Guirigay and Sweetie Pie’s PaRedux It’s all true and it never really happened…

Absolutely brilliant! You fellow turtles are all crazy! Love you all!

So I've been MIA from reading the turtle trip reports. Just catching up now and I LOVE LOVE LUV my man Guirigay's recall of the events along with his internal commentary. Its nice to know at some point he and I were on the same page. Basically WTF can I do to win this up against the big guns and the acrobats. I did truly bring me back. At any moment you saw me not splashing I was basically think UHM NOW WHAT. Well when it came down to MANO A MANO (not to be confused with MONO y MONO - which means basically ape to ape) I think the show men did their best. As for Guirigay's last flop he went for the heart strings and well I just showed them all my HOT CHOCOLATE MANnerism doing what men do best, falling flat on their face :) But the flop was fun and I write my next lines as an ode to my fellow flop combatants, you will go down in history as the best, the brightest , the first :


On this Day 8 Floppers were set,
To drink and smoke and get really wet.
Thanks to Brasi the pain was for cause,
For some of us the pain would cause pause.

To talk the purest flop for all invested,
Musicdoc wins this uncontested.
If its aerial height and ability to fly,
even R.Kelly can see Drummerboy and Gonjon win the tie.
Boogers got skin & the floppers tuck
Sandies got Rocker Style, She don't give a F@$k

Now GerryG had the biggest wake
But back flopping came and stole his cake.

I have to admit Guirigay shook my cool
The minute his first flop hit the pool
With props and bribes and a sly cunning grip
his flops came alive with pure showmanship.

But Guirigay fell victim to one of the classic blunders,
A folly that surely pulled him asunder.
The most famous being about land wars in Malaysia,
Whats that Vizzini, oh I'm sorry its Asia.
But only slightly less well known but equally sublime
Never go in against a Ninja when the FLOP is on the line.

LMAO!
That was Awelarious babe!

The Princess bride nod got me.....you know how I love that movie! :)

Turtlemates, thank you :) Ninja - I am humbled... and appreciative of your verse. See Boogs, you can't stop it, it's what the people want! Well, probably not, but there is just enough momentum out there to keep the silly ball rolling. "I didn't do it!" :)

Tuesday - The Magic Bus (Ooh Yeah, The Magic Bus)

We’re up early this morning, we’re going to catch the sunrise. Water is boiled and we break open the High Mountain coffee we bought at the store on Sunday. Grab the Banana Rum Cream and we’re up to the rooftop for the unveiling of the day. It is greeted with much pleasure and anticipation. We brought Manda home with us last night. She got a little carried away at the Belly Flop and we put her to bed early with only minimal fuss. We roust her this morning and she’s a little grumpy, especially because we’ve already finished the coffee. She grabs a quick smoke on the porch before we get going.


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I grab a bankroll for the day and move the cash stash, letting Sweetie Pie know where I put it. We have a brief conversation with the landlord. We talk about sheets and towels. I tell him we’re good, don’t need to waste water, we’ll let him know when they smell  He likes this. “You’re a real Jamaican, mon,” he says, “Respect.” I let him know we’re touring today, we’ll be back late. He says he heard us trying to turn on the stove today before using the electric water kettle. “I’m sorry, shoulda done it already but you said you wouldn’t be cooking much this trip.” “No worries, mon,” we say and we head out. Manda just can’t resist fooling with the dogs in the yard. They’re very cute…


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Sweetie Pie wants to grab some shots of street dogs. She has a website she’s created about them. We’re hoping to find Scar, our ever present street dog pal from February. We do get a lot of shots but I’ll leave the selection of the dog shots and where they are posted to Sweetie Pie. We do grab a few other beauty shots on our way up the lane.


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We walk our old morning route in reverse, going up as far as Home Sweet Home. We stop in, wondering if Juli is up, but there is NO ONE moving at HSH at 7 in the morning. Manda though, apparently feeling her mojo from porch time, wants to dive off the cliffs. Manda! The seas are rough this morning! Waves are crashing over the sea access deck!


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We head back toward Mi Yard for some breakfast, walking up the lanes a little in the area where we would always run into Scar. No sign, in fact there aren’t many dogs at all in the area where we used to run into Scar. Walking up some of the lanes is pretty eye opening as well, you don’t have to go far up some of them to see the poor conditions many Jamaicans live under. Shrub hovels are right there in the brush if you look, we decide NOT to take a picture and head back toward West End Road.

