"Ya mon."

The above expression perfectly encapsulates the feeling of Jamaica. Laid back. Easy going. People as warm and sunny as the climate. As the Rastas are fond of saying: "No problem".

Our vacation in Jamaica was sublime. Sure, we has some rainy days, but even these were quite warm and the rain often short-lived. It's a tropical climate, after all. We stayed at FDR Pebbles, a resort located 30-minutes outside of Montego Bay which caters to families. This all-inclusive resort offered many family-friendly attractions including a "vacation nanny"; each family is assigned their own nanny to provide one-to-one care for your offspring so that Mom & Dad can relax.
























Our "vacation nanny" was a delightful woman named Sheryl. Here's a photo of myself, Sheryl and Ridley sitting inside of the Yellowbird Kiddie Centre (imagine your basic neighbourhood drop-in centre) on a rainy morning. Ridley seems too preoccupied with the video camera he's holding to acknowledge Dad taking his picture. (What is it with the male gender and electronics, anyway?)

This is the first vacation that Richard & I have ever taken to a resort. We're not your typical "resort people". We're more your "grab your guidebook, backpack and go" type of travellers. As you can imagine, this was quite a different experience for us. However, as travel with a toddler is challenging at the best of times, a resort-style vacation made sense. Granted, you're isolated in a little turista American-centric bubble. But, hey, the beaches are beautiful and the ocean warm and inviting.

We did manage a couple of day-trips off the resort. The first of these was to the nearby town of Falmouth, reputedly the oldest town in Jamaica. Perhaps not surprisingly, it also appeared to be one of the poorest towns, too. Stray dogs. Street kids. Visible signs of poverty. This is the Jamaica that most tourists don't see. Prompted by our shuttle driver, who assured us that "it's safe, except by the market", the two of us ventured into the town. The photo of the old women and the blue shed was taken during this small exploration. We wandered into a local shop to purchase two toddler-sized white t-shirts (for tie-dying back at the resort) and boarded the shuttle once again. The driver then delivered us (pun intended) to a very old Anglican church where an elderly matron beamed with pride as she told us about the restoration of this lovely old building. We deposited some dollars into the collection box and were off back to the resort.

The second day-trip was a bit of a naïve blunder. We took the free "shopping shuttle" that the resort offered into Montego Bay, realizing that the shuttle would usher us into the most outrageously-priced tourist trap. What I hadn't counted on was the fact that this tourist trap would be located in a strip mall in the suburban outskirts of Montego Bay and no escape into the city would be feasible. Ah well. There ain't no free ride, as they say.

The photo to the left was taken from the balcony of our suite at the resort. That red-roofed structure was the Oceanside Bar & Grill and the swim-up bar (the pool is in the foreground). Incidentally, the ocean water was always much, much warmer than that of the pool, so we tended to confine our swimming there. Richard mostly confined his consumption of beer to the Oceanside Bar & Grill -- regrettably, I was (and still am) pregnant and therefore sans alcohol.


























To wrap up this rambling post-vacation post, I'd just like to summarize some of the interesting things I learned whilst on my Jamaican adventure:

1. "Calaloo" really is spinach (I've long suspected).

2. "Malta" is a malt, hops and molasses-based drink that should be disgusting but is actually quite tasty.

3. If you complain* enough, the manager of the Pebbles resort will arrange a special "ackee and saltfish" breakfast for you.

4. The most interesting, friendly and genuine people you'll meet in Jamaica are Jamaicans. Go figure.

*Our only real complaint during this trip was the scarcity of good, authentic Jamaican food. Sure, the Grill served a rather tame jerk chicken (if you asked for jerk sauce on the side, you got the real spicy deal) and the Dining Room dished up acceptable Jamaican fare on Saturday nights, but there was a significant lack of Jamaican food in the daily buffet. We didn't travel all the way to Jamaica for pasta anymore than we would fly to Rome to sample the Oxtail Stew.