Too funny - my boyfriend won't travel anywhere without his pillows! We have to lug those damn things all over the globe with us! In his defense, he does have a lot of neck problems, but I, personally, will not trade precious suitcase space to bring a pillow or two!Quote:
Originally Posted by Kahuna3
This report is going to be GOOD!!! :p
LOL. Oh, the stories you will be able to tell after this reach.....
This is a great pretrip report. I'm looking forward to you actually getting to Negril!
Why are the good looking flight attendants always in the business class cabin? Isn’t that a blatant example of female objectification? I got busted twice checking out a tall, black haired beauty on the flight down . . . so much for stealth lechery.
There was an ENORMOUS line up at Customs. We arrived shortly after a Virgin 747-400 and the customs hall was clogged. But all went well and I was out in the taxi area without too much delay. I’d booked Clive’s and was met by his Greeter. He apologized, saying that Clive would be late, as there had been some unforeseen delays. OK – so I got a Red Stripe and chilled.
Here’s something I don’t understand – how is it that the first sip of the first Red Stripe of the trip is like a draft of heavenly ambrosia? OMG it was so good. The second sip isn’t as good and the third pales in comparison. Why is that? I’m sure it must be psychosomatic.
So I sipped on my Stripe and waited – taking in the hubbub of the Red Caps, and the taxis and buses coming and going. The harried, newly arrived. Then I got another beer; Clive wasn’t there yet. Midway through my 3rd Stripe the Man arrived. He was profusely apologetic. He loaded my heavy bags and we were on our way – 40 minutes late. But I really didn’t care – I had arrived in Jamaica – no problem, mon. Clive and I had a good chat on our way to Negril. It turned out the reason for his tardiness was somewhat out of his control. He had planned to pick up a woman in Negril and bring her to MoBay, then pick me up. He said the timing was good – that is, until he arrived at The Tree House to pick up his fare. She was otherwise occupied – seems she wanted to spend more time with her Renta. She made Clive wait and wait – he said he almost left her there, but finally she emerged and got into his van. That’s why he was late picking me up. Oh well – I would’ve left her there, the inconsiderate b%t&h.
I got to White Sands at 8:30pm. Francis greeted me and we talked hockey for a while. In my room, I quickly dug my shorts, sandals and tank top out of my bag.
Then I set off for the beach. I’ll be brief here because it’s getting late.
Sandy Haven is not open yet – still dark and fenced in.
Myrna’s store has been re-arranged, it’s very spacious and Myrna is just a sweet as ever. They had to put a new engine on Red Stripe; Myrna told me “the old one blew up!” They had the boat up near the shore at Boat Bar – she told me they were welding the new engine onto the boat so that it wouldn’t be stolen – whuh!
There was a concert at Roots – 15US or 1200J – I passed it up.
Stopped at Sunnyside talked to Robert – he is well and it was good to see him. There's a big party planned at Sunnyside tomorrow – I’m going.
There’s a new store just north of Roots called ‘Irie Needs’, it just opened – the building is new and spacious and bright – one of the owners is a beautiful, bright eyed Canadian girl – I got some plantain chips.
Called home on my laptop – used the Skype ‘call phone’ feature (not the video Skype). With this I don’t need a phone in Negril. I bought $14.00 of credits and with that I can use my laptop to call anywhere in North America at really, really cheap rates. I used to get a phone when here but I’d always leave it in my room, since I refuse to carry a phone with me. I hate cell phones; I actually don’t even own one.
I know I’m gonna get behind on this report – my problem is I’m so long winded. But I will try to keep it in real time – I know how much I ‘need’ trip reports when I’m between trips – I’ll try . . . just don’t expect perfect, organized prose – I’ll be posting rough 1st drafts.
Plans for tomorrow morning include a long beach walk and a swim along the buoy line from White Sands to Sandy Haven.
I’m sitting on the verandah here and the tree frogs are gleeping. A dog is barking in the distance. The moon has just set. It’s pleasantly cool. I’m so happy to finally be here.
I’m tired and I’m going to bed to lay my head on my perfect pillow.
Likkle more . . .
Thanks for the glimpse-soon come!
Ok so I am no writer and even worse typer, but now that I have a seatsale 8 day trip coming up soon, hope to accidentally run into the kahuna!
Sweet dreams Kahuna3...enjoy the day.
Just finished Sunset Negril. I could NOT put it down! Great, great read! Looking forward to your trip report!