Manda is a handful, running after everything. She wears me out and I need a break. I try to give her a stern talk but she just doesn’t seem to hear me.


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And to prove it, as soon as we get settled in at Mi Yard for a little breakfast she is bolting for the beach across the road. Manda! What a handful!


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We order some coffee and breakfast, Sweetie Pie gets a fruit plate and mango juice and I know I’m going to have saltfish dumplings. Sweetie Pie REALLY wants soursop juice here. It’s the one thing she told me I didn’t include in our last trip report, how much she loved the soursop juice at Mi Yard, but they’re out. Mrs. Mi Yard remembers me ordering a whole plate of dumplings back in February. “You really do like them!” she says. Ya, mon! Sweetie Pie grabs a few shots after we’re done as we wait for the Magic Bus. I point out the shot through the Mi Yard gate I tried to get last time. No fishermen yet this morning though…


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I think this is a pretty spectacular shot…


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She usually has a better eye for subject matter but I still like this one…


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It’s a little after 8, the Magic bus should be here soon…

Woohoo more report......the ONE LOVE boat picture is EPIC and needs to be submitted for publishing. More more more pretty please.

Fantastic

Can't wait to hear your tale of this day...Marley posted hers this morning and just really did a No. on me. So bring it on, I'm already a freakin mess. LOL

Tell you what, I miss you all everyday but some days are harder and this one has been KILLA!

ONE LOVE

Every day I get in the queue (Too much, the Magic Bus)
To get on the bus that takes me to you (Too much, the Magic Bus)

We see the Magic Bus coming down the lane and pulling into Mi Yard. This thing is going to get rolling! We step onto the bus and there is the slightest sense of dimensional shift, I think Rod Serling referred to it as the HighLight Zone. We knew it was going to be a long day, what we didn’t fully realize at the moment was that it was a trip that would last a lifetime…

I'm so nervous, I just sit and smile (Too much, the Magic Bus)
Your house is only another mile (Too much, the Magic Bus)

Whoop whoops and hey ya’s get it going, I bust out the banana rum cream for a pass around. Chicken isn’t driving, his brother Pelle is behind the wheel. This cat runs an operation! Pelle is a great guy, just like his brother, not the other brother, and he will book end my day in quite different ways. The Catcha Crew is all onboard and we’re quickly and deeply into tales of the Flop and last nights adventures. We’re excited to tell everyone we’ve cleared it to have a little cocktail party on the roof at our crib one evening this week, everyone is excited to get a chance to check it out. We all have dreams of extended stays down here. We’re on our way up Norman Manley to grab to rest of our bale (check THAT definition out gang!) and with each mile, each stop, our mojo cranks up. Mr. Mojo’s Risin’! Becca’s on board and she’s full of Sass! Patty comes out to say hello and looks impossibly pulled together for this time of morning. She is so sweet we think about kidnapping her.

Brasi is on board next after a brief fright that he was out of service. He’s quiet and subdued, perhaps having been consumed a little by the glory of his accomplishment yesterday. He gets a hero’s welcome even with his tucked tail…

Luvsdaislands is supposed to be next but she has her schedule mixed up. We were disappointed at the time, doubly so after reading her trip report. We woulda had some fun.

Daisy and Markus join us at SeaSplash and Jim comes out to say he’s not going to make it. Apparently he LEFT Mi Yard not too long before we GOT there! Things are really starting to pick up now. We forgot to grab SpottyCatz on the way to SeaSplash so we stop on the way back. Mr. SpottyCatz steps on the bus with a drunkards beer cooler. You’ve seen these before, red and white boxboard with a hole ripped in them… I ask if I can test it out for functionality. It worked perfectly, all the beer was still cold when it was consumed…

The pick up of the sallying sojourners was really pretty quick and with limited incident. We have everyone on the bus by 8:30-8:45 in the morning. It was absolutely NOT any indicator for the day. Nothing else this day would happen in any form of apparent coordination. Next up is cash call so we head for the Scotia ATM. This would end up being a loooonnnngggg stop. Turtles seem to disperse in multiple directions. I pretty much hang at the bus and am pleasantly surprised when Scooter Team Bravo pulls up on their way to liberate half moon beach. Ummm… Love this pic…

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Eventually wayward turtles return and we’re moving on. Beer and beverages. We slam a little grocery on the Sav road. SLAM IT. No beer left in the place when we leave. NO BEER LEFT! And we’re pretty certain that we didn’t get enough… The shortage causes confusion and discussion and it takes a loooonnnnggggg time to get everyone through the single register. But it does happen… Eventually.


