The Young and the Restless

Day 4: ...Jamaica, oooohhh I wanna take ya....

Every stereotype I've heard about Jamaica is true: 
It is beautiful. 
They all say "ya, mon". 
Everyone smokes pot.
We were excited to finally get off the boat and start exploring.  The 15 ft swells prevented us from docking at our original port in Falmouth, but 2 hours later we finally landed at Ocho Rios. And it was raining.  But we didn't let that dampen our spirits (pun intended). Our first stop was horseback riding (between all our cameras we had tons of pictures so I can't take credit for them all.  Matt took that cool picture above and the one right below is what I'll always imagine whenever I think of Jamaica).

Our driver took us to these "stables" then we took a wet ride through the jungles and villages then ended up at the beach.

While we let the horses rest, our guides took advantage of the down time to puff a few joints.  They were kind enough to share some with the horses too.  No wonder they were a bit skittish after that.  Then we hopped on the horses and rode right into the ocean, it was amazing.  Until the lead horse pooped and it floated all over us.

my Chinese Man from Snowy River

Then we rode along the shore line where the view was breath taking.  The blue water, the lush green landscape and the ominous clouds rolling in.  We soaked it all in and then literally got soaked again by the rain.  And then I almost died when my horse took off running and I couldn't get it to stop.  Thankfully the only casualty was the spray tan on my inner leg and I looked like I had a bad case of Vitiligo. 

Then our driver took us to the world famous Dunns River falls.  It was amazing.  It's this huge tiered waterfall that flows right into the ocean.  You (and a million other tourists) take a 45 min hike right up the middle of it to the top.  The guides are fun and bring out the crazy in you.  We have a video from there and we all act like we're spring breakers and not responsible parents, it's emberassing and liberating. 

Then our driver took us on a little drive through the villages to do some shopping.  I love shopping, but I hated this.  It was so uncomfortable, they follow you around begging you to come to their shops and then make you feel guilty if you don't buy anything.  We swear all the women put vodoo curses on us after we left.  In a good faith measure, we did buy a little wooden turtle for Maddox that he has named "Turtle Number" and added it to his collection of treasures that he carries around in his blue trick or treating pumpkin. But it was cool to experience a little bit of their culture and spend an incredible day in such a beautiful island tucked away in the Carribean.