Life's Hard As A Norweigian

With South America in the books, I finally got to start my travels back to Vancouver.. with a quick detour in the  Caribbean first! Landing in Fort Lauderdale, I was lucky enough to catch up with Vanessa for dinner who I had met 5 months ago in Brazil, as well as meet her friend Jennifer! It was definitely a highlight seeing an old friend, catching up as if we've known each other for years, and not for just for a few months. Good for the soul!

Ladies with accents..

Afterwards my parents picked me up and we had a big ole happy reunion! It was great seeing them after my trip and it couldn't have been a better reception stateside. Sitting in the car with them on the way to the hotel however, I realized I had just had one of the last conversations where I wouldn't have to explain any of the places, names or things that I've experience to the other person. Where they simply just understood what I was saying. I'm going to miss that.. a lot. Meeting up with the rest of the family in our hotel led to an epic exchange of personal belongings brought from Vancouver and a bag of presents from South America in return. Then after a short sleep we were off cruising!

Cruising!

The Norwegian Epic was my home for an entire week. Unpacking my bag into drawers and clothes hangers was definitely a huge change of pace for me. As was having catered food anytime 24/7, as was being able to flush toilet paper down the toilet.. as was having the same bed for more than four days, as were many many other things. Days were spent lounging on the sun deck, guzzling protein in between sets at the gym (ha), going to three hour dinners, drinking bottles with the cousins and sisters, and exploring three different ports of call! A hard life as a Norwegian indeed. 

La vida es duro

Three stops. Nassau, Bahamas. Ocho Rios, Jamaica. Cozumel, Mexico. 

Nassau! As we departed the cruise we got into a 15 passager bus and took off immediately. Or not. We ended up waiting for it to fill up to take off to Atlantis Waterpark when we were introduced to Sharky the Swiper. By that, I mean he literally convinced us to ditch the van and go into his air conditioned SUV to take off to Atlantis instead of waiting for more people. Service first right? Atlantis was beautiful, a "Mayan" temple had three slides built into it, two of which would shoot you through a glass tube filled with sharks! Many pools and and a few more rides dotted the park. A lazy river rapid on tubes ended up being the best ride of the day, full of laughs and smiles. A lunch date with a classmate of Rosalyn's led to a one really awkward handshake video and the dubbing of my "jobless travel bracelets". I definitely need to return. To get a real feel for the location. To get under the skin of some locals. To really discover it.. and obviously not just for a passport stamp and another patch on my backpack. Obviously. 

Mayan Temple. Discovered as is.

Ocho Rios! Ya maaaaan! No problems in Jamaica, only situations! Some of the friendliest people live here in Jamaica, also some of the best salesmen! We got a chance to explore Dunn's River Falls just outside the town. It's essentially a series of small waterfalls connecting into a river running down the course of some 600 feet to the ocean. Climbing/hiking/swimming up it from the bottom with my family including mom, dad, uncle, and aunt was awesome. Thankful that I was able to share an experience like that with the generation above. Definitely was a bit of a balancing act carrying my camera up it but well worth it in the end. A little jerk chicken later, a few snaps at a decent mirador and quite a lot of coffee bags later and off we were! Proximo?!

Dunn's River Falls

Cozumel! Palancar reef is suppose to be one of the world's best dive sites. I had tried to sign up with a seperate dive shop prior to the trip but a lack of wifi, 4 other people to deal with and a dive center on vacation crushed those hopes. Signing up for the cruise's diving excursion with equipment to Palancar and then a secound dive spot afterwards had me quite excited! Up until I got off the boat and saw the meeting place. Seeing all the people, filling out all the disclaimers and paperwork with "Sergio" left me feeling like I was just another person being shoved along the conveyor belt. It was to be expected and that wasn't a problem. What I didn't expect was the extra 12$ wetsuit rental fee (apparently a wetsuit doesn't count as equipment in Mexico), the impersonal divemasters and the fact that we didn't even go to Palancar! While the first dive site was pretty enough and the visibility 40m+, it wasn't enough to compensate for the piss poor secound dive, the lack of care and not going to Palancar! Seriously what the heck! With a serious bitter taste in my mouth I went in search of tacos, of course. I found the local marketplace off the tourist strip and replaced my bitterness with delicious tacos and iced horchata, a rice drink made with orange and cinnamon. Food can solve all problems in the world. Try it. 

Problem Solver

All three were beautiful, all three were serene, and all three were filled with tourists. Really I knew that and had prepared myself to brace for the worst. Landing in a cruise ship next to 2-3 other cruise ships who are all there at the same time for the same hours leads to my least favourite type of travelling. The obnoxious, waterproof passport sleeve around the neck, fanny pack & socks and sandals wearing type of travelling. It's simply not for me. Air conditioned buses jammed with people high on their horses, artisanal markets where every vendor has the exact same thing for the exact same prices, and 20$ plates of Jerk Chicken. Maybe it's something I'll grow into. Maybe I'm just not mature enough to understand it. Or maybe I'm just too adventurous for my own good. Wandering through the gritty parts of town where homeless orphans sleep in the street and shifty characters try to sell stolen goods. Eating at the local markets and grimy street carts even if I might get salmonella from the 2$ skewer of beef hearts sizzling over a charcoal fire. Too risky for my own good. 

But there's safety and security in travelling like this. You know that if you book a tour that you're not going to get swindled 100$. Three appetizers, a main course and two desserts topped off with a show afterwards is quite the norm. Doing nothing but sleeping in till noon and lying on a sundeck until sunset is far from abnormal. Anyway, I have no idea what kind of point I'm trying to make with this post so.. Highlights?!

High Lights

I got to see my family for an entire week after 6 months on the road. Awesome. 

I got to spend an entire week on Caribbean time, and not having to deal with any of the annoyances of being a short on time. backpacker. Fantastic. 

I'll be home in Vancouver in a few hours and can FINALLY eat all the asian food I can stomach. Entonces bueno. 

Finally, I'll be off again on my next adventure in two weeks. Can't wait!

Channy

Instagram - itsnathanchan

December 28th, Gate A12, PDX, USA