Thank you, driver, for getting me here (Too much, the Magic Bus)
You'll be an inspector, have no fear (Too much, the Magic Bus)


We’ve purchased all the cold beer they had and all the warm beer they had but there is no ice. We need ice. Drunkards coolers aren’t going to cut it for the whole day! So another stop at the gas station for ice. Suddenly Chicken is there with another bus. We’re switching buses? OK… Chicken is stylin’, he’s got on a new, pressed chillin’ shirt and he looks great. HUGE smile on his face.

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Chicken oversees the bus switch and cooler management and after what would be a much longer time than you would expect any of this to take we all amble back onto the newly christened Magic Bus Too. By this point Becca has called it and it’s in heavy rotation – We are herding turtles today. Content, happy, supremely satisfied turtles. YS here we come…

I don't want to cause no fuss (Too much, the Magic Bus)
But can I buy your Magic Bus? (Too much, the Magic Bus)
Yessssssssssssss!

Wonderful stuff, all on board the Magic Bus, waiting ..... !

I'm really loving your trip report! I'm so happy when I see a new update!:)
Sweetie-pie took really beautiful pictures! She captured some really great moments!
I like the close up of the "one love" boat on shore and the portrait of you gazing off into the distance.
Looking forward to reading about the Magic Bus trip!

well man you put me over the top with the belly flop coverage. I didn't realize how badly I needed a laugh and a new perception and you had me laughing till tears sprung. I haven't checked in for a bit so I had a lot in store. Wonderful words, beautiful photos. You make my heart yearn for those spots I know so well.

Irieworld....he is just as funny live! LOL Are you keeping up with Marley's also? Fun stuff :)

GG....keep the mojo flowin

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Guirigay

Thanks guys, glad you enjoyed, it took me back sorting through the pics (which were from a lot of folks but mostly Katho and Kopper) Have Sweetie Pies video's been posted here? Ninja's edit of the first round? The full video of the lover's leap? Here's a pic that pulls it all together...

Pre-360 Flop, Da Champ, Calling on the Ancestors...

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I'm pretty attractive in those trunks, attractive and humble

I don't care how much I pay (Too much, the Magic Bus)
I wanna drive my bus to my baby each day (Too much, the Magic Bus)

The thought of this day with this group of people was pretty much the stem that broke the camel’s back for us regarding a sooner than expected return to Negril. It really wasn’t in the cards financially but we made it happen. In the end, it would cost us even more than we had anticipated. In the end, it was one of the greatest bargains of our lives…

We’re rolling on Sav road and there is electricity running through the bus. Everyone is amped (Brasi doesn’t really show it but we know it’s true) and sporting megawatt smiles. I’m trying to tell a story to Mrs. SpottyCatz who’s sitting next to me and I can’t get through it. She has this “I don’t understand/what’s that about?/well I never” sort of thing she does that will just drop you. She is the perfect foil to riff off of and we’re in stitches. It’s another one of those couples insights we had throughout the week. She is Mrs. Abbott to Mr. Costello, Mrs. Martin to Mr. Lewis. She can totally direct the flow of the riff with a face or perfectly delivered word or phrase. I would call her the perfect straight lady but that just doesn’t seem appropriate. She is KILLING me, and I fall in love right then and there…

Booger and I open a slaughterhouse and infant sacrifice is the order of the day. We implement a plan for a full Magic Bus Fumigation System but it goes awry. We end up using a Direct Application Program but it still causes a lot of collateral damage.

I whip out my banana rum cream for a pass around. I offer the creamy banana fluid to all takers and it gets a little sordid. EVERY SINGLE TURTLE has a taste of my banana rum cream and LOVES it. EVERY SINGLE TURTLE offers a different twist on a double entendre. Many take a second slurp of my banana rum cream and offer double double entendres. I love it…

Ninja is up front playing with bottles. Something gets handed back to me that LOOKS like rum punch. I take a BIG slug. “Schwabbadda-Humminna-Whoooo!” I blurt, or something to that effect. “That’s STROOONG!” Mrs. SpottyCatz LOVES this and we have another good laugh. My hands are MORE than full at this point. “Anybody ever heard of a Trifecta?” I ask. A round of quizzical responses leads me to provide a somewhat altered presentation of the deed. Still, very effective, especially with gasoline.