Love this report! I'm just starting my second book also, Sunset in Negril :)
Thank you Brian and Deanna! (your checks are in the mail - just as arranged)Quote:
Originally Posted by Brian
PGW - would like to meet up with you, mon
Ahhhhhhhhhh
What a difference a night makes! I was feeling a bit uppity when I posted last night. But now I can feel my Negril Groove coming on.
This morning, well rested, I totally organized my room. Then I lathered up with 30SPF and set out on my beach walk. Big smile on my face. Wow – the beach is crowded! No really big changes to report – the sands have shifted, there is now a lot of beach in front of Moon Dance Villas, other years you’d have to walk around the trees to keep your feet dry. Walked all the way up to where the big AIs start at the north end of the beach. There I went for a dip.
Check out the gecko on the leaf in this photo. . . .
Then I walked back to White Sands, donned my swim goggles and nose clip and swam the buoy line there – does anybody know of a good nose clip? I guess I’ll just have to live with sea water in my sinuses. For me, a swim in Mother Ocean first thing in the morning is pure bliss; a coddling realm of bubbles, muted sounds and shifting light. I zone-out when I swim - it’s like a mini return to the womb.
After that I went into town to get some supplies. My God, do I have a large ‘JUST ARRIVED’ sign on my back? By the time I had walked from the route taxi to Value Master, I was asked no less than half a dozen times if I wanted:
- a taxi (no I just got out of one),
- if I needed a guide to ‘walk with me’ – when I said no he accused me of having ‘no respect’
- did I need a taxi,
- did I want to change money,
- would I Iike to see a fellow’s store – oranges and bannanas?
- Again – would I like to change money??
Well, the Cambio was closed. I had intended to change some CAN$ in JMD$. Hmmmm.
“What rate will you give me - for Canadian?” I asked the guy. (yes, I know – I should know better).
“Eighty-five,” he said. That sounded decent, so I said, “OK, change me 100 Canadian – that will be 8500, right?”
“Yah, mon, come over here,” He went behind a bush.
He shuffled a wad of bills and then handed a stack of Nannies to me. While tightly gripping my two 50$ CDN bills, I counted the J$. “That’s only eight thousand,” I said.
“What!? He replied, incredulously. I handed the bills back to him. He counted them rapidly. “So I owe you five hundred?” he said.
“Yes.” I still held onto my bills.
He slowly pulled another $500 from his back pocket, then grasped my bills. He tugged on my bills and pulled his bills back at the same time saying, “Let me give you some thousands.”
I held fast to my bills and let him take his stack of Nannies back.
“No thanks,” I said. I turned and left. I was followed by a stream of muttered invectives, some of which I’d never heard before.
Went to the Value Master and stocked up; bananas, coconut, papaya, water crackers, cheese, scallions – and a Rock Bun!
Crossed over to the Chinie-Mans and got a flat of 24 Cranberry Wata. All set now.
It’s clear and hot this afternoon. I’m going to the party at Sunnyside and will visit Rob and Lisa (good Canadian girl) at Aqua for sunset.
Lay-tah!
Hope we cross paths during my stay I move around alot so should not be a problem, just have to find a reasonable room.
Love that!Quote:
Originally Posted by Kahuna3
I feel the same way in the ocean
Enjoying your updates:)
Roland, I have to tell you, I enjoyed Sunset Negril so much I pulled out Walk Good for a re-read. Honestly, it was very enjoyable. I hope we can meet when I'm down there in three weeks. It would be a pleasure to meet you!
PGW - I would like to meet up with you - but I don't know where you got the idea that we should 'find a reasonable room' together. Sorry if I mislead you, but I'm not that kind of guy. We would have to have a couple of drinks to start off with - at least.Quote:
Originally Posted by poolguywindsor
LOL Kahuna!!
Ok dont worry only shared a room with a friend once wont happen again , had to read what I posted over twice to make sure I wasnt missing something?lol
Hahahahahaaaaaha. Man love soon come......Quote:
Originally Posted by Kahuna3
Yesterday afternoon I went up to Sunset Beach bar for my first beer of the day. Again I experienced the Red Stripe phenomenon; the initial sip from that cool, just opened, stubby brown bottle was like the sweet kiss of a chaste first cousin, filled with lurid promises that can never be fulfilled (unless you live in the backwoods of Kentucky or anywhere in Newfoundland.)
I was a little surprised to see Rob and Lisa sitting at the bar because I knew they has a webcast later in the afternoon from Aqua web-cast – it was really good to see them.
