Trip Report 1 ~ Grand Pineapple ~ May 2011

[lovenegril]

Day 3 ~ We are not in trouble with Julie since we still got up early, had our morning coffee on the porch and were ready to go to the falls when our driver picked us up at 9:00. What can I say about Mayfield Falls, it was beautiful. I highly recommend it if you have never been there. But, I had even more fun driving there and seeing the people along the way. It is amazing to me how everyone would smile and wave, the goats staked to the side of the road and friendly people hanging their laundry. Our driver explained to us that in Jamaica many of the houses are not fully built because they don't believe in credit. You build what you have the money for, and then add on when you have more. I can't imagine living like that, but maybe it's how we should all be.

Once we get to the falls, there is quite a bit of hiking and the water was chilly once you got in. But, coming from the midwest, I have never seen a waterfall and it was exhilarating. Our guides were amazing here as well, I love the fact that they honestly cared about your experience because it made everything better. It was also great hiking back through the forest, seeing the different leaves, trees, and plants. Once again, if you have never been there, GO! But, it is tiring. We have a drink at the Mayfield bar, buy a few small crafts and head back to Negril. We are pretty quiet on the way back, tired, and navigating the narrow roads with pot holes everywhere must be a task for our driver. Suddenly, he comes to a stop and curses Bumboclot. In front of us, blocking traffic are 2 cars that must have gotten into a small fender bender. They are out of the cars in the middle of the street yelling at each other. Our driver assures us "No Worries" they are just settling it Jamaican style, he honks his horn for them to get out of the way. He is trying to pass them when one of the men pulls out a machete and starts waving it at the other guy. The other guy then runs to his car and grabs a pipe. "Can we get out of here?" we ask. Our driver is trying to get around them and keep us out of the middle of everything when the guy with the pipe hits the other guy and he goes down. The other guy gets up slowly and charges at the guy with his machete. Quickly but carefully, our driver gets us out of harms way as we fly past there before we see if any more blood is shed.

So, that was exciting, and we are ready to relax. We head into town with just a quick stop at the ATM before getting back to Grand Pineapple. It was an exciting trip and we decide tonight we are just gonna relax at GP because they are having buffet on the beach and a reggae band. We take a quick nap, shower and head down to the buffet. It was lovely and I got to try callaloo (must try) which is absolutely my favorite food. Love love love it!!!! The band was nice, people were dancing, and Andrew the bartender even got up and sang. We had much fun and met some other great tourists. We were sitting on the beach and our friends ~ Shama, Ian, Cyrano, and Greg wave us over. We go over to say hi and the first question I ask them is "Last night were you guys laughing at us, or were you laughing with us?" "No mon, we were laughing WITH you and WITH Eryn as she went skippity skippity skippity all over the beach. They want us to hang out again but we are too tired, but we make plans to go snorkeling and to the island with them in 2 days. Sitting at the bar on the beach, listening to the reggae... drinking some banana rum cream I am realizing how much I love this place & I honestly can't remember being happier in my life.