Stuck in Jamaica

5:30 wake up for all the right reasons! The promise of sun, natural sand and beautiful turquoise oceans will wake me no matter the time!! I packed evening last night and had an early subway commute to check in at 7. I met Ray at the entrance of departures at the Toronto Pearson airport and as we walked to check in I couldn't help but go up to the TV crews (there to document the expected spring break rush) and ask them if they wanted a story! Ray and I stepped in for two television bits on channel CP24 and Global! Great times promoting our quest and getting some face time on air! I also had the chance to plug my youtube videos so hopefully I get some more hits and fans

Now for the lame part. We have been stranded in Jamaica for 7 hours and will have to deal with it for another 3. After a short trip from Toronto to Kingston, Jamaica we unfortunately had a long layover and our flight has been postponed by 3 hours. We were stuck with our bags inside the airport (minutes from a beach) and now that we checked into our flight, we are stuck on the other side of security so we can't head into town for a bite!

Being immobile in such an amazing place is frustrating. Jamaican "jerk" food is incredible and unfortunately there isn't much for us to experience in the airport aside from a stale BBQ chicken joint and burger king. We dined on both to pass the time and the experiences didn't do this country justice. That being said, once we made it through the security/passport checkpoint we rolled upstairs to find a cute little vegetarian/fruit based stand. We chatted with the owner and upon our request, she put together the most "in season" fruits to create a delicious smoothie that will certainly sustain me for the next few hours! She blended a mixture of guava, pineapple, banana and june plum juice over ice and it was super tasty. Then, she added some ginger to it after a small discussion on immune function inspired by an old man from our flight who came close to coughing up one of his lungs. He was concerning and I am happy to be free of the recycled air full of nasties.

We now await to board the airplane and hit the Caymans far later than expected. Hopefully our ride got the message and hasn't been waiting for 3 hours, but I assume the island is small enough that it wasn't a big deal had he not heard.

We are looking forward to sand and sun tomorrow and the potential to kiss stingrays, swim with dolphins or scuba dive the wonderful local waters. Tough choices all round!!

Cheers,

Martin