Later, I wandered down to Aqua for a beer then for sunset I went to the Sunnyside Bar party. The bar is small and the benches there can only seat – at a maximum – ten patrons if they all have skinny bums and don’t mind cozying-up. There were 41 people crowded around the bar when I counted heads just before the sun set. The occasion was the annual orthodontist office group bash, moved this year from the For Real Bar (I Love’d That Bar :>( ). They hail from somewhere in Wisconsin, I think.
It was a great sunset.
I walked the beach again this morning – it is so astoundingly beautiful – the soft yield of the sand under my feet, the swish of the surf lapping the shore, the sunlight dancing on the surface of the water, the sun on my back, growing hot, the frigates and pelicans gracefully cutting the air overhead, the wide open, deep blue sky. Words cannot describe. I feel truly blessed to be in this place at this time.
I approached Sandals, as I frequently do, with a rising swell of expectations. Maybe today ‘they’ would be there. You know the ones – the beautiful people who inhabit the Sandals brochures and TV commercials – young, happy, smiling, laughing. Running and jumping through the surf in slow motion. Beautiful bodies, hair and beach attire. But alas, yet again, ‘they’ are not there – in their stead, as usual, was a thoroughly mundane company of average looking vacationers sprawled on the lounges. My anticipation quickly yielded to bitter disappointment - then shock.
My eyes, scanning the track before me, settled on the crotch of an older gentleman who was approaching me, walking in the opposite direction. (By now you will know that I am thoroughly ensconced in the heterosexual side of the spectrum – so don’t get any ideas.)
What was it that captured my gaze? A banana sling. Light blue. Hanging loosely on the narrow hips of the old boy. It was startling. I immediately pulled my eyes away, but in the instant that the apparition held my focus, I noted that the conveyance was much too large for its intended cargo. Its contents wobbled and jostled freely about within, like two tomcats fighting in a silk pillowcase. (think C cup on an A sized boob.)
The old gentleman had no business wearing such a contraption. Not that being old, in and of itself, would be a reason not to. But when your body is the human equivalent of a 1986 Ford Taurus from upstate New York with 195,000 hard miles on it . . .
We passed and I exhaled my involuntarily withheld breath.
Why, oh, why did I yield to the temptation to turn around and check his backside? It must have been the same reflex that causes one to stare at a car accident on the highway, or to look at the mutilated carcass of an animal that has been hit by a car.
But yield I did; and I looked. I’ll spare you the hairy details, only because I don’t want to dwell on how little three narrow cords of material can cover something that should always be hidden from sight. (Where does a man’s butt go when his age creeps north of 50?)
Think I’ll rent a motor bike this afternoon.
Going to the Mighty Diamonds concert tonite at Bourbon Beach.
Life’s a beach,
Peace – out
Funny!!! It is Negril, after all....
I was on the beach with you for all that. Loving the vibe already.
lol! I'm trying to shake off those last visuals...
I wish the office I worked for would do annual group bash trips to Jamaica. I should have become an orthodontist...
Sounds like Sunnyside was packed. That's awesome! I know it was a bit slow for Maureen & Robert when they first opened the new bar. I hope it keeps going strong, I really love the vibe there.
Have a fun night, K3!
OMG I could not stop laughing I could just see it..sometimes no pic is necessary. :)
As I walked the beach with my kids around new years I caught them giggleing and whispering a few times, to realize they had spotted one of those. lol
Who feels it knows! This paragraph has me aching to be back there again!!! Soon come, just 3 more days!Quote:
Originally Posted by Kahuna3
Oh, no! That's a visual I don't want stuck in my head. Have seen some old(er) ladies wearing thongs, but that takes the cake!
Got a bike yesterday afternoon and went a ramblin’. Bloody Bay out to the West Ender and points in between. Here are some shots.
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Sorry to say I didn’t make it to the concert last night – you know that line from the Jimmy Buffet song ‘Changes in Latitudes’
‘Bumped into a chum with a bottle of rum
And we would up drinkin all night’
Well, after sunset last night, it kinda went like that. Which isn’t totally bad, I need to make sure my batteries are fully charged – Fabs arrives tomorrow.
Walked the beach again this morning and saw the ‘banana sling’ approaching from afar – averted my gaze and passed without incident – do you think I should say something?
This afternoon I went out the road to Sav and turned upland, went through Orange Hill and ended up at Jurassic Park. If anyone was ever going to make a movie that was set in a Jamaican country village, Orange Hill would be the ideal place. What a beautiful little place.
Along the way I got propositioned twice. Below are are some photos of my meanderings.
Don’t know what’s up for tonight, but I’m booked on the Love Bus Pub crawl tomorrow afternoon.
It's starting to rain a likkle . . .
