Travelogue - Part 2

UHM and I made it to Jamaica right on time and with no trouble.  It was a very long day but we were happy to get to the resort, indulge in a rum drink, wander around a bit and then get ready for dinner.  After dinner, I have no memories - I pretty literally passed out and slept until 9:30 the next morning.

Friday was spent lounging by the pool and sipping on rum and fruit juice concoctions.  It was positively lovely.  Friday night we took a shuttle to another restaurant on the property.   A really lovely restaurant high on a hill overlooking a golf course and the Caribbean sea.  About 2/3 of the way through our meal, one of the restaurant managers stopped by our table to chat and be sure we were enjoying ourselves.

During the course of the conversation, UHM commented that she was sorry we had arrived when the light was failing because she really wanted to show me the "Monkey No Climb" trees on the course.  The manager looked at her oddly and said, "What kind of trees?"  UHM replied, "The Monkey No Climb" trees.  They have thorns on the trunk so the monkeys can't climb them."

Again, the manager was puzzled.  She asked where UHM had heard of these trees and UHM replied, on her last visit to the island the golf caddies had told her about them.  Then the manager began to laugh - long and loud.  The caddies had been pulling UHM's leg.  There are no monkeys on the island of Jamaica so why would there be a  tree called the Monkey No Climb tree.  There are palms on the course that are difficult to climb but, to the manager's knowledge nothing like the tree UHM described.

I hadn't laughed that hard in a long time.  It was such a classic case of the locals amusing themselves at the cost of the tourist.

Now, to give UHM credit when we got home I Googled "Monkey No Climb tree" and there is a species of tree called that but it is not native to Jamaica and, as far as I could tell it doesn't grow there either.

Moral of this story - if a local tells you something that seems pretty cool, it might be a good idea to research it before you go telling anyone else about it.