In Kingston

So we left for the airport and James had another chat to the driver about the Cricket. He was amused by the rule of South African supporters - "We support two teams - South Africa and any team playing Australia!!!!!!". We also picked up two other passengers en route to the airport who were staying at the Riu - which was 5 stars. That looked seriously comfortable. We even got a glance of the PLATINUM lounge while we were waiting in the taxi.
Anyways the other passengers were German and were very quiet. The drive was slow, but we realised that we were being picked up at 8am, and were going to get to the airport by 9:30 with about 2.5hrs to wait for the flight. So - after dropping off the Germans at the harbour because they were boarding a HUGE cruise ship, the driver took us to the estrip or something to that effect where the spring breakers also go. We saw a lot of clubs, bars, restaurants and hotels. He pointed out the popular ones for the "kiddies".

At the airport we unloaded our bags, and realised we had no change to tip the driver. He was like Ïts cool mon, enjoy the cricket!" - and we entered the airport to check in with Air Jamaica. The queue was nice and short compared to the American Airways checkin - which was like a million people! Only one problem - James' bag was slightly over-weight, so he had to move some stuff to my bag or to carry-on luggage which was no biggie. This of course was around 10am, so we had time to kill and were hungry, AND - we had abt 3litres of coke that needed to be either drunk or tossed out before going through the security check. We grabbed 2 Jerk Cheese burgers and chips with a pepsi an chowed in the upstairs lounge. Upon finishing - there was no way we were going to drink the coke, so we passed it on to one of the aiport staff who was having a snack. We then headed over to the security point, and had to do 90% of the immigration stuff and security stuff cos there was only one entrance open for bot international and domestic flights... I carried the notebook this time and we put it through the scanners.. And it seems that was my good luck - cos James got taken aside to get his backpack checked. This time was cool - cos nothing was taken. There were some cool shops in the Duty Free. How about a bottle of Appleton Special Reserve for around 75dollars!!!! Or pirate merchandise with lots of tshirts and mugs. Very cool place. And of course - a trip to Jamaica wouldnt be complete without seeing the First Jamaican Bob-sled Team!! There was a bobsled that we got photos of, and I got a shirt and James got playing cards. We then moved up to the top floor to wait for the flight that we had to board at 11:25 - and there was no sign of the plane yet. At about 11:15, the plane rocked up and lots of people climbed off and we then boarded. The flight left at 12:03, and landed at 12:27. We therefore sat in the plan IN the airport for longer than the actual flight. It was like - we climbed up to cruising altitude of 11000 feet in 7mins, cruised there for 3mins, and then started the decent into Kingston. It hardly seemed worth it.

Landing in Kingston we got our luggage, and passed through customs quickly and easily. We weren't sure what to pay for a taxi, and ended up taking one for 25bucks - from the official taxi operator which had a standard rate. This was quite comforting as we'd heard stories of non-licensed taxis costing a lot more! The trip took a while, and we went passed the stadium on the way. There was quite a bit of activity that we could see on the field from the taxi.

We're now at the Ligueana club which is a sports club, sort of like Kelvin. And I'm sitting on my bed typing this while James is surfing the channels on the TV. We'll see what the rest of the day will bring - its around 2:30 now and - we're in Jamaica after all...

No Problem!