Hey everybody! Got some pictures from my families Jamaican Christmas here. Going through these shots while sitting here in Bulgaria makes me appreciate the little things that make getting together with friends and family so worth it. I look forward to my folks, and hopefully my sister, coming out to visit Eastern Europe in May.
We spent our first week in the area of Negril, a seven mile long beach that served a string of resorts. Negril lies on the western edge of the island and its location awarded us with one spectacular sunset after another. This one was taken on the southern point, past the beach and out on the rock headlands. We visited a lighthouse out on this point before heading off to grub some Christmas dinner.
I didn't take as many pictures as one might expect. I guess I might have been on a self-imposed break from photo taking. My parents brought my other digital camera, the one used for all these shots, down with them. I found myself actually taking quite a bit of video with it, creating footage that I hope to stitch into something grander in the weeks to come.
Good looking pair of couples huh. I wouldn't be surprised if my Dad has already started growing his beard back.
Kyle flew down on Christmas day and surprised the hell out of us. It was nice to have him there to help share the holiday and bring in the new year.
This shot is of the Negril headlands, looking north from the lighthouse point. A patchwork of coral reef extends away from both these rocks and further out in front of the sandy beach. We made one snorkel trip out to the reef by boat early on in the trip. The visibility was pretty decent and we saw a giant eagle ray along with numerous fish and a turtle.
One thing that travelers to Jamaica should be aware of is the constant hustle from the locals. In Negril, a notoriously touristy area, this was at an extreme level. You could hardly go anywhere in public without facing a constant barrage of hustle. These fellows seemed to think that Kelsey really, really needed a conch shell. For ten dollars no less.
Posing in the golden hour out in front of our resort, The White Sands. My dad and I spent several afternoons going through the PADI Openwater diver course. Unfortunately, the weather canceled our last two dives, forcing us to accept just the basic Scubadiver qualification.
Looking north along the main Negril beach. As you can see it was both long, we were at the halfway point here, and crowded. Most of the all inclusive resorts lay at the far northern end while the actual Negril village sat the southern end.
On one of our last days there we headed inland a bit to check out the Great Morass. A boardwalk provided access through out the swamp. We saw a great variety of birds and plants. Overall it was nice to get out of the hustle and bustle of the Negril beach life and get back to nature. I think that tends to be standard operating procedure for the Schmidt family.
Cute huh...
A view of the boardwalk though the Morass from a three story lookout tower situated in the middle of the trek.
This was our last sunset before leaving Negril. The following day Alan and Judy had to head back to Washington to keep plugging away at those jobs. We left with them, having had enough of Negril ourselves. After parting ways at the airport Kelsey, Kyle, and I made our way east on a series of shuttle buses to the portland area. We ended up at Boston Beach, famous for both its jerk chicken and surfing.
I'll be seeing these guys in May.
Yes, those are a bunch of bugs in a toilet. Upon returning to our pad in Boston one night we found a plethora of these little wankers hopping around our room. Someone left a window open and a light on, drawing them in like moths to a flame. Fifteen minutes of eradication removed most of the little pests. We stayed at this little bed and breakfast for six nights. Our host, an eccentric Frenchmen named Jean Michel, was a kind fellow although often overly obnoxious. He did let me sling my hammock between some trees even though the weather only cooperated in letting me stay out there two nights. December is right smack dab in the middle of the rainy season and we could count on it pouring every afternoon.
It had rained all morning on the day we headed to Port Antonio to our first dive together. We thought it might have been a problem but the dive agency, a real chill mom and pop joint called Lady G'Diver, didn't seem to think so. We did a two tank dive with them. We all appreciated their attitude towards safe and sane diving. Plenty of time was given to check equipment and make sure we knew where all of the doohickies and gadgets went.
Down we go...
Three little birds, uh, I mean fish...
It was still cloudy for most of the day, reducing visibility and the amount of light available for photography. Still, I could see it being pretty fun to get an underwater camera system.
My BCD(Buoyancy Compensating Device - the vest that lets you rise and fall underwater) failed on my second dive. It kept filling up with air, shooting me to the surface. Our divemaster ended up just disconnecting me from it. I had to use my lungs for most of the dive to rise and fall as I swooped over the coral.
