I’m the mother of two children, worse yet, I didn’t start having kids until my mid-thirties.  “So what?” You might ask.  I’ll tell you what, it makes you a nervous wreck rearing a 4 year old and an 8 year old in your forties, sons, no less!  It doesn’t help that my husband is 50 going on 15 in the energy-level department.

I was fairly cautious when I was a kid, never putting myself in extreme danger for the sake of some kind of thrill-seeking adventure.  That said, I camped out and climbed Blue Mountain Peak, I water-skied and snow-skied, played cricket, field hockey and lacrosse, and was always the first in my family to be up for finding a new nook to visit on my beautiful island.  All of these activities were executed after having carefully calculated the probability of anything bad occurring.  There was no chance I would be trying flips in water-skis, off-piste terrain on snow-skis, the Irish sport of hurling or climbing a mountain like Kilimanjaro.  The two most daring things I ever did were riding a ridiculous rollercoaster in the UK and skydiving in Australia, both in my very late teens.  I came right out of my comfort zone for a short time and happily climbed right back in!

So, yesterday, when my extended family and I visited Yaaman Adventure Park in Ocho Rios, I was very weary of some of the activities they have on offer.  Like I said, I’m a mummy, which comes with a whole lot of worry when it comes to motorized sports.  The full package of tours at Yaaman Adventure Park is designed to suit the entire family, but I must admit that the idea of my sons operating a Segway, especially on declines, traveling in a speedy ATV and even riding a horse on their own, was quite discomforting.  As it was, maneuovering the Segway and ATV myself was disturbing.

When we arrived, I didn’t realise what the whole day would actually entail, so when we started off on the Jitney tour around the Prospect property, with Donovan as our guide, I was very relaxed.  He shared some history of the families who have owned Prospect, including the legacy left by the last resident, which is that he set up a trust whereby 36 boys, ages 14-16, from under-privileged communities, attend the school on site at no cost to themselves nor their families.  He took us to meet a man who could climb a coconut tree with the ease of someone walking 3 yards, then to assist Chef Irie in a most eloquent and easy cooking class that managed to engage everyone from the 4 year old to the over forties club.  This day was perfect.  Nothing could top this.  I was in my element.

HA!  Not for much longer…..as the next thing on the agenda was the Segway.  Say what?  No, no, no.  Are you crazy?  How are my boys going to manage that?  How am I going to manage that?  Even Trish, who is not such a worry-wort like myself, had some trepidation over driving this two-wheeled vehicle.  There was slight relief when I was told that the little one couldn’t do it, but that was reneged when he hopped on an ATV with the 18 year old intern, Cruz, hired to take photographs for Yaaman Adventure Park.  It turns out, btw, I had nothing to fret over.  Safety is taken extremely seriously in this place!  As for the Segway?  Surprisingly, one has a lot more control of this rather bizarre mode of transport and it is not difficult to execute its operation.  The dichotomy of this part of the tour was ‘driving’ it to take a camel ride.  It was like being a time machine.  The truth is, having discovered that the level of danger of a Segway is minimal, yet the ride is exhilarating, Trish and I now see the appeal of such a machine.

Just when the six of us thought the day couldn’t get any better, we climbed on the backs of horses – Tony, Pretty Girl, Storm, Fidel, Vodka and Hennessy.  Yes, the latter two were the names of horses, not libations Trish and I were consuming to calm our nerves!  Anyway, once again, I was faced with fear for the safety of my children.  Sure, we were all in helmets, as was the case with the Segway, but that doesn’t protect your neck if you’re thrown off the animal!  Seriously?! What is wrong with me???  The thing is, I had absolutely nothing to worry about.  Our guide Eldon was not about to let a damn thing happen to any of us.  He led the little one, helped the bigger kids when their horses wouldn’t budge and, most importantly, eleviated the panic of this here helicopter mama!

The day culminated with the lengthy, phenomenal and well-worth-it All-Terrain-Vehicle tour, or as my baby called it “The Moon Buggy Ride”, whereby anyone with a valid driver’s license is allowed to drive themselves.  Wonderful, I can be in control.  But wait, I’ve been watching other people on these ATVs all day.  They go fast.  They go fast over extremely bumpy mud/dirt tracks and we have to drive through water.  I have to drive one.  My kids have to travel in one.  I have two kids and only one can ride with me.  The 8 year old jumped at the choice to be with me, leaving me wondering what would happen to my baby, but of course he wanted to travel with Cruz, which was a relief as I knew that Cruz would keep him safe.  In fact, our guide Kevin and the entire crew at Yaaman Adventure Park don’t mess around when it comes to the safety of every single person.  So, off we all set, driving head first out of my comfort zone, quite comfortably.  #yaamanadventurepark #TREMbleinFlipFlops