Whoa… Huge sleep! I’m guessing it was partially the product of a time change Sunday in New Brunswick, an early rise to catch a flight and the subsequent further jump of two time zones on our flight south. Regardless, one very peaceful evening. I had the sense Day One in Jamaica was going to roll out as a “recovery day”. The morning here is simply serene! I know it’s going to be the best part of the day. As expected, the coffee and Sangsters was absolutely delicious. The cream and world famous Blue Mountain coffee are both going to be hard on the pocket book… But hey!
At 7:00 AM the horses from nearby Chukka Caribbean Adventures were out for a morning trot (just out our back door) and then roamed the polo field adjacent to the Tikal (Moksha) Villa. They do horseback excursions on land and in the water which leave from nearby. Janie caught this excellent moment. Not a lot of movement around the villas themselves early on, so we basically have the run of the place. We’ve figured out the bedroom heat pumps for coolness and all the ceiling fans, located inside and out, which was no small chore.
I began exploring the kitchen around 7:00 as well and cooked up a breakfast scoff of eggs, a jerk flavoured bacon, and toast. It’s become a tradition for us to build our own breakfast while vacationing. I never liked being on the road and searching around for a place to have a coffee and slice of toast first thing. Monica took this excellent shot of breakfast… Although the plates are so huge that parts of our meal seem lonely. Too warm to eat too much though. All good!
As the morning progressed we had several visitors. Clarence, the driver for the villas, introduced himself and left contact information should we wish to head out and about. Janet, the manager, also stopped by to confirm all was good. She did well, managing to keep up with all of Janie’s questions and discussing what options might be available to us through the week. Marcia returned around 10:00 to spiff the place up and ready for supper. Anthony, all the while, moved steadily with rake, chairs, and hoses taking great care to make sure the grounds were in tip top shape. Quite an operation… I was “almost” starting to feel guilty!
Part of the charm in this location was the terrific water access. We even went as far as to bring masks and snorkels along to make the best of the location. Although not as clear and colourful as our Mexico experience on the Meso-American reef, we had a good work out. We launched in off the rock wall and spent about an hour puttering about the cove… The girls went one direction and I went another. Did see a few fish along the way and after some research I think I was viewing Blue Tang. They were dodging in and out of the rocky coastline and were tricky to see as they blended in quite well with the bottom / vegetation when looking from above.
The second check in of the day was to make sure we had all the ingredients for Marcia in regards to supper! Janie and I made the 15 minute trek to the grocery store to gather provisions for the next couple of evenings. This time we came back with the nitty gritty, including scotch peppers, bass, garlic, fruits, veggies and an assortment of beverages (the store is well stocked in regards to grabbing a bottle of wine or rum). Also picked up some stubbies of Red Stripe, the most known of Jamaican beers. As of 2:00 PM you can consider it sampled with a thumbs up!
The rest of the afternoon saw a siesta, plant identification (Janie’s iNaturalist App) and refreshments. Starting to feel the groove here now! For the most part Tikal (Moksha) takes on that Jamaican “laid back” feel we’ve been told about. However, there is, of course, the running of the bulls? Not really, but the horses go for their run daily at 7:00 AM and 5:00 PM Caribbean sharp (which equals anywhere within 45 minutes of the actual time). They are fun to watch and magnificent creatures. Grampy would have never left the fence… Methinks I have horseback riding coming at some point in the near future. I’ve never been on one, so why not! Maybe I’m a natural.
This evenings supper was prepared by Marcia… Curried mutton, rice and salad. I wouldn’t call us foodies, as we don’t travel for that reason, but we’ve come to realize that food is a common denominator. I think that understanding what different cultures eat and how they prepare can say a lot. Why this, how is it prepared, what are the ingredients, who shares in the meal… All these things come to light! I sense we’re making in roads with Marcia as well. We’re very open to learning more about Jamaica and want our time here to be one of community, not of service. In no uncertain terms… It was an excellent meal (thanks Marcia 😉).
After supper it was clean up, discussion and outdoors. We capped the night off with a nice swim in the pool, some evening snacks and the solving of several world problems! We’ve figured out the heat pumps, so it will be a comfy sleep at 18 degrees and sweet dreams in at Tikal (Moksha) Villa… Good night all!