Jamaica (must start with saying that we are safely back in Michigan and freezing)

Always wanted to come to Jamaica and how John felt about Aruba, I feel about Jamaica.  According to the books in the library on the ship, there are a ton of things to see and do here.  John and I have picked some places that we want to see that are not too far from the dock 

 and we’re hoping that a taxi would take us, but when we get out of the port area (and we are docked on James Bond pier by the way), the prices for the taxis are outrageous.  $15 to go just a few miles and no discount for if there is one or 4 of you in the car!!!  So, we’d be looking at 

$100 just to see the couples of things that we had picked out.  So, we decided to try our hand at getting a tour outside the friendly confines of the terminal.  The ships tell you never to do this because you can’t trust these tours and there is no guarantee that you won’t

  be killed and left for dead, blah, blah, blah, but I’m starting to think that this is what they say to make you scared and make you pay ridiculous amounts for their excursions.  So, Charles approached us for a guided tour of several places we wanted to see for $80 and we took him up on it.  We got to see Fern Gully, 

 which reminded us of Northern California, just trade rain forest for sequoias.  He took us to see “Spice Guy” who introduced us to a whole bunch of native plants (not marijuana interestingly enough) and Ruined Falls which was spectacular, and a garden 

overlook where the highest man in the world (and I’m not talking about elevation people) took us around a very nice garden showing us all the plants (again not marijuana).  Steph would have had a field day because of the thyme, acai, lemongrass, garlic, lime, allspice, and sugarcane that we got to

crush, smell, taste.  On to some shopping downtown that Charles took us to, but John got angry when they tried to pass off 30% Blue Mountain coffee as the real deal, so no buying there.  I had read about a 

 liquor store at the edge of town that was supposed to have the best deals on alcohol, so Charles took us there.  It was a bust except for getting a couple of local beers, Red Stripe makes a stout and a really good

VICE ice wine and vodka, that we've never seen outside of Canada

 lager that we were able to drink as we toured the rest of the town because it’s Jamaica and you can do that apparently.  John also found real Blue Mountain coffee at this little shop, but no good liquor.  We got 3 hours of Charles’s time and he dropped us off at a pharmacy so that I could get some

 hydrocortisone for my sun allergy.  With gas being $6 a liter, we did pretty good in that time frame for our money.  We ambled back to the boat through Turtle River park and made it past all the tourist shops around the pier without any 

 merchandise or braids.  They were everywhere, but they weren’t pushier than any other place that we have been.  John said that this was why he liked Aruba best because we were never approached by anyone about buying anything.  I think that they are neck and neck for the most beautiful beaches in

Fatima church like the cigarette cards and the saints

  the world these two islands and you really couldn’t do wrong returning to either one.  I did ask Charles why he thought they had such fast runners on his island and he thinks it’s because of the organic foods they grow on the island.  We did get to see that runners are the only fast thing around here 

Spice Guy who you can find on facebook

 and all of these countries that we have visited seem to have a different conception of time.  While this is true for most other countries from the US, on these islands it’s even more apparent because you fall into it yourself so easily.  It’s too hot to run around like a chicken with your head cut off like we all do and 

there is not enough room for everyone not to be polite to each other.