Unable to spend an entire vacation just relaxing with our books/drinks by the ocean, Tracy and I rented motor scooters and picked a spot on a map. We set off on a mission to explore a little of a less visited corner of western Jamaica. So much fun and so memorable, motor scooters might just find a place in some of our future vacation plans.
Feeling awesome and looking ridiculous.
I am not sure our vehicles were quite built for the terrain we took them on, but they performed admirably. We survived dirt roads, sand, potholes, some brief off-roading and the dodging trucks into bushes all in one day trip.
Just as I had hoped for, we easily found our own little private beaches as picturesque as you could imagine.
Time for a snack out of the sun in a perfect little beach spot.
Happy to be off adventuring again. Jamaica, we like you.
We’ve arrived at the destination that we picked off of a random map…Little Bay Jamaica.  First order of business was to stop at this little fisherman’s bar on the beach and secure lunch and a drink. These gentleman were already through a couple bottles of liquor by lunchtime, however I think we caught them during a very friendly stage of inebriation.
We found a couple of fisherman who were more than willing to sell us a fish caught that morning and even prepare it as a little lunch for a few dollars. The “kitchen” may have been primitive but the food was delicious.
Tracy befriended this little local puppy which she named “Chef”. He was so amazingly cute and friendly that we temporarily suspended our no touching stray animals rule for travel. He was worth the risks.
This man is building fish traps by hand just like he’s been doing on this same beach for over 50 years. Nice guy and amazing to think he was here doing the same work back when my parents were driving around Jamaica on their honeymoon.
We kept thinking that Jamaica seemed quite like Africa. Both are lands of simple beauty, friendly people, infectious culture and heart-breaking poverty.
Little Bay, Jamaica is still known primarily for being a beach that Bob Marley used to visit to get away from the pressures of Kingston.  We could understand why he came, it was quiet and pretty and seemingly stuck in time.

This day trip was another reminder that is can be both easy and safe to get away from the well traveled tourist areas of any country and experience a little of the true culture and beauty so often missed in a world dominated by all-inclusive resort compounds.