For the guest's convenience there's also a tour desk which will arrange bus pickups as well as tours of Montego Bay attractions. On one of our evenings, we booked a dinner and cruise package at The Glistening Waters Restaurant on the Luminous Lagoon. Dinner was served on the balcony of the restaurant overlooking the water. Our chicken creole dinners were finished off with Jamaican coffee and rum raisin ice cream. After dinner we boarded a small tour boat to traverse the bay, which by this time was as dark as the Jamaican coffee we had just enjoyed. Our guide explained the concept of luminescence. Though I did not fully comprehend the science behind the phenomenon, I learned that what we would see is a rarity only observed in about three other bodies of water. The boat had no lights and the surrounding area was also without illumination, but soon we saw the waters aglow with fish and algae. The boat actually left a glowing path in its wake. The trip took about 45 minutes and included not only a peek into the light show beneath the water, but a mini tour of the area. Our guide pointed out with a flashlight the birds that perch in the trees at night--which was kind of eerie, when you saw the tremendous volume of them asleep in the branches. It seemed reminiscent of a Hitchcock movie.
Donald's favorite excursion was called Chuka Blue Canopy Tour. Between the two of us, my husband is without a doubt, the more adventuresome. He is always seeking out something different to taste or experience, while I am content embracing the familiar. While he tries jerk chicken or fried snake, I usually order a plain grilled chicken sandwich. But after many years of marriage, I still let him talk me into things. This tour was going to be another adventure as he put it. Since ignorance is bliss, I decided not to inquire too much about what exactly a canopy tour was and just be surprised.
I am also not known for being too athletic. My sport of choice is bowling, and at times, even that can be a little too strenuous and daring for me. So although I am not a thrill seeker and not particularly physical, I found myself hiking through a rain forest in Jamaica to the top of a mountain, standing literally in a tree house wearing a helmet, work gloves and a harness around my middle. I wanted to be surprised, and I was. I soon found out that we would be zip-lining from tree to tree across the top canopy of the rain forest. I was not only surprised, I was petrified.
The guides were so helpful and in my case comforting. They have been trained extensively first in safety and then in soothing nerves. I felt myself sweating profusely and aging as each harness, hook and rope was attached. We started off about 150 feet in the air and the tour consisted of zipping from one tree to the next, criss-crossing our way across the forest, with the goal of taking in a view that only the birds are privy to. That meant I needed to keep my eyes open as I went across the longest jump -- 1,000 feet across. Don described it as an adult version of a confidence course set between tree tops. I thought it was sheer madness. I kept thinking "Who thought of this?"
We had a short course in the art of safe zip-lining, but I was so numb that I was sure I would forget everything I had just been told. "Where do my hands go?" "Which rope helps me to slow down?"
