Jamaica

December 2010

Jamaica

My family had all planned to go to Morocco but thanks to some amazingly brutal snow storms in England we last minute changed to Jamaica.   The island was a typical tropical paradise but you can see the poverty on every corner.   The people were all very friendly and thankful to have tourists.   The world economic downturn had greatly affected them, many of the tourists are Americans who make Jamaica their yearly vacation spot.    Never the less the resort we stayed at near Ocho Rios was beautiful.   It was an all inclusive some wade made sure to drink as much 18 year old rum as possible and eat 4 lunches everyday.   They had lots of water sports but not too much in the way of real adventure.

We did go to a place called Fern Gully which is basically a road that winds through a piece of tropical rain forest.   We were told there was once a river but one day there was a loud crash and the river disappeared so they built the road in its place and now tourists drive on it.   On the road are a couple of people looking to make some money or 'tips' as everyone refers to them.  This is Wade with a 'Jill of the Jungle'.   The story is that escaping slaves would run into the thick jungle and hide from the English and then would be called Jill or Jack of the Jungle.




One place you have to go is Scotchie's.  They have smoked/BBQ meats and fish as well as side dishes of sweet potatoes, rice and beans, and our favorite festival.   They also have the worlds hottest peppers called scotch bonnets, not kidding, if you have had one you know I am serious.  The hot sauce they made from them was amazing and if you like hot you must try it. 






Outside of the resort you could see poverty around every corner.  At one grocery store we saw a man buy what looked like a cup and a half of rice, I could only hope it was just a bad week.  We found Jamaica to be a beautiful country with desperate people, their land being mined out from underneath them.  We did have a great time, a very unexpected vacation!