Cherry Blossom Candy Leaf

Bobash and I on the cat. We snorkeled and were also dropped off to swim in caves. I took advantage of every opportunity to get in the warm water.

Later that night, Olga returned with us to our resort.

The following morning, we had to get up early to get Olga back for her maid of honor duties. She had an appointment to get her hair done, so we were on our way. Ben and I ate at their resort and swam in the ocean before getting ready in my parents' room.


Amy and Tom got married on the beach in beautiful Negril. It was a gorgeous day. The light was so pretty and dream-like that day.

Amy looked like a blue-eyed doll.











Olga was pretty in blue.





My parents.



Following the ceremony, we attended the reception.

They had a steel drum band.






Everyone had a great time. Congratulations to Amy and Bobash!

Here are some beautiful flowers of Jamaica.

The day after the wedding, we relaxed on the beach at our resort, Legends. Our room was one of four that was as close to the sand as you can get. I would wake up to a reggae band playing just beyond the balcony or waves lapping on the shore. The beach was beautiful, but the food was horrendous. I kept double checking my jaw to make sure that it wasn't broken and sewn shut since everything was served in liquid form. But I didn't starve. This is Ben by the pool. Check out the size of that palm.

The view one morning.


Facing the ocean and looking left.



Looking to the right.

Ben, without even a spot of sunburn.

Ben's head.

The fruit lady. Check out her machete.



The police patrolling the beach.

This is a photo called "High" for a couple reasons. In a pot shortage, he can smoke his shirt.

The following day, Ben and I visited the sister resort called Samsara. It's located on the cliffs of Negril and had a completely different vibe than our beach. There were many ladders that dropped into the open ocean. Ben and I snorkeled, relaxed, ate, drank, and were happy to be there.








Ben enjoying a beer and a burp.

His reaction to his burp getting caught on camera.


This is a picture of a friend we met, Michael. He pointed us in the direction of the craft market where Ben and I bought some small items to decorate our new house. I bought three ironwood carvings and had my hair braided. I was told that it would take the heavy wood carvings 300 years to deteriorate. There's no way I'll be able to verify that, so they could have told me 1,000 years if they wanted to. It was quite an experience being there. Everyone wants you to visit their shop, so we were advised to be firm, but went into a lot of people's stores anyway because we had a hard time saying no. Eventually though, the heat made it a lot easier to keep moving and head back to our beach.


Daps with a local artist and wood carver.


Ben and I also wanted to visit some of the waterfalls in Jamaica. When Ben was 12 and came to Jamaica with his family, he went to the Dunne River Falls which are probably the most famous waterfalls in Jamaica. We decided to figure out how to get to the less crowded Mayfield Falls which, because of their far off location in the Blue Mountains can be almost $200/person. So once again, we talked to Michael and he arranged for his friend Trevor to take us. At the beginning of the journey, Trevor wanted to stop at his dad's bar for a drink.

Trevor is in the red shirt and his dad is behind him. Just before this picture was taken, Trevor pulled out a marijuana bud that was a foot long. I recommended that he put it away since his father was right behind him, but he reminded me that it is a Jamaican tradition for a father to teach his son to smoke. He rolled a joint with a little tobacco for the ride to the Falls. He also brought a rum beverage. When it spilled all over Ben and the car, I knew he wouldn't be drinking it, so I felt more secure. He smoked joints like a cigarettes, and couldn't even drop one before we were stopped by the police who, to top things off, also thought we had drank a bottle of rum between the 3 of us. Outside of the car, they were speaking Patua, and I thought for sure Trevor might say the pot was ours and I was going to end up in a Jamaican prison. According to Trevor, we were stopped because of a sporting event that was taking place, oh, and that pesky joint. Trevor had to keep telling the officer that he didn't have any guns, and yes he was smoking marijuana, but he was being honest about it, and he was just trying to work by taking some tourists to the Falls. Because 1/3 of the country is unemployed, the officer let us go. The payoff probably helped, too. Crazy! I was so scared, and had no idea how the journey would end.

After a two hour drive on the worst roads I have ever been on (Potholes a foot deep, people! Now I knew why Michael was so fascinated with U.S. roadwork), we arrived at the Falls. We hiked down with Trevor who waited at the entrance of the Falls, while we continued the journey with our guide, who was the Jamaican Spiderman (I'll publish the video soon). It was so green and lush and beautiful, I thought it might be heaven. It was unreal.

We started at the bottom of the waterfalls and made our way up. Spiderman led us through the crisp water that was the blue-green color of icebergs. He would climb trees that were 30 - 40 feet tall and jump into the pools that were 5 feet deep and 5 feet wide in some spots (video, coming soon)! He carried my camera and glided over slippery rocks and all I could do was applaud when he would stop to guide my much more careful steps or to let us play in the water. Ben and I were completely amazed by him. He even showed me a place in the Falls where if I pushed myself far down enough in the water, I would reach a tunnel made in the rocks. He came down with me to show me and before I knew it, he grabbed me and launched me through it. I was swimming underneath the falls and ended up in the bubbling water on the other side. It was freakin' awesome. He took our pictures and made us pose and everything. I couldn't help laughing through the photos because in between flips and falls into the water, he was telling me where to put my hand or to gaze into Ben's eyes. It was funny. Just as we were rounding the last corner, I couldn't believe what I saw. There were hundreds of Jamaican kids on a field trip. The rush of the water was so loud that we couldn't hear them at all. As we passed them, we gave high fives and helped one another across the rocks. It was beautiful. By the time I got my camera from Spiderman who was carrying kids and leaping 8-10 rocks at a time, the students were leaving and the moment had passed. I don't think a photo would have been able to really show those minutes.












Jamaica exceeded my expectations. It was amazing. The sun was mild, and the water was so warm that when you stepped into the ocean, you might not even notice. Ben and I were sad to leave and hope to make it back to a Caribbean island again some day.

Our last day...






I hope to post Ben's photos in a future post.