Jamaica - Day One
March 8, 2012

We arrived in Jamaica after spending a few days with my mom and step-dad, Bob, in Delray Beach, FL.

We're staying at The Caves thanks to Alissa and Micah who generously gave us the vacation they earned by saving up Aveda points! They scheduled the trip before Alissa found out she was pregnant. They didn't want to travel out of the country. But, we did!

The drive from Montego Bay was 90 minutes. We had arranged for transportation through the resort. We were the only ones on the bus. The driver was really nice about explaining what we saw, gave us some Jamaican history, and told us about food to try. Neither Rick nor I have been to the Caribbean. It was the first time I experienced driving on the other side of the road. I'm glad I wasn't driving!

What we saw was quite eye-opening. Most of the housing seemed no more than tiny shacks crowded tightly next to each other. The driver pointed out other housing that was government subsidized for people who qualified. Those abodes were quite small and looked like mini pre-fab trailers. He also explained that the concrete block structures with re-bar sticking out were actually buildings in progress. Apparently, people build until the money runs out and then go earn more money to continue. Some looked like they had been a work in progress for many years. All in all, I have never seen such poverty except in the news and I was getting increasingly uncomfortable about going to a resort.

The other interesting thing was that everyone we saw was dark-skinned. The only other time I felt like such an obvious minority was when I was in Atlanta. This was quite a bit different than that. Something to ponder.

When we arrived at The Caves we were greeted and given a short tour as the sun had set and it was hard to see much. We were shown to our room, The Bird's Nest and invited to attend a welcome reception at the Rum Bar in one of the caves before dinner. There are only 24 people staying at the resort at this time. We met a few before we were ushered out of the cave because the tide was so high the water was rushing in!

Dinner was overlooking the sea although we couldn't see it. There had been rain earlier in the day and there were still some clouds in the sky but we were able to locate some planets and constellations with my handy iPhone app. The full moon rose over a building just as we were finishing dinner. Did I mentioned that this was an all inclusive resort? Including drinks. They will probably make money on us but I started our stay with some delicious "Jamaican Delights" while Rick had some fruit punch.

Our room has air conditioning which is incredibly quiet. Still, we slept under the mosquito netting for the fun of it. It was like sleeping in a tent. Of course, the "the outdoor girl" that I am can only imagine sleeping in a tent but if they all were like this, I might consider doing it again!