Day 6 Jamaica Trip April 2024

We went for breakfast at 7:30 as we had booked a driver that was to pick us up at 8:00 am. There were plantains on the buffet this morning and they were good. We were going to Nine Mile which is Bob Marley’s house and some other sightseeing. We couldn’t arrange for the driver to pick up my friends aunt as she lives too far away. We will try and have her come to the resort tomorrow. It’s our last day and I really want to spend one day relaxing at the resort before we leave. Tomorrow is also 4/20 and all over Ocho Rios were signs for parties and discounts. I don’t want to get stuck on the traffic. 

The road to Nine mile was so narrow and bumpy. I spent most of the time holding on while listening to my friend and the driver banter and flirt. It is pretty rare that someone can keep up with my friends feistiness so it was entertaining. There were some great views from the window but I couldn’t get any pictures the ride was too bumpy. The roads in Jamaica are very narrow so there is always honking to avoid hitting cars in the opposite direction. When you get to the house there are so many stairs up hill to get to the house. This seems to be the theme of this trip lots of stairs.

There are some parts of the tour where pictures and video are allowed. Some parts were just pictures and some parts nothing was allowed. I will post a link once I have uploaded all the pictures and videos I took. 

A band performs a couple of songs. 

The guide also tells stories and songs some songs. This is the rock and view from where Bob Marley wrote some songs. 

There is a part where you take your shoes off and after go into the church. The priest performs a prayer ceremony. It is a good tour. They always warn you to be open minded about the what our guide called Mary Jane. They do come and ask if you want to buy some but no pressure. 

 

The tour takes around 45 minutes and it costs $30 USD per person. I think it is a nice tour. I was hoping to get some vegan Ital food since this is a Rastafarian community but there wasn’t any. 

I was able to get some pictures on the way back down. We decided to go to Ocho Rios as there was nothing else in the area. We stopped at a beach but you had to make a reservation somewhere else to be able to get in it and most of the other beaches are part of resorts.

I wanted to go to pure chocolate so we went to the shopping plaza where it’s located. My friend tried to use the Scotia Bank Machine. It’s like a phone booth you go in one at a time but it didn’t seem to be working. It took awhile for the machine to give her card back and she didn’t get the money. The rules of the shopping plaza were posted outside the bank machine booth. I found them interesting that they have to specify your pants have to be above your waist. I wanted to have lunch we had a choice of Margarittaville or Ocean 11. We looked Margaritavile’s menu but my friend didn’t like it. We went to ocean and it was better. Eating also gave us good access to the beach.

Had a fruit punch drink that was more like a smoothie and was really good. 

There was an extensive vegetarian menu and I haven’t seen ackee without fish on any menu for years. Ackee is a fruit that has a similar texture to scrambled eggs in Jamaica a common dish is salt fish and ackee. I had to order the vegetarian ackee and I chose bahmy for the side. I found the curry spicy even though I like spice. I did find it a little difficult to eat on its own but it was good.

 

We were sitting right near the water and it was so clear we could see lots of fish. 

 

Then we went to Pure chocolate. This is bean to bar chocolate so a lot of it is vegan. They have workshops but you have to register in advance. I tried every flavour of vegan and it was much cheaper than the store I bought it from the day before. I bought some for myself and some as gifts. Some of the proceeds of the chocolate go to charity. 

 

We went to an actual Scotia Bank but the branch closed at 2:30 and it was after 3:00 when we arrived. There was a really long line to use the ATM and a full parking lot. It was Friday and most resort workers get paid on Friday. We didn’t wait in the line. My friend wanted to go to a river. 

We went to the fish sanctuary. The street seemed to be very local with street dogs. roosters , people trying to sell you things and people eating. There were rafters in the river and fish. After a little time at the river we headed back to the hotel. There is always a lot of traffic and lots of honking in Ocho Rios. I find where we are staying in Runaway Bay is less busy.

We came back to the resort after 5pm and  my friend went to her room. I got a coffee and decided to try the pizza place. They said it was takeout only and it would take 20 minutes. I’m not sure if the crust is vegan there were no symbols on the pizza menu but for the veggie pizza it said whole wheat crust. I ordered the veggie no cheese the menu said it had soy chunks but there weren’t any. It was a good pizza.

I walked on the beach while the pizza was being made. When I picked up the pizza I was surprised it was on a regular plate since it was takeout. I asked if there was anywhere to sit they said I could go to the bar upstairs. I decided to up sit at the place I get the burgers from which was nearby. I got some paper plates to take it to my room from there. I don’t like eating in my room but I wanted my drink from the fridge. I sat on my balcony and ate it.

The moon was out. My friend and I decided to go to the buffet at 7. Today was a beach party but the weather wasn’t expected to be great so they moved it to the buffet. There were a few more Jamaican items that were mostly vegetables for me. There were no vegetarian or vegan symbols but I know most of the items already as they are the same every night. 

After dinner we had tea at the coffee shop where we had a nice chat with the person that does the piano shows. I realized I haven’t been to any of the shows at the resort but am too tired tonight. They start pretty late and we have had full days. 

I got more insect bites today and the ones from a couple days ago are still super itchy. The gecko has moved one door over now and the cats are still around. My friends aunt and her friend will join us at the resort tomorrow with day passes. This is the end of day 6.