Jamaica... The Pearl of the Caribbean

   My wife and I went on a cruise to Jamaica a few years back and we are still talking about it. The people there are so polite and friendly I would not have any hesitation about going back for a return visit.
   Our ship departed from Galveston, Texas and we were on the cruise ship Carnival Conquest. I know Carnival has had an abundance of trouble with some of their ships lately, but the Conquest was smooth as silk and did not have a single issue when we were aboard.

  

    The top photo is the Conquest at the dock where we boarded her on a Sunday afternoon. Below is me holding up the camera to get a shot of my wife and others in their life vests. They conducted a practice drill before we even left the port to make sure everyone was aware of the procedure. Just to be safe, I counted the number of lifeboats on board the Conquest (I saw the movie Titanic). The Conquest is longer than 3 football fields and is propelled by two giant propellers, each twenty-five feet wide. There are also two underwater wings that extend out on each side to make the ship as stable as possible. Like I said, smooth as silk.

    Momma is sort of a home body and has only been out of Texas one time,...so I kept my eye on her as we saw the last glimpse of land fade out behind us and was surrounded by nothing but water. I was really impressed on how the ship stirred up such contrails and how long they stayed visible to the naked eye. As you can see above, the contrail runs all the way to the horizon. Made me wonder if in World War II ships could track another ship by following the contrails.

   The wife and I are early risers and we came out on deck at 6am to watch the ship dock in Montego Bay, Jamaica after cruising across the Caribbean Sea all day on Monday. The above photo of the happy couple was taken by one of the ship's stewards on Tuesday morning. Jamaica has a lot more mountains than I was expecting. We signed up for a horseback adventure up into the hills surrounding the city of Montego Bay. If you don't have a camera with you, there are some shops in Montego Bay where you can buy one (tax free). It is a beautiful island and a photographer's dream.

    I told one of the guys running the equine stable I was from Texas and he said he had a spirited horse for me. Must have been pulling my leg as this nag I am riding was almost ready for the glue factory. That's Momma behind me and she had a pretty mare, but they are all trained just to follow the nag in front of them. Check the water in the background...clear as glass and the average temperature of Jamaica is around 75 degrees. Take away the hurricane seasons, and I could live there no problem.

   A couple of my favorite photos from the entire trip. My wife changed into a bathing suit and got to go horseback riding in the surf. The horse does all the swimming and she just had to hang on, and she did a super job. She still talks about this ride and claims it was one of the funnest things she ever did. The horses do get about five feet deep and at one point all I could see was the horses head and Momma from about the waist up. I was getting a little antsy but then the group came back to more shallow water.

   The skies got dark in a hurry so we ended the horseback riding adventure and headed back to the ship. Around the bay most of the land is on the side of mountains or hills, and you can see how the commercial areas have adapted to the landscape. The bottom photo is from the balcony of our cabin as we departed Jamaica. The only thing we disliked about the cruise was the short amount of time they allow you at events. We could have spent two or three days in Jamaica combing the shops but the Carnival people have a schedule to maintain. After a full day there it was back onboard the Conquest and we watched Jamaica fade into the distance....