Hey!
Again a very late holiday post, I think I have only just been able to write about this trip without getting emotional. So last August we traveled to Jamaica for a second time, you can read about our previous trip HERE. This time we stayed in Montego Bay, the islands second city. The year before we stayed in Negril which is by far the best place on the island, especially if you're looking for paradise. But don't get me wrong Jamaica is nothing but paradise where ever you stay. Our resort was called the RIU Palace, it was a great hotel in a perfect location if you are wanting to go on excursions to explore Jamaica as it is pretty central. My only fault with the hotel was that we paid for a sea view room and just ended up getting the noise from the main evening entertainment bar just underneath us! Food was good, the Jerk Chicken hut at the RIU Reggae next door was unreal. We got access to the other two RIU resorts next door to us, this is something only RIU Palace guests could use. The pools were amazing, the beach was lovely but not as lovely as Negril, the sea just wasn't as clear blue in Mo Bay.
We went on many excursions as this time we were there for two weeks, the first trip we did was the rafting on Martha Brae. I would completely recommend going here, you basically go on a handmade bamboo raft down the Martha Brae river with a wonderful captain. It was so magical to just be at one with nature like that, going past Banana trees, seeing baby turtles, eating fruit from the trees. The actual rafting lasts about an hour and you even get to have a go at pushing the raft with the bamboo stick yourself, something I was no good at but Chris was a natural.
Next up was the Mystic Mountain in Ocho Rios, Jamaican bobsled, sky explorer and zip lining through the jungle. This is again something you have got to experience if you ever go to Jamaica, you first take a chairlift that takes you 700ft above sea level (the views are breathtaking), then you go zip lining back down through the rain forest. After that you head back up to the top on the chairlift for some lunch and then its time for the bobsleds. The bobsleds are so exhilarating, you go straight through the rainforest SO fast. I wanted to do it a million times.
Once you have ran out of adrenaline you can wind down in the pool and enjoy the stunning views over Ocho Rios.
In between our exploring days we took some well deserved chill time in the resort - heaven!
We took most of our excursions with Thomson, but for one very special trip we headed out with High Life Tours. If you want a really authentic Jamaican experience then please check these guys out. You can contact them through Instagram @highlifetours_jamaica. Our driver was John, he picked us up from our resort and off we went in the high life wagon. We had specifically told him that we wanted to visit a herb farm, this was purely just out of interest and something we felt was unique to do whilst in Jamaica. I mean where else would you be able to see such a frowned upon plant growing in its natural habitat. John will let you smoke the herb on his bus if this is something you wish to do.
Anyway, back to the trip. So he picked us up from our resort and we headed to Negril, en route we stopped off at mine and Chris's favourite place Juici Patties. These are a traditional Jamaican patty filled with so much goodness, the chicken curry patty is OMG delish! Not long after we arrived at our location and had a tour of the farm, the locals there made us feel so welcome. It was absolutely scorching that day so we took a dip in the pool after where the farmers house was, he runs a little bed and breakfast for tourists to stay. On our way home we stopped off at a local Jerk restaurant called Pork Pit, that BBQ Jerk flavour is like no other.
This was one of our favourite trips because we wasn't on a time schedule, didn't have the hustle and bustle of other tourists and we got to go out and experience the local culture properly. I couldn't recommend High Life Tours enough and thank you to John and Chris, our tour guides for making us feel so welcome, looking after us and showing us around. We have kept in touch and we will be sure to hit them up again if we ever go back!
Them views though!
We couldn't go to Jamaica again and not go back to Dunn's River Falls.
This time we went prepared with our GoPro because last time we didn't even think to take a waterproof camera and well iphone 7's did not exist back then. We took a different approach to Dunn's River and chose the Cool Runnings excursion, this was an hour and a half coach ride from our resort in Mo Bay to Ocho Rios where you get on the catamaran.
(PS you will find that most excursions will include lunch if you are out all day)
The catamaran then takes you out at sea where it stops and gives you the opportunity to snorkel over the coral reef, I didn't do this part of the trip as I am not a very confident swimmer but Chris went out and filmed some footage on our GoPro. You can watch our Jamaica Vlog HERE
After that it takes you to Dunn's River Falls where you walk off the boat and straight to the falls, you then climb the falls. You will need water shoes but you can buy these for around 7 dollars.
The catamaran then takes you the long way back so you can enjoy music and free drinks. We had an absolute blast just chatting to people, getting a little tipsy and watching the locals dance and entertain us.
Our final excursion was Town and Country, this was about a three hour coach journey from Mo Bay to Kingston. Kingston is Jamaica's capital city, somewhere we hadn't been before.
The first place we stopped off at was the National Heroes Circle, I'll be honest I'm not really sure what this was. It was basically like gardens that are guarded by armed soldiers, and they swap guards every few hours.We did stay to watch the guards swap, it was kind of like the guards swapping at Buckingham Palace. After that we then stopped off at the National Stadium where we got a picture next to the Bob Marley statue. Next was the Bob Marley museum, I am going to be completely honest now, I thought it was so boring. Ok it was cool to see Bob's house, his bedroom etc but I just felt it had been made too commercialized and I don't feel I learned much. I expected it to be more raw. I definitely prefer 9 Mile where he is buried but I guess it is personal preference and its great to say we have been to his home now.
So we continued on to the Blue Mountain Coffee Plantation. This was probably my favourite part of the excursion, I worked as a Barista for about six years so seeing how coffee is grown and made was really interesting to me. We even got to enjoy a lovely fresh cup of coffee before we took a rainy trip up to the mountains to see the coffee plants growing and also to enjoy the wonderful views at the top of the mountains. The views were incredible and again just being at one with nature was magical. Our final stop on the way home was Devon House, the home of Jamaica's first black millionaire. Here you get to purchase some delicious Devon ice cream.
This was our longest excursion but it was totally worth the travelling and our tour guides were so wonderful, educating us along the way and making us feel like family.
This was one of the most memorable holidays I have ever been on, I often get emotional just thinking about it and looking back at the photos just brings it all back. I will cherish it forever and I hope one day we can visit Jamaica again. If you ever get the opportunity to go - take it!!
We also created a video of our trip,watch it HERE
Next Stop - AMSTERDAM!
Thanks so much for reading. If you have any questions feel free to comment!
Lauren x
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