Horse riding in a tropical storm

We got out of bed, on our penultimate day, at 9.30am. Which was our first lie in all week, probably
something to do with the late night balcony antics. After breakfast in the sunshine (scrambled eggs, smoked salmon and bucks fizz), we whiled away a few hours on the beach before our horse trekking tour.

At midday we got on the coach to head for the ranch, which was up in the hills a few miles east of Montego Bay.
Our tour guide, Herbert, insisted we only used Jamaican terms during the horse riding. So made us practise saying "yeah man" "irie" and "no problem". He told us there's no such things as 'problems' in Jamaica, just 'situations'.
As we put on our horse riding helmets the heavens open and torrential rain started. The sky was black and rain\ hail was crashing down, making fast flowing streams all around within minutes.
We took off our helmets and waited for 20mins sheltering anywhere we could from the rain. However, the rain continued, with water bouncing off the pavement and bucketing down around us. Eventually we gave up and mounted our horses, soaking wet, mid rain storm.



The tropical downpour continued for the whole hour and a half ride. Our horses (Scrappy, who had a broken ear, and Danny Boy) loved the rain. And the locals (who we kept bumping into along the way) kept telling us it  was "liquid sunshine", insisting it was a "blessing from above."
We rode up hills, through the forests looking at all the different varieties of fruits and plants. Meeting a few locals who live in the forest on the way. We passed over streams and small rivers. Through mangroves, where lobsters and crabs hide out. It was pretty amazing and worth every penny.
We finished the ride by removing the saddles and riding our horses out into the sea. Them swimming (more like racing) and us hanging on by everything and anything possible.
Definitely an experience we won't forget for a while.

Even though we spent the whole day soaking wet, with rain continuing to beat down on us, it's impossible to be disheartened in Jamaica.
The locals are so happy, constantly singing and smiling like lottery winners. Their excitement for life is infectious.

We arrived back to the hotel and once again our butlers had run us a romantic bath, this time with yellow rose petals.

It's safe to say there's no way me or Jimmy want to go back to London tomorrow.

A day in paradise

Yesterday will go down as one of my favourite days on earth so far.
(Other immensely perfect days include popping my Glastonbury cherry, holding a baby lion in Mexico, driving down Highway 1 to Santa Cruz, chasing the sunset on a moped in Koa Toa, snowmobiling in Whistler and New Years Eve in South Korea.)

We booked one of the sea front cabanas. A perfect chill out area, resting in the waves. A four poster double bed scattered with pillows and flowing white drapes on each corner.


The gorgeous cabanas on the beach

We had a picnic in our cabana, sea food (large shrimp, octopus, squid) grilled swordfish, salad, couple of Red Stripes, a fruit plater and chocolate cake. Perfect.
 

At 3pm there was a heavy rain storm, thunder and tropical rain smashing down on the beach huts and the shore. We shut our curtains and loved every minute of the washout. Watching the rain bounce viciously off the sea and sand.
After an hour of reading our books, drinking Jamaican Smile cocktails and squealing when a lizard jumped in our cabana to shelter from the storm, the sun came back out.


tropical rainstorm, as we're tucked up in our private seafront bed

We swam around the bay and watched two friends, who we'd met a few nights ago from New Jersey, get married on the beach. The locals were all whooping and clapping. Rain on your wedding day in the Caribbean is a blessing from God. They told us all Jamaican's wish/ pray for rain on their special day. They couldn't understand why us English folk wish and pray for the exact opposite.


The sunshine after the storm and the place where our friends got married

We'd already asked our butler to organise a romantic candle lit dinner on the beach at 8pm. So we headed back to the room to get showered. We opened the door to find the bathroom covered with lit candles, rose petals scattered everywhere, a hot bath covered with bubbles and champagne chilling on ice with two flutes.
The butlers even left a single rose and tuned the radio into a station playing love songs.


The perfect bath, a rose, flower petals, candles, champagne... sea food...

I was squealing like a little girl, jumping up and down in amazement. Jimmy was trying to pretend he'd organised it (can't blame a man for trying).

Obviously we jumped straight in the bath, popped open the champagne and lay back thinking how lucky, spoilt and romantic we felt.

our private candle-lit dinner for on the beach