I really didn't feel like doing much of anything my first full day in Bogota but when I returned from breakfast with an American girl in my dorm an activity dropped into my lap. Two Danish girls had had their cameras stolen at knife point the day before and wanted to go a shady part of town to try and buy it back. Count me in. It was the two girls, a huge Australian guy (brought for sheer intimidation purposes) and me. We wandered down to Carrera 10 and started browsing all the camera stalls. We asked one of the store owners if we were in the right place and he sent us on a wild goose chase halfway across town which was secretly fun for me because it was more like an extended walking tour.
Back at the hostel I met a guy who need to be at the airport the next day at the same time as me. We arranged for a taxi to pick us up at 6am and headed off to bed. Where was I going? Well that was a bit of a secret that I can now let you in on. I was going to Jamaica for my little niece's birthday party. Hey, a girl only turns nine once, right! The taxi arrived right on time but I had just barely enough time to get through the check-in line and customs before hurrying off to my flight. I had gotten to the airport only two hours before my departure time (that's what they told me to do). It was a bit of a crazy rush and I was annoyed with the insanely long lines everywhere but while I was standing in one of them I saw up on the notice board that my friend's flight had been canceled. Things can always be worse was the mantra I had to keep that in mind for the rest of the day. I had a two hour wait in the line for customs in Kingston, Jamaica and when I finally was received at the counter she asked all sorts of probing questions which I deftly answered. Ruth had given me instruction on how to get to Negril and the first leg was a taxi ride from the airport to the Kingston bus park. I was accosted by some taxi drivers but I couldn't bare to get ripped off so badly. I found the bus stop and waited some more. A nice guy walked me from the city center to the main bus park and there I had to wait about an hour before the minibus was full enough for the four hour journey to Savannah del Mar where I changed to a shared taxi for Negril. I walked into the hotel room exhausted at 10pm at night but it was all worth it to see her cute little face.
I snuck out to find some jerk chicken and a Jamaican fruit punch with rum before heading to bed tired and happy but I woke up about an hour later with the worst allergy reaction I'd ever had. I was coughing, totally stuffed up, constantly sneezing and the back of my throat was so super itchy I had to dig my toothbrush out of my bag to give it a good scratch. I woke Ruth up to see if see had any allergy pills but she didn't. I eventually passed out from exhaustion. I felt better in the morning and we all headed down to the beach. I hadn't been to Negril for three years and I couldn't believe the changes due to the recent hurricanes. The beach is wider with a small dip`at the waterline and there's also a sandbar about 150 meters from the shore that wasn't there before. We swam around for a few hours and then I watched the World Cup game at the beach bar while Maya went of to get her hair braided. In the afternoon we walked into town to pick up a few things before Maya and Ruth left to go back to Black River. I chilled out in my room for an hour before heading down to Kuyaba, a ritzy little restaurant, for some dinner. Ruth caught up with me there (she'd ditched the child with Grandma) and we had some gorgeous food and drink before getting ready to hit the Alfred's, the local dance club. We drank and danced and laughed at all the hijinks going on and finally had a long overdue very long talk back at the hotel. A very long talk.
Ruth left early the next day. I stayed to hang by the beach a little bit more and to watch England have a melt down against Portugal. I thought the game would end just before check out time but of course they had to go into overtime which meant I had to run back to my room to move my bags out and in the rush, ended up forgetting my bathing suit which was out on the patio drying in the sun. Oh well, I caught a bus to Black River to Ruth's parent's house in time for Maya's birthday party. A bunch of loud kids, patties and cake. Good Lord. We'd had enough by the time all the kids had left so Ruth and I took ourselves to a small nice bar in Black River to decompress. On our last day of fun, we headed out to a local beach called Fontaine Beach with Maya and her two little cousins where there were lots of families and kids splashing around. Ruth and I were sitting chatting with one of the lifeguards when he suddenly took of running towards the water. A young girl was drowning in few fert of water right next to her mother who was deep in conversation with a friend. Scary stuff. I went out to swim and play with the kids when lifeguard offered to swim with me to the reef since he could see I was a strong swimmer. What a way to get a girl alone to chat her up!
After a few hours the kids were exhausted and we headed back. I tried to find a taxi to take me to Negril to pick up my bathing suit but it was Sunday and there were none so I packed up my bags and sat outside surrounded by Ruth's mom's beautiful flowers and mango trees. Ruth dropped my at the local bus park early in the morning and I began my day long journey back to Columbia and home. I arrived very late at night I thankfully I'd emailed them my itinerary and had asked them to hold my bed. Most of the same characters were still there in the hostel which was comforting. I'm staying in Bogota for a week to before heading off to traipse around the country. I still haven't decided the last bit of my itinerary yet but I'm close!
Comments