I was a little disappointed when the wind picked up this morning since they canceled all the scuba and windsurfing lessons/trips. However, one of the staff guys was nice enough to take us out anyway for a little ride. He took us out for about an hour and a half just sailing around parts of the island. We even went to a little island out a ways by the reef. It was so beautiful out there. I wish I had my canon camera, but I was stuck with a cheap disposable. Dexter, the guy who took us out, was totally cool and gave us a tour of the shoreline we sailed around. He even took us by the nudist resort where he said they do a lot of MJB’s. “Huh? What’s that?” we asked having no idea what he was hinting at. “Making Jamaican Babies,” he said with a big smile. I’m sure he told that joke a lot. The Hedonism resort was actually pretty scary. Lots of ugly fat people standing around with beers or cigarettes. The coastline is quite different from Southern California’s. Most of it was used by the resorts (and there were plenty) but there was lots of empty beaches and open land too. Overall it was great to see a little more of the island we were staying at and very cool to talk to Dexter and learn a lot more about his country and its cultures. It was certainly one of the highlights of the trip.
Then in the early afternoon, we hitched a taxi ride with Bryan and Cindy (Bryan was an old co-worker from UCR) and headed off to the Royal Palm Reserve. The ride over there was pretty scary. The cab driver assured us he knew exactly where it was. So we all climbed into the cab and enjoyed the ride. But the further we got from the cities and the deeper we went into the island we began to worry. He took us on this long dirt road with lots of grassy fields and away from any kind of population. I remember all the late night shows where so called taxi driver would drive unsuspecting tourist out into the middle of nowhere and rob them of all they got. But before I had a chance to worry too much, we arrived. It was truly an amazing place. I’ve never seen anything like in back home. Tons of green everywhere. There was so much water it felt like a swamp. The pictures pretty much speak for itself. Just walking around you could tell that there was so much life in this reserve. There were tons of birds flying around, lots of insects and fish many in the ponds. The wooden boardwalk weaved in and out of the grassy meadows lined with the royal palm trees. The lookout tower was truly amazing. As far as you could see was green. Not a single sign of human life was nearby.
Dexter, our awesome tour guide!
This leaf was like five feet long!
The lookout tower in the distance. The boardwalk extended through the reserver, weaving in and out of the wetland.
A view from the top.