Ninja and Pooper are in the process of developing an incredibly deep bond over their shared obsession with Peanut Butter. Yep, Peanut Butter. And yes, obsession. At first I was kind of thinking, “Peanut butter, really?” Yes, really. Peanut Butter. And obsessed, seriously obsessed. About peanut butter. I mean they like their peanut butter. A lot. They go on and on about peanut butter. You’d think that eventually they would tire of peanut butter and their desire for peanut butter but they don’t. They love it. Peanut butter, that is. Yep, Peanut butter…

It really doesn’t seem like we’re that far down the road when someone calls out for a pit stop. As most everyone has shared in the English Breakfast this morning nearly the whole bus has emptied to empty. “I ain’t breaking the seal yet!” I tell Ninja. “I know what you mean,” says Ninja,”I’ve been thinking about that, but this seal is breaking.” I figure this crew is stopping again before YS so I’m OK. Only time all day I miscalculated our ability to be distracted.

A loooonnnnggggg while later the bale get back on board and we roll. Sweetness has been sitting in front of us and we’ve had a bunch of classic Sweetness conversation. Positivity and light, hope and love, peace and understanding are her basic sub-context stock in trade. Sweetie Pie and I are involved in some major spiritual bonding with Sweetness. Then she takes it to a whole new level. Booger and Pooper are sitting behind us and I hear the extra jump seat in their row drop down. We turn around to see Pooper has plopped. She is laid out on the extra seat. I’m howling! “First one down!” I holler, “Boardie Down! Boardie Down!” Pooper is getting a raft from the whole Magic Bus when I hear from behind me… “BELLY SHOTS!!” I turn around and there is Sweetness with her little devil smile and a couple of fingers pressed to her lips. “I didn’t think it was possible Sweetness, but you just took my respect for you to a whole new level!” I said. I didn’t say what actually happened… I fell in love with her. Right There, Right Then…

Magic Bus, Magic Bus, Magic Bus
Magic Bus, Magic Bus, Magic Bus

No one is making a request to take another rest stop. I’m not gonna do it if I don’t have to. I may have to, I’m thinking when I recognize that we’ll be at YS very shortly. Whew!

Give me a hundred (Magic Bus)
I won't take under (Magic Bus)

We’re off the Magic Bus quickly and I jump in line to buy our tickets. Purchased, I hand them to Sweetie Pie and run for the restroom.

Goes like thunder (Magic Bus)
It's a four-stage wonder (Magic Bus)

I break the seal on Pandora’s Box. I have an inordinately long time to think about strange things. Like,”If I were in a contest right now like the flop yesterday I would be off the charts for Force, Duration and Volume, I bet Distance if I had the chance…” and “I wonder how long it takes turtles to pee…”

Yes!!!!! I LOVE this! Perfect!

I've scoured the pictures I have access to (2000+!!) and there are not many publishable images from the trip to YS. A well managed WWPP (Wild Woman Protection Program) crop and perfectly placed bottle of gasoline lets me post a pre-trifecta moment. Mrs. SpottyCatz is dumbfounded by my actions -

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Pooper is down! Boardie Down!! 1st of the day, it doesn't count that Brasi showed up passed out... This is moments before "BELLY SHOTS!" I swear, Sweetness is the embodiment of the Tai Chi, which some of you may refer to as Yin and Yang. She is lightness and goodness pushing away the dark, always knowing that no matter what, it is a little part of her too... Oh, and don't dog Pooper too hard, she's down for like 3 minutes...

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AND THAT'S PRETTY MUCH IT!!! :)

Tell me about it with the photos.....I had plenty but on some days barely any were postable....today was one of those days for sure :)

.... Michael......I mean Guiriguy......your words warm my heart. (muah)

The bale is waddling about on the tram platform in classic turtle fashion. It is entirely outside our operating capacity to get all of us on the same tram.

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It is the beginning of the great dispersion. I don’t think all of us are together again until we rally at Chicken’s Magic Bus for departure. We see everybody someplace multiple times in the next couple of hours but as a group we move in a sort of kaleidoscopic fashion – separate, merge, split, join, divide, combine, detach, connect… And every new combination a thing of joyful beauty.

Sweetie Pie and I are on the second tram and turtles have already tottled off when we get to the falls. We head up the walk to the falls and I’m impressed at all the improvements since my last visit with the ex and kids. The old treehouse is gone, that’s a bummer, but the grounds are immaculate, much improved. It is a tropical paradise. We can hear the falls in the distance and the view as you approach the river is breathtaking. We stop for Sweetie Pie to catch hers. “Wow!” is all she can get out.

