Montego Bay
Jamaica's temperatures scarcely change from one day to the next
and remain around 25 to 30 degrees Celsius year-round. In October,
clouds generally gather in the evenings, followed by thunderstorms
that never last more than an hour or two. Amazingly, all this happens
with virtually no change in temperature.
With so much time, I popped into the nursery, offering many colourful
and exotic plants. The tropical Caribbean climate in Jamaica facilitates
a diverse ecosystem. When the Spanish arrived in 1494, the country
was deeply forested apart from small agricultural clearings. The
European settlers cut down the trees for building purposes and
cleared the plains, savannahs and mountain slopes for cultivation.
New plants were introduced, but, thank goodness, a few indigenous
plants survived.
In the days to follow, I walked the streets of Mobay, packed with
curio stalls all selling similar items. The interesting part was that on
cruise ship days, the prices almost doubled, and it was not a good
idea to go shopping on those days. In the meantime, I searched for a
bike box but couldn’t find any. So, in the end, I stuck two fridge
boxes together, hoping they wouldn’t fall apart before arriving in
Cuba.