Chasing Monkey Island - Part 2 - Rafting on The Blue Lagoon

"Could you be so kind, then show me a sign;I've been searching and it's so hard to find."- wise words by Damian 'Jr. Gong' Marley==> Check Out #DownDiRoad - Episode 1 - Drone Fun on the Blue Lagoon & St. Margaret's Bay I'm not sure where this fascination with Monkey Island came from but, one more adventure has ended & I still have not set foot on that piece of land. This week's adventure was actually pretty organized. Jodi wanted to go rafting for her birthday, so I gave her some choices & the Blue Lagoon was the one she picked. I figured I could humanely kill two birds with one stone by stopping off at Monkey Island during our raft tour since it's so close, but why did I think it would that easy? Silly me right?Big Miss Steak! Portland, Jamaica is filled with beautiful beaches and anybody who knows me personally knows it is one of my favourite parishes. I've been to the Blue Lagoon once before but all I did was get my feet wet, then do some kayaking, so this experience was by far superior. We arrived a little after midday and even though I knew where the entrance was I still stopped to ask directions for parking. We were greeted by an older guy who introduced himself as Stoney & in true "tourist town" fashion he did not hesitate in offering us his services. Stoney would end up being our tour guide for the day, & we worked out a deal with him for a raft tour around the lagoon.  The Blue Lagoon originally known as “The Blue Hole” is a natural lagoon located a few miles east of Port Antonio. The lagoon gets it's name obviously from it's water which based on the time of day & weather condition reflect multiple shades of blue, green, emerald, and turquoise colours. Stoney started off the tour by carrying us across the outer parts of the lagoon showing us some villas that are owned by a few wealthy Jamaicans. He did name a few famous actors & musicians who have previously stayed there, but at this point I was more fascinated with the architecture and water than the occupants.       We circled back and headed over into the lagoon itself which arguably is one of the most breathtaking bodies of Jamaican water in existence (or at least that I've ever seen). As Stoney slowly went to work bringing us across and showing us some popular sites and landmarks, I couldn't help but sit back & appreciate the beauty of the lagoon. We made a few stops along our journey. The first stop was over by the beach at Tropical Lagoon Resort. I've been here before so I wasn't too excited, but we did get some really good photo ops.    Secondly we headed over to the "Beyonce Tree." Apparently Beyonce had a photoshoot by this tree a few years back, but for me the most intriguing part was jumping off into the Lagoon!    After that we went over to the "Stress Free Spring." The water runs from the hills into the lagoon & Stoney said the water had a lot of natural healing properties. I ain't gonna lie I feel like I dipped in a bath of coconut water because currently my heart feels so clean!  After we left the spring our tour was basically finished and we headed back to the starting point. We left and headed for some lunch at Boston, which has some of the most famous jerk chicken in Jamaica. We didn't stay long because it was getting late, but we did make some time on the way back by stopping at St. Margaret's Bay for some drone fun.     Suffice to say Monkey Island still eludes me, but I'm not worried, my summer is just about to start. Video recap of this adventure coming soon. I'll make it to Monkey Island one day!