Mr. SpottyCatz thought “Wow!” too. When I look at this pic of him I also think “Wow!”

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The place is very busy today but we don’t mind, they are big falls. Up to the swing and swim hole we go, by the time we get there turtles are already waterborne. They’ve installed a much more sophisticated swing than the last time I was there. There is still the big rope of the old swing hanging there but now on a platform a little ways up the hill there is a cable and pulley swing. In the old days you could swing off that rope from the side of the river or guides would take you to the edge of the falls hanging onto the rope and lift you up as you clung on for life before swinging.

There are piles of wet blue gloves on the platform below the swing and we each grab a pair and head up to the launch site. Anticipation builds until suddenly you’re grabbing a rope over your head and told “Go!” You’re staring at a wall of crashing whitewater as you slide out the cable. The pulley reaches its limit and the rope starts to swing toward the fluid pandemonium. It seems like you’ll be able to jump into the falls but it’s really not possible. Timing your release, however, can get you CLOSE to the falls. Sweetie Pie and I both do pretty good and before you know it we’re with a contingent of turtles playing in the water. I splash a little but the adrenaline rush from the swing has me jonesin’. I’m going again and ask Sweetie Pie if she wants to go too. “Once is enough, I think,” she says, ”but you should go.” So I do. You know what? That swing takes it out of you a little bit. More than I thought. I don’t launch nearly as well or as far. I get pushed in toward the rocks past the swing platform because I’m just kind of floating after my swing and end up having to swim a little hard to stay away from them. Still, well worth it but I don’t need a third swing.

I’m on my way again…
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And Sweetie Pie and the gang are watching…
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And this is the new swing. I think this is GonJon throwing it out there…
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We have a blast playing in the swim hole for a good long while. GuiriPie, Booper and Jizzy are just a bunch of splash happy fools. I swim against the current making a little headway, but not much. I spend maybe 10 minutes doing an exercise I like to do anytime I’m in a strong current. I find a place in the river about 4 feet deep where I’ve got solid footing. Holding my arms out shoulder high with palms forward I lean into the current trying to remain balanced using just my hands working against the current. This is very difficult. It takes a perfect set of conditions and much effort to do it for more than a few seconds and today I think the longest I manage is 10-15. I’m tired at the end of it and ready to go with the flow the rest of the day…

The gang at play –
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Look how close to the edge you are and how freaky the old swing could be…
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We head up to the observation deck above the swing platform. From here you have an amazing view of the upper falls. There is a lot of mist in the air. Sweetie Pie and I hang out for a while just soaking it in. Turtles show up, chat, and disperse. Quite a few nice pictures get taken up here. At one point I turn around and see Clarity at the rail down the platform from us. She is blank-faced. Her mouth is closed but her jaw is dropped and she is in a deep place of self-experience, totally lost in the moment. It makes me smile and I point it out to Sweetie Pie asking, “Do I look like that when I’m contemplating?” “Oh, yeah,” she says, “that’s like your face!”

On our way down we run into Narley Minja on their way to the zipline. I’ve never zip-lined but I’ve done a lot of rappelling in my day and I know it’s hard to be very comfortable and impossible to be remotely chic looking in a suspension harness. I don’t know if they’re comfortable but I know Ninja looks ready to be strapped in the short bus! I’m glad he didn’t have access to one of these get-ups yesterday or I’d have been completely crushed. Marley, though, she’s still cute in that sort of “Come here little boo boo!” kind of way.

The get-ups –
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And sweet lil’ Boo Boo… :)
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We run into Brasi at a nesting spot over by the pool. Didn’t see him up on the falls at all but he seems to be coming around, well a little bit at least. He is generally conversing by this point. A group of us head back to the river for some photos and the hope of catching Narley Minja on the zip line. I get distracted in some fashion and miss it but a few folks catch them on film.

Somehow we manage to collect ourselves in a group following the return of the zipperhead turtles. We’re back on the tram, I think we all made it together? There is a bunch of cow crap bandied about on the way back, we try to check ourselves a little as there are families on the tram with us but we’re not 100 percent successful, I don’t think. Not bad though, we’re just having fun. We mostly engender smiles from the other groups instead of scowls.

We rally at the parking lot. Chicken is waiting for us with his trademark smile. So is the Magic Bus Too.