You can't tell from this picture but Kelsey is singing her SCUBA song. "Bubble's all the way...!" You'll have to ask her about it.
We didn't see all to many fish but this one was nice enough to pose by the fan coral for me. The day after our dive we left Boston Bay with several days still to go. I managed to get in four days of surfing. Was a pretty nice break, sheltered from the wind inside the bay. Was really starting to get the hang of the shortboard when we had to leave. Oh well. Just makes me look forward to surfing in Spain over spring break.
Welcome to Cockpit Country. After picking up our rental car in Ocho Rios we sped up into the countryside, passing through Fern Gully, a deep gorge through the rainforest, along the way. The road ran right over top of an underground river. Eventually we found our new lodgings up on top of Murphy Hill, an old cattle ranch converted to a small hotel and cell tower location. From it's summit we were awarded with great views of the northern coastline. For those shots I'm afraid you'll have to wait for the video. This shot of the countryside was taken as we descended down into 9 Mile the nest day. Notice how the topography resembles an egg crate. 9 Mile was both the birth and resting place of Bob Marley.
We took a tour of Bob's mausoleum, his grave was right behind this sign in a raised coffin inside his old house. It was a good thing we arrived early because short after finishing the tour a massive tour bus pulled in and disgorged a heap of pasty white tourists from the cruise ships that name Ocho Rios their Jamaican port of call. Needless to say we didn't hang around in Ocho Rios much.
After leaving Bob to the cruise ship weenies we continued our drive back to the coast. Our next stop was the Green Grotto cave system. I highly recommend touring these caves if you head to the island. They have been used by everything from pirates to runaway slaves, even arms smugglers heading to Cuba. Now they just serve tourists. The caves are a series of limestone caverns, each with its own identity and history. This shot was taken deep down at a sunken lake.
After leaving the caves we stopped at Runaway beach. I had to fly out the following day so it was nice to get some sand between my toes again. Kelsey and Kyle would head to Montego Bay for a couple days before they to headed back up to the States.
See ya' later Jamaica. Wa gwan mon!
We spent our first week in the area of Negril, a seven mile long beach that served a string of resorts. Negril lies on the western edge of the island and its location awarded us with one spectacular sunset after another. This one was taken on the southern point, past the beach and out on the rock headlands. We visited a lighthouse out on this point before heading off to grub some Christmas dinner.
I didn't take as many pictures as one might expect. I guess I might have been on a self-imposed break from photo taking. My parents brought my other digital camera, the one used for all these shots, down with them. I found myself actually taking quite a bit of video with it, creating footage that I hope to stitch into something grander in the weeks to come.
Good looking pair of couples huh. I wouldn't be surprised if my Dad has already started growing his beard back.
Kyle flew down on Christmas day and surprised the hell out of us. It was nice to have him there to help share the holiday and bring in the new year.
This shot is of the Negril headlands, looking north from the lighthouse point. A patchwork of coral reef extends away from both these rocks and further out in front of the sandy beach. We made one snorkel trip out to the reef by boat early on in the trip. The visibility was pretty decent and we saw a giant eagle ray along with numerous fish and a turtle.
One thing that travelers to Jamaica should be aware of is the constant hustle from the locals. In Negril, a notoriously touristy area, this was at an extreme level. You could hardly go anywhere in public without facing a constant barrage of hustle. These fellows seemed to think that Kelsey really, really needed a conch shell. For ten dollars no less.
Posing in the golden hour out in front of our resort, The White Sands. My dad and I spent several afternoons going through the PADI Openwater diver course. Unfortunately, the weather canceled our last two dives, forcing us to accept just the basic Scubadiver qualification.
Looking north along the main Negril beach. As you can see it was both long, we were at the halfway point here, and crowded. Most of the all inclusive resorts lay at the far northern end while the actual Negril village sat the southern end.
On one of our last days there we headed inland a bit to check out the Great Morass. A boardwalk provided access through out the swamp. We saw a great variety of birds and plants. Overall it was nice to get out of the hustle and bustle of the Negril beach life and get back to nature. I think that tends to be standard operating procedure for the Schmidt family.
Cute huh...
