Trelawny

After alighting, we headed through the cruise ship shopping village to a large tour bus. As expected, the speakers on the bus piped out a steady stream of Bob Marley songs. Our tour guide provided a brief overview of the day and then instructed us on important phrases, such as “ya mon” and “no worries.” Every time I asked one of the kids a question, I received a hearty, “Ya mon.”

Our first stop was Dunns River Falls. When we arrived at the bottom of the falls, it was a chaotic scene with a thousand tourists zigzagging up the falls. I had a moment of regret, thinking that I know better than to take a tour like this, but we had a great guide. He lingered at the bottom, letting us adjust to the cool water and describing our mission: we were walking in the falls from bottom to top. We started with a quick slide down a rock. Going all the way under, I was thoroughly cooled from the hot, humid air. We made our way up another level of the falls, and I noticed that the crowds were thinning, and there was no one behind our little group. Our guide showed us small pools, where we all took a Nestea tea plunge, and he led Dave to a a rock face, where the water fell about six or seven feet. He had Dave lean up against the rock, where his head sprayed the tumbling water out in all directions. It was a weird phenomenon that made the water look like an umbrella over Dave’s head. As we moved away, I noticed that there were just a few people on the falls. I don’t know how our guide did it, but he managed to separate us from the masses, so that we had a great experience. None of us had actually climbed IN falls before, so the hike was unique. The girls loved the time in the water, and it ended way too soon.

We returned to the bus and the looping Bob Marley tunes for a quick stop at a souvenir store. There wasn’t much calling my name, so I decided to save my money for something else. We all boarded the big bus again and headed to the beach. The girls commented on all the wild dogs, so we told them about the boonie dogs in Guam. Like the one that got roasted on a spit next to a pig for our neighbor’s party. They didn’t appreciate the story as much as I hoped, so I stayed quiet and enjoyed the scenery as it passed.

We arrived at Bamboo Beach, just as a little rainstorm passed through. The servers brought us drinks and slowly distributed our lunch. We started with a small salad, followed by jerk chicken, and a dessert. In between servings, we splashed in the water and walked in the sand. It wasn’t much of a beach, although Kim and the girls enjoyed some snorkeling. The water was shallow, making anything but wading up to your knees impossible. It was a bit disappointing, so it was good that we didn’t stay too long. As they gathered us up to head back to the ship, the adults looked at the time and did some quick calculating; is it even possible to get back to the ship by the time it departs?

A whole bus load of very anxious passengers arrived at the dock a minute or two ahead of the scheduled departure time. I was surprised that the tour wasn’t better timed, but it’s Jamaica, and there’s no worries, mon.Read more