My Trek into the Land of Cold

November 27, 2012July 12, 2015 Andrew

I began the first day of my vacation splendidly by heading to “Simply the Best Restaurant”(One of my favourite places to eat in Ocho Rios).

I was feeling a bit under the weather but the hot meal I was served must have triggered a huge surge of dopamine in my brain as that sickly feeling quickly subsided leaving me energized and ready to start my trek.

If you are ever in Ocho Rios just ask anyone for directions to this simple and lovely restaurant. You will be in for quite a treat. I promise : – )

My voyage into “The Land of Cold” (name I coined) was now about to begin.
(West-jet 737 boarding for takeoff at MBJ Airport)

Apart from a very small mishap at the airport which could have prevented me from boarding my flight and also will not be mentioned (Don’t ask Wayde Brown what happened), my departure from Mo-Bay to The Land of Cold went smoothly.

Now if someone from Canada tells you that Canada is cold, they deserve to be slapped because they are blatantly lying. It is VERY cooooooold.

If you are from a tropical country like Jamaica, what is considered frigid to us is deemed as merely cool to the average Canadian.

Please note if you are accustomed to cold weather you might scoff at this, but for those who aren’t and might be desirous of visiting the land of cold, have a look at the image below:

The picture to the left illustrates what is considered a very beautiful day by the average Canadian.

What you should really look at are the wind chill numbers as they give you a more accurate depiction of how cold it actually feels outside.

Now bear in mind, this picture was taken in fall and temperatures were already sub-zero. That should paint a pretty good picture of what to expect in the land of cold in the winter and it’s worse in the northern regions. My trek took me merely to the southern tip of the iceberg (southern Ontario) which luckily has FAR less extreme conditions.

Having established that “The Land of Cold” is indeed cold, I must say that it is a very beautiful and clean place. There are many things I admire about this country.

I’d describe it as a cleaner and colder extension of the United States. Health care in Canada is delivered through a publicly funded health care system, which is mostly free at the point of use and has most services provided by private entities.

Every Canadian I asked about this healthcare system had mostly good things to say.

Litter is non existent in many areas, and the people seem less hostile and more mannerable than many other places I’ve visited. Even the drivers in the city areas seem more patient and understanding. Everything seems ordered and well thought out. This may be partially due to the fact that there are severe penalties imposed for the most minor infractions.

There are numerous signs put up all over the place stating the fines you can receive such as the one below:

Maybe more fines like these are needed in Jamaica? I must also commend the governing bodies. They must be making a colossal effort to beautify and maintain the environs.

A prime example of their effort is the entirely man made lake and recreation centre in Brampton Ontario (Professor’s Lake). These lakes are just as big as the man made lakes I’ve seen in other places such as Florida. There are many lakes similar to this in Canada. I took a few pictures of it to share below:

After walking around this lake a few times I quickly became enamoured with the many squirrels I saw scampering about. They are quite cute. I also encountered a variety of berries.

I was very tempted to eat some but fought my overwhelming desire fearing they might be poisonous. If anyone knows if they are safe for consumption or not, please feel free to let me know in the comments.

It seems a lot of time and effort was put into the design of their new legal tender as well. They are thoughtfully and beautifully designed. The material used to print them makes them virtually impossible to tear and very hard to crush. (A few notes are missing)

Tip: Click on image to make it bigger – Some images Open in a new tab

Amazing healthcare, good infrastructure, a decent education system are all some of the things that make Canada a great country but arguably the most delightful and amazing thing about this land is the absence of LIZARDS!!!!!

Apparently they don’t do too well in extreme cold :-).

There are relatively few reptiles in Canada, as only a limited number of species have been able to adapt to the diverse, generally colder Canadian climate.

If you read one of my previous articles regarding these awful reptiles, you already know how much I loathe them (Click here for the article on lizards).

What they do have in abundance are squirrels, skunks, geese, raccoons, and a host of other critters i’m not familiar with. Scariest of them all are the skunks. I grew up hearing stories about the stench of a skunk’s spray. I was fortunate enough to smell some on the highway a few times and let me tell you the stench is unbelievable and you can literally smell it for miles.

Pics from my Visit

There are many places to visit and things to do in this land. Naturally they are far too numerous for me to mention or even discover. Fortunately I was able to see a few iconic attractions. I’ve shared some pictures from my trek below. Enjoy:

Click images to make them bigger: