The Next Chapter: Day 494 - Ocho Rios, Jamaica

A little tired, of course, but I was up & somewhat at it by 0830 & ready (somewhat) to meet M&D2 by 0900. They came to fetch me from the cabin & I was just finishing watering the sprouts & making my protein shake. We headed off the ship & found our tour van outside the terminal. Of course we stopped for a gangway photo on our way!

Once we were in the van, we waited for 3 more passengers. It turned out to be the Doctor & 2 of the Nurses! I was quite happy to see them! We bounced our way up a windy & rough road, arriving at a small clearing where we got suited up for our big zipline adventure! I had forgotten how ‘comfortable’ harnesses were. They are not forgiving in all the right or ‘wrong’ places!

We were given a demonstration on how to brake & what to do & not do when traversing. It started to rain as we finished up & made the path down to the first traverse VERY slippery. I’ve down zipline tours in Costa Rica & Belize, but this one takes the cake. There were 9 traverses in all, the last one being 660’ long! But the part that made it the craziest of all were the 2 rappels. I’ve rappelled before, but generally I control the rate at which I descend. Not this time. Oh Good Lord! I’m still alive, as I’m typing this, but I thought surely I would die. The guides ‘dropped it like it was hot’ – ‘it’ being yours truly. The first rappel was at a steep angle & I FLEW. In fact, I went so fast I could have sworn I broke the sound of speed. The second rappel was STRAIGHT DOWN. Legs out, elbows out & up & down you go. Holy smackerel. I will try to upload the video of our dear Scottish friend, Sandra, as she is deathly afraid of her husband & I hope she at least made a trade for a diamond bracelet in exchange for doing this tour, as I’m sure she knocked a few years off her life! I was afraid & I thought I was brave! Ha! I’ve honestly never descended so quickly. I’m amazed the guides could react so fast & ensure our safe landing!!!

After the rappels were over, it was smooth sailing & my knees eventually stopped shaking! The 6 of us had a wonderful time! It was brilliant! Whee! Sailing through the air on a horizontal plane is just like flying! At the end of the tour, we walked a short distance alongside a clear river & past many beautiful flowers & plants. At the end, we stopped next to some kind of tree that had green flowers – the guides called it a ‘Jade’ flower & warned us about the bees enjoying the flowers on the tree.

We stopped at the Chukka Polo Club & checked out the photos taken of us on the trip. It was fun to see our expressions! M&D2 & some of the girls picked up shirts that said, ‘Me Jane’ & ‘Me Tarzan’ on the back. We dropped off the Nurses & Doctor at a famous Jerk Chicken eatery & I picked up a green coconut for $2. After I downed the water, I was pretty stoked to find a lot of meat inside of it! More bacon! Yum!

Once back at the ship, M&D2 headed for the buffet, I enjoyed the leftover kelp noodles. We met up & headed back out for the mandatory souvenir shopping. (Jaco met me on my way out. He was headed for a nap)

We went to Island Village & looked in a few shops. After the 3^rd one, we decided we were getting bored of t-shirts & coffee mugs. Making a beeline for the little patch of beach next to Margaritaville, we were kicking off our sandals & heading for the water. That’s when we heard the whistle blowing. The guy manning the beach wanted $3/pp to be on the beach. Are you kidding me? We didn’t even have swimsuits or towels with us. He wouldn’t even let us get our feet wet. What a sour taste that left in our mouths. I have spoken to a few people who are NOT impressed with the hassling they received while ashore in Ocho Rios. It’s very sad, as Jamaica is a beautiful place, but if they aren’t careful, they are going to get themselves in hot water!

M&D2 headed back to the first shop & then back to the ship. I looked around a bit more on my own before I returned in time for sailing.

For supper, we went to the pizzeria (again) & enjoyed some great laughs. I decided to introduce them to Tortuga Rum Cake for dessert, so I picked up a few in the shops & then headed upstairs to Horizon so we could get some ice cream. I was tearing into the cake & trying to cut the plastic wrap when I slipped & knocked the wine glass off the table. It hit carpet, but still managed to shatter. I think it must’ve bounced up & hit the base of the table. I was MORTIFIED! It made a fair bit of noise & everyone stopped & stared at the wreckless clutz breaking the place up! Oopsie!

After the destroying was finished, M&D2 thoroughly enjoyed the rum cake. I have been having such a great time introducing them to all the wonderful things the encompass the Caribbean & Cruising. I don’t think this will be their last rum cake! If you haven’t had one yet, treat yourself!

Finally ready to retire for the evening, we headed to our cabins. Jaco was still working hard & sometime around 0230 he finally made it to bed. Poor fella! I hope we can have some time together next cruise! M&D2 have hardly seen him!

xxxxMaria