After that, we deserved a little break and needed a little exercise, so in true Jamaican style we went climbing. Up a waterfall. Dunn's River falls has been voted best attraction in Jamaica a couple of years running now and its very easy to understand why. You walk down to a beautiful beach (try to go on a day when no cruise ships are around, its hard to spot the sand otherwise) where the sea is warm and there is plenty of watersports available. The main attraction though is a lot more fun and the water is a little cooler, although it is probably around 21-22 degrees Celsius, but nonetheless this is a good thing. The climb itself is not that hard and the first section is definitely the worst, but it is beautiful. Along the far side there are a few side streams that meander and it feels like you are a little further away from the throng of people, if you happen to go there on cruise ship day as we did. There are also quite a few tiny pools that have been carved out where you can soak for a while and just enjoy. I think both my Mother and Bosse enjoyed it, and Bosse looked like he was 10 years younger when he was bounding up the cliffs. Actually, make that 30.
On Monday, the Ledgister clan and a lot of friends of the family descended on our Jamaican reception. It was great to finally put real-live faces to all the names from the stories Vaniah have been telling me (all good, rest assured). And for Vaniah it was equally great to see the long-lost relatives and friends. It was great to be able to celebrate our marriage with all the people who could not make it over to the actual wedding. And the food was good this time as well!!
The next day we took out route-taxi rental car down to Treasure beach on the south coast where my Mother and Bosse were staying for a few nights at Jakes. But we made sure to stop by the Appleton rum factory before, since both our guests have a taste for that particular beverage. They also enjoyed the scenery along 'the less traveled roads' (that means bad bad roads in the bush through small villages and without any signs along it)!
We made it down to Jakes though, and since we like that place so much me and Vaniah had decided that we were going to stay there a night too and show them around. We installed ourselves in the two bedroom apartment and sat down on the patio and played some dominoes, drank Red Stripe and watched the sun set in the Caribbean. Just the kind of relaxing evening we needed after a few days of functions.And now, after driving back up to Montego Bay,
spending a night with the family and packing up we are in a very very quiet (deserted) Miami International Airport as the clock ticks toward midnight on new-years eve. Jamaica treated us well this time as well, its always such a treat and an experience and we're already planning the next trip back, with some friends. Any takers???But our next stop Peru where flights 18 and 19 (if we've counted correctly) will take us to Iquitos.
Hope you all had a great Christmas and that you will have a fantastic 2010.
