Jamaica

Jamica was an interesting place. We had to take a hour long bus ride to Ocho Rios where we were going to hike Dunns River Falls. That ride gave us a good look at Jamaica - on one side of the road, usually the beach side - there were huge, beautiful condos & on the other was the poverty side. House that had been destroyed in hurricanes, still had people living in them. We saw under fed children and it tugged on your heartstrings.

We went with the whole group to Dunns River Falls to hike this. Neither JJ or I knew what we were getting ourselves in to. We thought we'd be hiking a trail next to or up to the falls. Little did we know, we would be hiking IN the falls. It was awesome, sadly I had to get out half way up because my shoes kept falling off. JJ would save them by diving after them, but tore up his feet in the process. But at least by getting out I was able to get some good pictures.

On the bus ride back we went past Margaritaville where a sign was posted that said "Free Bongs on Monday". We also past this sign -

Rehab Bar & Lounge: kinda ironic huh? Our bus driver hit traffic on the way back to the ship & we almost missed boarding time. We got there right at 5:30.

Grand Cayman

We got to have a unique experience in Grand Cayman. Ok maybe not that unique since hundreds of tourist do this daily, but it was amazing for us! We took a boat 5 miles off the coast to a sandbar that is only chest deep (for me, J.J. - his waist) and swim with hundreds of stingrays. They have been hand fed for so long, they are completely safe & friendly. J.J. had one female stingray take quite a liking to him. She kept crawling up his chest & back, he realized later he had wiped the squid on his chest & that's why she wouldn't leave him alone.



Some of the stingrays were bigger than this one!






After this, we asked our bus driver if he'd take us to Hell. There is a town in Grand Cayman called Hell. It was alot of fun & we got some fun souvenirs - including Hell Hot Sauce. Now we can say we've been to Hell & Back.

In case you've ever wondered which way Hell is.

These lava formations are why the town is called Hell.

Grand Cayman is a beautiful island but next it was on to Cozumel to swim with dolphins!

Cozumel

I got to fulfill one of my biggest dreams in Cozumel - swim with dolphins!! It was incredible! We bought an underwater camera so we could get good pictures. We got to kiss, shake fin/hands & hold the dolphin. Then we got to hold on to her fins while she swam upside down & ride her. And we also got to be pushed by her through the water. It was an incredible experience! I was like a kids at Christmas, the night before I woke up every hour because I couldn't wait. Our dolphin's name was Ichel, she's 16 years old.

Getting ready to kiss Ichel. I had to get friendly 1st, couldn't go right in for the kiss- that would have been weird.

J.J. kissing Ichel

Me: riding Ichel while she's swimming upside down

Being pushed by the dolphin

Ichel swimming past us

Giving us our final goodbye!

This is a day I will remember for the rest of my life! We didn't get to explore much more of Cozumel or buy any vanilla but swimming with the dolphins is all I wanted to do on our cruise.

PS: On the way out we got sucked into getting a picture with a parrot & iguana - stupid bird climbed on my head & played with my sunglasses. lol!

January?

Here I am again with almost 2 months having gone by. My last post was December - how on earth did 2 months sneak past me?

So here is a quick recap of January: missed the New Year ( I fell asleep before midnight), but I am getting old - I turned 29 this month. JJ & Maddie took me to my favorite restaurant - Tempanyaki. Maddie had to tell everyone that is was her mommy & Oprah's Birthday. Yes, Oprah & I have the same birthday.

That's all I can remember, I'm sure we were busy since I didn't have time to blog but it was probably all the every day stuff that comes along. My camera won't sync to my computer, so as soon as JJ sends me pictures - I'll post about the cruise, swimming lessons, etc.