the island is like a rain forest and the vegetation was quite lush; with Jamaican Ginger, birds of paradise, palms, and more, as well as giant snails and hummingbirds and mongoose. On our way back we took a planned detour to Appleton Rum; A factory tour of the place where they make the finest Jamaican Rum. It was like a winery tour except they started us off with a glass of rum punch before we even left the main building! The whole place smelled of molasses, and, not surprisingly, was located next to a sugar cane field. After the tour we were allowed to sample as many of their products as we wanted (and purchase some too). Good thing we had our own driver. We also drove down Bamboo Ave, a section of road where bamboo grows tunnel-like over the road. And then made our way back to Treasure Beach. It was a long day. I'm glad that tomorrow we'll be sticking around here, so we can get in a final dose of relaxation.

Jamaican Journal- Monday

Another perfect day in Paradise. This morning we took an excursion to the Black River. We set out after a breakfast of pineapple pancakes to the fisherman's beach (walk along the beach and around the tree) to meet our captain, Ted. Ted and his dog Flora took us on a 40 minute ride across the sea to the Black River, the longest navigable river in Jamaica. We were in a 24 ft(?) boat powered by outboard motor. The river had such wonders as mangroves and waterlilies, a variety of birds including storks, kingfishers, and men-o-war (big birds). We saw a crocodile or two. And we stopped at Sister Lou's River Stop for some crab backs. Yum! Ted narrated our trip in a wonderful Jamaican accent, mon. (Occasionally he slowed the boat so he could take a cell phone call. Its an interesting juxtaposition of native and new technology). We saw a dolphin in the water of the cove near Black River. I'm sure I would have missed it had Ted not stopped and pointed it out. Just a brief glimpse or two, but magical nonetheless. On our way back we stopped at the famous Pelican Bar, a bar located ¾ mile out on a sand shoal. There were of course, pelicans all around, as well as a manta ray and some other small fish. The water was clear and spa-like warm as we waded nearby. The bar itself, like many buildings here, was little more than a hut, this one on stilts. Of course the only way to get there is by boat, so I expect the clientèle is mainly tourists. But we drank the local brews: Red Stripe, and Jamaican Ginger Beer (bottled by the Pepsi Cola company in Kingston).
The exchange rate here is about 60 Jamaican dollars to one American dollar, so its fun trying to figure out what we are spending. For example our drinks at the bar were 300 dollars. I considered that a reasonable price...it cost considerably more to get us there.
There were a few more rumbles of thunder this afternoon, but there is a lovely cool breeze right now. Our sunset may once again be lost in the clouds. Its hard to know what is normal, but this is considered part of the rainy season.
We missed the rum punch again yesterday at Duggies. We were too late and it was all gone, instead of being too early and missing it like on Saturday. Perhaps the rum punch is mythical. It seems like much of this is a dream....

Jamaica Journal - Sunday

We awoke to the most amazing view, the Sea and a palm tree right outside our door! It is very quiet so far, but we have had a visit or two from one of the resident dogs. We showered in what could be described as an invigorating water temperature, but it is refreshing at least. Trying to identify the flowers and birds is fun. Many of the plants we saw at the Botanical Conservatory in Ft.Wayne grow naturally here, including breadfruit trees, bananas, angel's trumpets (those hanging things), and many varieties of hibiscus. There are also lots of cacti, since this side of the island is drier than the north. Some of the plants we just don't have the experience to identify. Even the fruits are hard to do. There were goldfinches and some other small birds flying around at breakfast. Back near the shore we saw pelicans and some kind of heron as well. And I mentioned the lizards right?
We walked down the beach a ways and looked in amazement at the stuff in the tide pools. There are lots of things I don't really know much about, but the crabs were obvious. Luckily they scuttle away when people come near. We slathered on the sunscreen, but I still worried about being out during the day and burning. The sun is never lie this in Rochester. We discovered why we had an outdoor shower when we got back from the beach and needed to rinse off sand and sunscreen and sweat. The salt water feels cool, but I suspect the salt will be quite drying for the skin too. (But still, worth it...Its the Caribbean for goodness' sake).
We got a take-out jerk sausage pizza for lunch from Jack Sprats, the restaurant that's our near neighbor. After lunch we had a little afternoon nap. It seems really hot today, and the clerk at Jack Sprats told us it is unusually so. Thank God for the ocean breezes. Still working away at HP and hoping there will be no spoilers before we're through.
The time here is one hour earlier than EDT, but since there are no clocks it doesn't matter too much. Its hard to know how late it is except for when we get hungry. Actually with the heat and fatigue yesterday we just ate anyway, and then realized how hungry we had been. Looking forward to a cooler evening, another leasurely dinner at Jakes (there is no other way to have dinner at Jakes), and maybe some of Duggies famous rum punch. :)

Jamaica Journal - Saturday

By planning a trip at the very last minute I guess you miss all the weeks of being able to make people jealous by telling them you are going to Jamaica, but you also miss weeks of worry that things will work out. Happily for us, everything has worked very well.
Our flight from Philly left a little late (time spent sitting on the runway), so our arrival was also a little late. Then the airline ran out of immigration forms when it got to our row, so by the time we filled ours out on the ground we were waiting behind another planeload of passengers. So customs and immigration were the biggest frustration. Plus the air conditioning was not working in the airport, so it got a little stuffy. But all was well when we found our driver Keven waiting . He took us to Jerkey's for the most fabulous Jerk Chicken and Festivals (cornmeal fried dough things...maybe Jamaican french fries?). Steve even had a Red Stripe (the national beer). Then we had an interesting 2 hour drive to Treasure Beach. We arrived at Jakes and were taken right to our cottage, Jack Sprat. It is quaint, but has 2 bedrooms, bath, sitting room and kitchenette. The best part is the bedroom opens out to a patio and covered porch that is right on the Caribbean. We hear the waves. The sun set right outside our front door. It is warm and a little humid, but there are constant breezes.
We got a Pina Colada and Pineapple Punch from Dougies (the bar at Jakes) and came back to our cottage to watch the sun set (at 7:30). Then went back around 9 for dinner at Jakes, including an interesting mango sorbet for dessert.
There is some interesting wildlife around here. If you like lizards you can certainly get your fill, since they are clearly evident, including in the cottage. There were some huge frogs out too, but only after dark. And we do seem to have quite an ant population, but the lizards must take care of the mosquitoes, since there did not seem to be too many in evidence tonight. We had the extra entertainment of lightening and thunder over the island. I presume there was some rain in the mountains, but we felt only a few drops. (Which is good since we were sitting outside at Jakes.)
Sleep came easily after getting up at 4:30 to start our journey....