Downhill Mountain Biking

We have spent the last 3 days relaxing on a beach, riding bikes, and napping. Here are some little insights to our day...


Sunday, June 12 - Paul and I tried to snorkel in the bay right next to our tree house. It was full of waves (and people) and you could barely see anything through the sand that was kicked up by the waves. We got out and decided to change locations. We packed up and decided to walk to the nearby Winifred beach. We knew we could snorkel there without too much trouble. We had driven the last time but decided to walk this time. A hot, miserable 40 minutes later we had finally arrived. We picked a place, and put our stuff down. Because it is Jamaica, we were immediately attacked by people trying to sell us things. Paul and I just pretended to only speak French. We did a bit of snorkeling and I eventually had to get out because I was getting sea sick (sea sick from snorkeling in the waves!). I got the closest thing to ginger ale - Ting - a grapefruit soda and sat on the beach to read. A while later Paul joined me and we had dinner with Dungun, the 5 star chef. We chatted with him for a while about how they were worried Winifred beach would be bought up and made private, how his restaurant had been burnt down several times but how he kept building it back up. Then we talked a bit about how friendly Jamaicans are to which he replied, "We have to be friendly, our jobs depend on it." That made me a bit sad, I think it must be frustrating to feel like you have to be friendly just to buy yourself food. Our nice chef found us a ride back up the avalanche road to Great Huts.


Monday, June 13- Paul and I wake up early to get to the downhill mountain biking. Even with allowing ourselves extra time we show up 20 minutes late. Luckily the van with all the other tourists was late as well. We had brunch, then got in the mildly air-conditioned bus and headed up the mountain. Once near the top, we were given our "bikes" aka beach cruisers. They were one speed, with a break on the handlebars that didn't work.It wasn't quite what we expected, and the tour stopped every five minutes or so to taste coffee, take pictures, meet cute kids at a school, learn about herbs etc. We were hoping more for mountain bikes and a trail. I guess it has to be easy for all the tourists. My favorite part was the school. I took pictures and videos of the kids, and I want to show my kids how lucky they are. These kids were very cute and good at speaking. It made me miss my little ones! We maybe had an hour or so of downhill riding before they took us back to a waterfall. I jumped into the deep spot and the cool water felt perfect. Unfortunately the stop was very short. We had a beer drinking contest (me against two boys) and I won! I did have a 2-second head start... but I got another free beer for winning! We then were driven back to town for a lunch of, you guessed it, chicken, rice and pea! We had a relaxing rest of the day, and were asleep very early. 


Tuesday, June 14 - I can't believe how fast this vacation is going. Today has just been a chill and relax day. I took a 2 hour nap this morning, read a bit, browsed the internet, and now we are going to order pizza for dinner. Tomorrow we might be out all day river rafting, so it was a nice day to just relax in a windy spot in the shade. Sometimes we just need a nothing day. Who knows what will happen tomorrow!