The Next Chapter: shopping

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Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Day 522 - Jamaica

Posted by Jill Marie

This morning Jaco rang me to let me know I had a tour in one hour. Yay! I was going on a little cruise to Paradise Cove! I haven’t previously done the tour, so I was excited to do something new in Jamaica.

It was a RIOT! I was a little concerned, as the catamaran I boarded was quite full. I’m used to small groups on smaller catamarans. But they made it work!

We sailed down the coast for an hour & on the way we passed a home formerly owned by Mick Jagger with a beautiful waterfall cascading into the ocean. We also passed the infamous Dunn’s River Falls & witnessed the first group of tourists starting their climb up the falls. Shortly after the falls, we arrived at our swimming spot.

It was beautiful! I had taken my snorkeling gear – mostly because I’m a poor swimmer & with my fins & mask I feel much more comfortable! They made us tie on a lifejacket around our waists, which suited me just fine! By the time I let all the other passengers get into the water, some were climbing out already! What gives? The water was BEAUTIFUL! It was so refreshing! I didn’t want to get out! I asked the guides how long we would be in the water – thinking it would be an hour – 25 minutes was the reply! 25 minutes! That’s nothing! I told them I would be the last one out of the water! And I was!

By the time I climbed back on board, the passengers had devoured all the fresh fruit. Oh well. I think I’ve got a nut bar in my bag! I took a few more photos as we sailed down the scenic & stunning coastline. When they announced they were going to sail out into the ocean, I guessed that the waves would be splashing over the front of the catamaran. I guessed right!

I went to put my camera away & join a young girl sitting on the mesh at the front & by the time I returned, the area had cleared! There had been a few big splashes & everyone left! Perfect! I had a blast! It was just like a catamaran tour I did in Barbados with the Photo Department. The highlight was sitting in the front getting splashed! Today was the sequel!

One other fellow sat up front with me, mostly because it was too rough for him to stand up & move elsewhere! He kept getting salt water in his rum punch. I was squealing like a little kid on Christmas morning! When I left the catamaran, the dried salt felt like shards of glass on my skin. All that was missing was the tequila & lime!

I showered & headed back out to visit Island Village one last time. I found a shirt for Jaco at Margaritaville – yes, Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville. It looks great on him! (Jaco, not Jimmy Buffet!) I found a few of my friends from the shops & visited with them until I felt the sun piercing my skin. Wow. It is SO hot here!

I left for the ship, got hassled on the way back – as you do in Jamaica – and then went to the Medical Centre to take a few x-rays. Yes, that’s right! I didn’t do the x-rays myself, but one of the Nurses needed a digital file of his wife’s x-rays, so he asked me to take the photos on my higher resolution camera. It was a fun challenge & I edited them straight away.

Once I was finished with that, I helped my Shorex pals for 20 minutes or so & then it was back to the cabin. To begin, ugh, packing. It’s that time. I’ve packed a lot this evening. I still have a LONG ways to go, but I’ve put a pretty big dent in things. At least the cabin steward won’t have to do too much tomorrow! There’s no room to clean anything!

It’s one hour forward tonight, so I’m losing sleep as I type! That’s me for a great day in Jamaica!

Lekker slaap!

xxxxMaria

The home away from home.

Dolphin Discovery

Mick Jagger used to own this property!

The Infamous Dunn's River Falls

Not much to see under the water. A shell & one urchin.

Interesting way to take the rope back!

Yah Mon! Everyting Irie.

Tuesday, March 08, 2011

Day 501 - The Aquarium, Grenada

Posted by Jill Marie

Since we had a late sail last night, we had a late arrival this morning. We docked around 1030 & shortly thereafter, Leana called & asked me if I wanted to go with her & Bronwyn to a beach. Of course!

We left just after 1100 & Leana directed the taxi driver to take us to the Aquarium. I hadn’t been further than Grand Anse Beach, so I was excited to see what laid beyond it! We weaved in & out of traffic, past the airport & finally turned down a VERY steep hill. It was so steep, in fact, that when the driver turned the van to park perpendicular to the hill, I thought surely the van was going to tip over. Of course we exited the van on the downhill side! Thankfully we lived to tell the story!

The Aquarium was BEAUTIFUL! It was a restaurant built at the foot of a rock cliff right on the beach. The waves were quite intimidating, but the water was inviting. We enjoyed some virgin piña colada’s & the scenery. It was a very impressive restaurant – many sections wrapped around the cliffs & trees, earthy décor, and of course, the view was unbeatable!

After our drinks were finished, we found a little tree to put our things under & went into the water. There were only about 6 other people on the entire beach. It was very quiet. Getting into the water was a challenge. I knew getting out would be an even bigger challenge.

We swam away from the shore for a short distance to escape the waves tossing us into the sand – there was quite a little swell for this prairie chick! These were definitely the biggest waves I’ve ever swam in. I’m not too brave when it comes to water, but I’m proud that I managed so well today!

We then swam parallel to the beach towards a darker patch of water where Leana knew there was more coral, thus more sealife. The sealife was actually really good! I haven’t had a whole lot of luck snorkeling from shore & finding plenty of fish, but today was a great exception! We even saw a few seahorses! My favourite! Leana & Bronwyn saw a funky fish that I missed, but I saw plenty of other fish. I don’t know the names of the fish yet, but I am trying to learn! I know I saw Blue Tangs, Sergeant Majors, Butterfly Fish, and those really pretty black ones with yellow tails & luminescent blue dots on their bodies.

We managed to gracefully exit the water & waves without drowning ourselves & Bronwyn caught a little sun while Leana & I bobbed up & down in the waves. We caught the same taxi back & worried about tipping the van down the steep hill – thankfully I didn’t eat anything at the restaurant, otherwise the chain of events could have been VERY different!

The girls did a little shopping in the terminal & then headed back for afternoon clinic. I returned to the ship & took my laptop off to do a little blogging. We were in port with a magnificent Windstar ship – one of the tall sailing ships. They are beautiful with 4 giant sailing masts. They sailed a little before our ship & when they blasted the ship’s whistle to signal their leaving port, I got a little nervous, so I packed up & headed back to the glorious Sea Princess.

The evening proved fairly uneventful. My right ear blocked today while we were snorkeling, so Jaco blew it out for me. It was rather disgusting, but the return of my hearing capabilities to that ear were worth it! In fact, it now feels like the left ear is blocked, as I can hear so clearly from the right ear! Jaco assures me that both ears are clean & clear.

The same ear blocked in 2003 – I was in Victoria with an old boyfriend. We were walking along the waterfront & he said, (or so I thought) ‘The trees sure are pretty’ – it was Autumn & the leaves were changing colour. I replied, ‘Yeah, they sure are.’ He looked at me like I was crazy & started to laugh. He asked if I’d heard him right & I repeated what I thought he’d said. He laughed harder & said, ‘No, I said, ‘Gee, I have to pee’’. Oops.

This should prevent any diving escapades, as well as any miscommunications… I hope.

xxxxMaria

Yours truly

Nice view!

Bronwyn & Leana

Funky place

Turtles!

Sunset as the tall ship sailed away

Tuesday, March 01, 2011

Day 494 - Ocho Rios, Jamaica

Posted by Jill Marie

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