Finally - a shot of me 'lookin' dangerous' on my mighty steed (A Honda Pleasure - how's that for danger?)
Great bad-ass biker shot!
"Do you think I should say something?" Nah.
Very nice K3... Lost the training wheels? j/k
DANGER!!! Watch yourself!!!
What a great read. You look good on the bike! ;)
P.S. can you pretty please post a picture of Fab?
I was waiting for one of the ladies on here to wade into the waters! Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!! :pQuote:
Originally Posted by jeannieb
Hell I thought maybe that WAS Fabs on the bike....look at those muscles! ;)
You could start your own motorcycle gang! :)
Have fun on the pub crawl....oh my, are you taking Fabs on that? Don't shut it down you crazy guys I was looking forward to going again in April LOL
And wait......no reviews on the Hummingbird yet?
Hahahahaha, sounds like you are enjoying your time Kahuna!
Thanks for taking us all along
P.S. That old man in the banana hammock must visit often, I swear I see him on the beach every trip! Yikes!
Nice try 'jeannieb' - but I'm familiar with the 'compliment - request' tactic - I brought up two teenage daughters. Sorry, but there will be NO photos of Fabs - let your imagination run wild - that way he can be whatever you want him to be.Quote:
Originally Posted by jeannieb
Every visit to Negril I have to look for my groove. It hides on me – it’s a game. How long can my groove successfully hide form me? It usually it takes me a few days, but I’ll never know where I’ll find it. Last year it was really elusive – and I never really found it.
This afternoon, while chilling in my room, I had the sense that the chase was drawing to a close – so I set out on my bike to find my groove. I knew it was out there just waiting to be found. My first stop was Canoe for a beer. No groove there. Then I went to the CW Country Western bar – I walked into a party – a bunch of Michigan-ites, partying like it was 1999. The beer at the CW bar comes with an insulated wrap! The soundtrack was a raunchy CW number – some guy bragging that he had a 12 inch bamboo, a dozen roses and a pick-up truck – it was a sing along. My groove wasn’t there, but I was closing in.
So I went up to Pee Wee’s. There were several groups at the bar, a couple of older Rastas were rolling-up on the bar top. Pee Wee’s, as you probably know, is a ‘free ganja zone’. A dancehall beat throbbed from the speakers. I walked out to cliff’s edge and admired the view back towards the beach. It was just before sunset, the waves were crashing into the base of the cliffs. The Blue Cave Castle stood majestically above the fray.
I went back and sat at the bar – working on my beer. Beanie Man came on. The sun was setting, the music filled the air, intermingled with a curling cloud of ganja smoke from the Rastas beside me. The bartender was bopping to the tune and so was I. He smiled at me and we bumped fists. I tipped my Stripe up, and as I drained the last dregs of my 3rd Stripe of the evening – I found it – my Negril Groove.
We melded - me and my groove. Right there at Pee Wee’s. I wish I could describe the feeling, it’s kind of a gushy, comfy, settling, homey feel, but you probably know what I’m talking about.
I hung at Pee Wee’s for another one then headed back to town. There’s an ice cream stand on the sea side almost all the way into town. It was windy and there were a couple of frigate birds playing in the air currents just were rising just above the building. I stopped and watched them for 10 minutes. They were only fifteen feet above my head. Wings stretched to their max, forked tails twitching in the air currents. They whirled, gyred and dove, gracefully sluicing the sea wind. Twice they came close enough to each other that one squawked and pecked the other – they were playing. It was joyous and uplifting to watch them. They are magnificent, beautiful creatures.
I continued on and stopped in at the Sea View. I sat at a bar stool, ordered a beer and thought of an old friend of mine named Tanisha – she likes to be called Tash.
What a relief it was to find my groove – I just hope I don’t lose it.
Tonight, as I sit here in my room, I feel as if I’m waiting for a hurricane to make landfall. It’s the proverbial calm before the storm.
Tomorrow my buddy Fabs arrives on the rock.
(Why do I get the feeling that some of you are just putting up with my ramblings in this thread until Fabs gets here?)
Yah - it's gonna be fun . . .
Likkle more
Enjoying it K3...........thanks
soon come can't come soon enough!
I really loved this update, I could really visualize all the moments you were describing…
Glad you found your groove
Thank you for taking us along!:)
Thanks for the report. I miss White Sands and Negril so much right now.
Tanisha, no whisper in your ear? Enjoy!
Marley I've been thinking the same thing since I first read it. He must live there for the winter.... what a sight!Quote:
Originally Posted by marley9808