Have a Great Vacation in Jamaica

The Jamaica history and culture is fascinating. My husband and I had an opportunity to visit Jamaica for a wedding about two years ago. The people were so accomodating and friendly that it made the vacation such a pleasure.

We beauty of Montego Bay was breathtakingly. We stayed at a Sandal's Inn, where we were had a room right on the bay. If you are there for the water, they have every the water sport available and plenty of clear, beautiful blue ocean.

Jamaica is made up of coastal lowlands, a limestone plateau, and the Blue Mountains, plus a group of volcanic hills in the east. They have a Constitutional parliamentary democracy. Jamaica became independent on Aug. 6, 1962 from England. Michael Manley, of the socialist People's National Party, became prime minister in 1972. There is a lot of poverty in the country, but the country has made much progress since they gained their independence. They are known world wide for their rum and blue mountain coffee. Some of their industry includes mining bauxite and gypsum, and an oil refinery to name just a few.

Jamaicans speak English and the people are delightful. They are laid back, friendly, usually smiling and wearing beautiful bright colors. We felt instantly comfortable in Jamaica.

You can't talk about Jamaica without mentioning Bob Marley, the father of Raggae music. He was a Jamaican lead singer, song writer and guitarist born Feb. 6, 1945 and died May 11,1981. He died from a melanoma. He had 12 children, 3 with his wife, 2 adopted and the rest with various women. He was known as Bob Marley and the Wailers from 1974-1981.

Marley remains the most widely known and revered performer of reggae music, and is credited for helping spread both Jamaican music and the Rastafari movement to a worldwide audience. We were told by the locals that Bob Marley was generous to all, particularly the children.

We did have one event that now makes me laugh. My husband has had a stoke. He can walk with a cane, but he is slow. We were walking along the beach of the resort to one of the restaurants. I had noticed a man in little canoe type vessel occasionally and he was selling jewelry, or so I thought. He was up at the shoreline and holding out a necklace, so I went to look at it. My husband apparently was calling me back, but it was a little windy and there was music, so I didn't hear him.

I went to look at the necklaces and he also had conk shells for sale also which surprised me as there are many places where it is illegal to sell them. I decided I didn't think the necklace was a good deal, so I walked back over to my husband. I was telling him about these neat conk shells. He told me that the man had been around that afternoon and tried to sell him one as they are full of pot. I am so naive as I didn't have a clue. Of course, my husband was laughing at me! According to Jamaican law if the man steps on the land with the pot he can be arrested but as long as he stays in the water they can't arrest him. He kept calling me back to the boat as I tried to hurry my husband toward the restaurant.

Drugs and drug paraphernalia is very easy to come by when visiting Jamaica. I found that out the next day when we went shopping. Bongs adorned the upper shelves and T shirts, along with souvenirs on the lower racks.

Jamaica is a beautiful place visit. I would like to go again and rent a villa this time with some family members. We were told you can rent a villa that is big enough to hold 6 or sometimes more people for a $1000 for a week, which includes a cook and a maid. Doesn't that sound like a great time?

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