Day 9- Jamaica

Last port Jamaica. When you first arrive you look out and see this beautiful island. Then, as you leave the ship and start on your tour you realize it is all smoke and mirrors. Seriously! Jamaica was by far the scariest place we visited, not to mention all they talk about is their bars, rum, marijuana- need I say more?? The people here seem to be very poor. They rely on tourism to keep them afloat. Our guide was telling us how after our tour the season was over and they would all move to some rich people's land and wash their clothes in the river and camp out there. I guess you can say they have a pretty good attitude about their poverty because everything is "No problem mon"- literally everything! They are very outspoken about wanting to sell you things and that you had better tip everyone that pretty much talks to you which got really old, really fast. We were signed up for a tour in Jamaica- a romantic bamboo raft ride down the Martha Brae River. As we drove through the countryside to reach our destination I was struck by how dirty everything was. Even the resorts that we passed (Beaches,Sandles) didn't look all that great from what I could see. There were people peeing and pooping (yes I said poop) on the side of the road and cops EVERYWHERE with MACHINE GUNS. Many times we passed a group of 4 or 5 cops with somebody pulled over on the side of the road. It was scary!

When we finally reached our destination it was pretty but we all seemed a little "reserved" about the whole situation. Our guide told us that there was a small bar up the path where we could get a juice refreshment (supposed to be part of the tour package) before we got our our rafts. As Shawn and I walked up there we got there just in time to hear another group express their frustration with their guide misleading them that the drinks were "complimentary" with rum and then being charged $6.00 for it. Shawn and I opted to not even chance it with the fruit juice- we didn't want to get charged or sick for that matter. When it was finally time for us to go they gave us life jackets (which we later took off because the river was so slow and lazy we didn't need them) and then we went down some concrete steps to the river where dozens of bamboo rafts and their "drivers" waited, hoping to get picked to take us down the river.

This was our river guide, I think his name was Glenfield- I honestly can't remember. He was very informative about the vegetation and stuff but he seemed to be carrying a lot of anger with him. I'm sure these poor people are resentful of the "rich" tourists that come and they have to rely on the tips them make off of them. It ended up not being really very romantic, all of the rafts were within 5 feet of each other usually and would sometimes even slam into each other and the guides would talk back and forth amongst each other and you couldn't understand what they were saying (I'm sure they were talking smack about all of us). Then about every 10 yards down the river was a "booth" with people trying to sell stuff to us. They would even throw things out at us and we would have to throw them back yelling that we didn't want it. Some of the other guides were also whittling stuff as they went down the river hoping to sell it to their "riders". Thankfully our guide realized pretty early on that we were not going to be buying anything from anyone and he didn't even offer. Maybe that's why he was angry and resentful - who knows...

Here is one of the stands set up along the river trying to sell stuff.

I think this was the pimento plants- it's what allspice is made out of.

See, it was pretty.

These were wild orchids that grow in the trees.

This is a termite nest- yuck!

After we got back to the port we decided to take a quick trip into the town because everyone on the ship had been telling us how cheap the name brand watches were in Jamaica. Shawn had been eyeing one on the ship but didn't want to get it until he saw what kind of deal he could get here. As we left the safety of the port we immediately get accosted by some guy trying to sell us marijuana. Do we look like the type of people who smoke marijuana??? Ugh! Shawn quickly sent him on his way. It didn't take us long to realize there were no deals to be had in Jamaica- at least not on watches. It appeared the rum was really cheap but seeing as how we don't drink it was kind of a moot point. It was crazy because on the way back to the ship we saw the Hard Rock Cafe and thought we'd stop in there quick because Shawn usually likes to get hats from all of the Hard Rocks he visits. We walked in and were bombarded by the natives! We had to hurry and get out of the store because we felt to threatened in there! Yeah, we left without a hat but since we hated the place it really didn't matter...

We did break down and buy 4 coffee bean necklaces for our kids for $2.00 on the way back to the ship. The guy selling next to the one we bought from was mad because he sold them to us so cheap. I have never been so glad to leave a place before!!!!

SO glad to be back at the ship! Island Princess, take me away!!

This is a couple from our stake that was on the same cruise. Kim and John Lemeux(?). It was funny when we saw them. We were sitting in the theater watching a show when Shawn spotted them a few rows in front of us. We serve on the Stake Activity Committee together. We figured we'd better get a picture of them because otherwise no one would believe us that we ran into someone we knew on the ship! It was fun to visit with them.

The cruise directors on the ship did this fun activity to get everyone all excited. They started bouncing around balloons all over the theater. It was hilarious to see everyone getting into it- especially with all of the geriatric's on board!!