My grandmother has spent most of her life on the family’s plantation in Jamaica even though she is from England. Some of the stuff she used to tell us about her vacation trips to Southampton was really interesting. She spent her vacations with cousins and uncles in the family manor.

My grandmother would often talk about the journey she took aboard “banana boats” accompanied by other plantation owners and their families. The main purpose of the journey was to cart cargos of bananas from Jamaica, but there were cabins in the banana boats where they could stay. They had a great time playing rounds of bingo and watching films that were played with the help of a noisy projector. I found the descriptions that my grandma gave us of the chocolate chip-marshmallow banana boats dessert simply awesome. It made my mouth water.

After our wedding my husband and I went to a luxury resort in Montego Bay for our honeymoon. On the resorts website there was a mention of “rides in banana boats“. I was thrilled that I could finally go on a relaxing cruise around Jamaica. Well, I must say I was disappointed when saw what the banana boats of today looked like. They were long inflatable yellow colored tubes that had two smaller tubes as foot rests on either side. One had to sit astride the boat with about 8 to 10 people. This boat was then attached to a motor boat which skimmed the sea’s surface at high speed. I was a bit scared when I first went on the ride and clutched my husband for dear life. The turns were really frightening and some people managed to fall into the water. We were all wearing life jackets and those who fell in the water managed to climb back on. It wasn’t as scary as water-skiing though. I enjoyed the ride. In fact we loved it so much that we tried it again in the Aquasol Theme Park in Montego Bay.

Well at least the banana boats they served us in the restaurant for dessert lived up to my expectation.