A Guest Post by Cameron Davis
I am running behind the jade green leaves with my grandfather, spying on my parents at the Yaaman Adventure Park in Montego Bay, Jamaica. We are surrounded by green and purplish trees and bushes, and when we turn around, we find ourselves staring at a beautiful navy blue waterfall crashing against grey rocks.
I look up to see my grandfather staring down at me saying, “Isn’t that incredible?”
The waterfall is beautiful, but so is spending time with my grandfather.
Traveling with family members can be exciting and fun. On this trip to Jamaica with my brother, parents and grandparents, I talked to my grandfather more than I ever did before. We talked about where he lived and actually got to visit his childhood home.
He showed me fruit trees that grow in Jamaica. I learned facts about where he and my grandmother went to school and the routes they would take to get there.
Family Cooking Classes
At the Yaaman culinary cooking tour, we got to cook together. We made our very own spicy, jerk chicken. Our task was to make festival – a sweet, fried dumpling – in designs that represented ourselves. I made a golden brown, crunchy, fluffy one in the shape of a number four. I did that because my favourite number is four and I wanted my festival to represent me!
My grandmother made the traditional round-shaped festival and my grandpa made his into the shape of a tongue.
Afterwards, my grandfather and I were very eager to explore the “hidden areas” which made me think, “could my grandpa can be as fun as a teenager!?”
That’s when we started to run.
Traveling with grandparents is fun
Grandparents can be as adventurous as you if you let them. I rarely travel with my grandparents but when I do travel with them, we always have a blast. On this trip I saw my grandparents taking the kinds of risks that most teens would take, like jumping into a waterfall at the Irie blue hole situated in the Island Gully Falls.
They swam in pools that were taller than my dad (and he’s over 6 feet!) even though they weren’t great swimmers.
The difference is that they wore life jackets.
Grandparents can also learn new lingo. I know for a fact that my parents over- use the term “lit” but my grandparents know about memes and dabbing.
While my parents are listening to the instructor, Grandpa and I are exploring.
He is keeping a steady pace with me on the cobblestone path.
We glance to our left and right. We see tangerine trees up ahead and Grandpa doesn’t hesitate to reach up and grab a tangerine for each of us. We peel them quickly, bite into them, taste their sourness and burst out laughing.
More Information:
Do you want to visit Yaaman Culinary Centre? Here’s all their info: Yaaman Adventure Park
Do you want to visit Island Gully Falls? Here’s all their info:
Island Gully Falls
This article reminds me of my late grandmother. I never had a chance to do a road trip with her before she passed.
I’m glad it brought back memories of a loved one. Thanks for sharing that.
Very much excited to visit after looking at these scenarios!
Heather, I was just catching up on your site after telling a friend about your inspiring story the other day. I started this reading this article and only half way through (when the photo of the whole family appeared) realized Cameron was writing it! Wow, Heather, you have raised some amazing kids, though I shouldn’t be surprised. Cameron, you have a new reader–I’ll be looking for more of your stories!