A view of the boardwalk though the Morass from a three story lookout tower situated in the middle of the trek.
This was our last sunset before leaving Negril. The following day Alan and Judy had to head back to Washington to keep plugging away at those jobs. We left with them, having had enough of Negril ourselves. After parting ways at the airport Kelsey, Kyle, and I made our way east on a series of shuttle buses to the portland area. We ended up at Boston Beach, famous for both its jerk chicken and surfing.
I'll be seeing these guys in May.
Yes, those are a bunch of bugs in a toilet. Upon returning to our pad in Boston one night we found a plethora of these little wankers hopping around our room. Someone left a window open and a light on, drawing them in like moths to a flame. Fifteen minutes of eradication removed most of the little pests. We stayed at this little bed and breakfast for six nights. Our host, an eccentric Frenchmen named Jean Michel, was a kind fellow although often overly obnoxious. He did let me sling my hammock between some trees even though the weather only cooperated in letting me stay out there two nights. December is right smack dab in the middle of the rainy season and we could count on it pouring every afternoon.
It had rained all morning on the day we headed to Port Antonio to our first dive together. We thought it might have been a problem but the dive agency, a real chill mom and pop joint called Lady G'Diver, didn't seem to think so. We did a two tank dive with them. We all appreciated their attitude towards safe and sane diving. Plenty of time was given to check equipment and make sure we knew where all of the doohickies and gadgets went.
Down we go...
Three little birds, uh, I mean fish...
It was still cloudy for most of the day, reducing visibility and the amount of light available for photography. Still, I could see it being pretty fun to get an underwater camera system.
My BCD(Buoyancy Compensating Device - the vest that lets you rise and fall underwater) failed on my second dive. It kept filling up with air, shooting me to the surface. Our divemaster ended up just disconnecting me from it. I had to use my lungs for most of the dive to rise and fall as I swooped over the coral.
You can't tell from this picture but Kelsey is singing her SCUBA song. "Bubble's all the way...!" You'll have to ask her about it.
We didn't see all to many fish but this one was nice enough to pose by the fan coral for me. The day after our dive we left Boston Bay with several days still to go. I managed to get in four days of surfing. Was a pretty nice break, sheltered from the wind inside the bay. Was really starting to get the hang of the shortboard when we had to leave. Oh well. Just makes me look forward to surfing in Spain over spring break.
Welcome to Cockpit Country. After picking up our rental car in Ocho Rios we sped up into the countryside, passing through Fern Gully, a deep gorge through the rainforest, along the way. The road ran right over top of an underground river. Eventually we found our new lodgings up on top of Murphy Hill, an old cattle ranch converted to a small hotel and cell tower location. From it's summit we were awarded with great views of the northern coastline. For those shots I'm afraid you'll have to wait for the video. This shot of the countryside was taken as we descended down into 9 Mile the nest day. Notice how the topography resembles an egg crate. 9 Mile was both the birth and resting place of Bob Marley.
We took a tour of Bob's mausoleum, his grave was right behind this sign in a raised coffin inside his old house. It was a good thing we arrived early because short after finishing the tour a massive tour bus pulled in and disgorged a heap of pasty white tourists from the cruise ships that name Ocho Rios their Jamaican port of call. Needless to say we didn't hang around in Ocho Rios much.
After leaving Bob to the cruise ship weenies we continued our drive back to the coast. Our next stop was the Green Grotto cave system. I highly recommend touring these caves if you head to the island. They have been used by everything from pirates to runaway slaves, even arms smugglers heading to Cuba. Now they just serve tourists. The caves are a series of limestone caverns, each with its own identity and history. This shot was taken deep down at a sunken lake.
After leaving the caves we stopped at Runaway beach. I had to fly out the following day so it was nice to get some sand between my toes again. Kelsey and Kyle would head to Montego Bay for a couple days before they to headed back up to the States.
See ya' later Jamaica. Wa gwan mon!
1 comment:
Not sure where to post this but I wanted to ask if anyone has heard of National Clicks?
Can someone help me find it?
Overheard some co-workers talking about it all week but didn't have time to ask so I thought I would post it here to see if someone could help me out.
Seems to be getting alot of buzz right now.
Thanks
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