Come With Me to a Place By the Sea :: Easter Weekend

Easter break in Jamaica is the real deal. Schools are out for over a week and there is plenty of time for a little R&R. A few of my fellow PCVs and I took full advantage of the break and took a mini vacay on-island.

We started our local getaway in Falmouth where we stayed at the best little Airbnb in all of Jamaica. Shout out to our host, Dee, who greeted us with Red Stripes and treated us like family. We spent our first day at Burwood Beach soaking up the sun and relaxing in the waves.

We followed up our relaxing day with a crazy day at Bacchanal Beach J'ouvert. Beach J'ouvert is a soca concert mixed with a dance party splashed with buckets of paint. It was my first ever carnival event and it did not disappoint. We spent the entire day dancing, singing, and throwing paint on each other. Might not sound too exciting, but it definitely was!

The next day we somehow climbed out of bed and made our way to a West Indies vs Pakistan cricket match. Another first for me! After eating lots of jerk pork, we went home to get ready for our next adventure of the weekend: Glistening Waters.

Glistening Waters, also known as Luminous Lagoon, is a lagoon surrounded by mangroves that is home to microscopic organisms that emit a phosphorescent light when agitated. Swimming around and watching the water light up around me was magical. I felt like a wizard. Maybe I am? Either way, 10/10 must do when visiting Jamaica!

Somehow we still managed to muster up enough energy after ALL of that to go on a hiking and caving excursion in southern Trelawny. We spent hours exploring, swimming in the underground pools, and climbing through the caves before finally reaching a completely secluded part of the cave. We were asked to close our eyes and be completely silent while our guides turned off our headlamps. When we open our eyes, we experienced complete darkness, something that I have never experienced before. It was all fun and games until I realized that the bats could start flying around and moment. I was relieved when that headlamps where turned back on and I could keep an eye on the bats. Despite my constant self-reminders of "I am not claustrophobic, I am not claustrophobic", I really enjoyed it.

Our final day of vacation was spent back on our favorite beach, winding down from the excitement of the weekend. Before heading back to our homes, we took advantage of the locally caught and prepared lobster. Perfect way to wrap up a near perfect weekend!

xoxo, Leah

Dirty Heads - Cabin By the Sea