Too Much, The Magic Bus…

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Guirigay

I’ve never zip-lined but I’ve done a lot of rappelling in my day and I know it’s hard to be very comfortable and impossible to be remotely chic looking in a suspension harness. I don’t know if they’re comfortable but I know Ninja looks ready to be strapped in the short bus! I’m glad he didn’t have access to one of these get-ups yesterday or I’d have been completely crushed. Marley, though, she’s still cute in that sort of “Come here little boo boo!” kind of way.…

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OMG i'm gonna pee my pants (heard that before?) But seriously, I"m laughing so hard...

Marley you do look really cute....and Ninja....very special, love it. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Guirigay

Somehow we manage to collect ourselves in a group following the return of the zipperhead turtles. We’re back on the tram, I think we all made it together? There is a bunch of cow crap bandied about on the way back, we try to check ourselves a little as there are families on the tram with us but we’re not 100 percent successful, I don’t think. Not bad though, we’re just having fun. We mostly engender smiles from the other groups instead of scowls.

We rally at the parking lot. Chicken is waiting for us with his trademark smile. So is the Magic Bus Too.

Too Much, The Magic Bus…

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You mean there were other people there? LOL Wow

Love YS Falls and like everything else....this time it was so much better because of all of you! and yeah thats jon on the rope swing. he's hottttt

Wish we had more pics of rope swing...think he's the only action shot

"Come here little boo boo!"

OMG!! - This cracked me up!! I almost peed my pants too tizzy!! LOL!! ;)

These are great pictures! Bring back so many memories of an amazing day!

Jon is looking all Tarzan-like that swinging pic! Wow!

I know every time I look at those photos I laugh
"Special"
Love it!

Tizzy I had more photos of the rope swing on the camera we lost (wah wah wahhhhhh)
So....it just means we have to do it again...Re-Do!!!!! lol

You know I love a REEEEEEE-DO!!! :cool:

<WAAAAAAAAAAAH>

...that was my best air-horn lol

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAH from me too! (felt that Tizz!) Excellent stuff, my hat off to you Guirigay, you are a true scholar! I don't want all this story-telling to ever end! It seems like us turtles are all living in a parallel universe!

WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH (I can't leave you all hanging on the air horn) ;)

I actually do not think that is Gonjon in the swinging pick. He has a tramp stamp, so if you can spot one than it is him. There was a guy who kept jumping that day doing all sorts of crazy flips, etc and I think that is him.

Hahahahaha a tramp stamp!!!

OK I am caught up, but headed down to the beach right now, catch you lata

It's Jon...I took the pic...just not clear enough to see the stamp lol

Been following the Boardie Bash trip reports and enjoying these immensely, but just took the time to watch the belly flop videos. Wow, just Wow! How fun was all that. I've been working on connecting up with drummerboy13 and thought I'd check him out in the contest. It was fun to see all of you that I've been seeing in stills, and hearing about in Epic stories. What a fun bunch. Thanks to the videographer especially the montage in the third vid! Nice. Now, I'm going to have to figure out how to go next year. Ya'll rock.

So much fun guys, at least no one shatzed themselves.

Misti - hope you're enjoying Negril RIGHT NOW!

BJ - Thanks man, lots of fun. You need to find a way to be down there next year!

Magic Bus, Magic Bus, Magic Bus, Magic Bus
I want it, I want it, I want it...(You CAN have it!)

We’re not rolling very long when we pull over at a long, low, narrow building. “Howie’s!!” Marley declares and we’re all pouring off the bus. Now Howie’s is an absolutely amazing food experience and should not be missed but like so much in Jamaica if you were to judge it by it’s appearance you might just miss out on one of the best experiences of your life. On first glance you might think you were stopping at a livestock barn. Open sided with iron gating around it, it looks like something out of the 19th century. This is a bit of a cool feat as Chicken says the building is only 30 or 40 years old. It went up and expanded as Howie’s food became more popular, and it’s popular for a reason. It’s incredible. And the open sides are necessary because they cook EVERYTHING on wood fires. Rows of huge cooking pots on a long series of grates, each poised above a pile of glowing embers that are constantly being fed with nicely cut bits of wood.

There is a long list of choices but I’m set on some oxtail. Sweetie Pie is going round and round. “I really want to try the curry goat but Pooper will hate me!” “Oh, Pooper will not be happy,” says Marley, “They have faces!” And with that Marley and Sweetie Pie go through a series of potential outcomes. “Everything you want here has a face,” I say to Sweetie Pie. “I know I’m going to get the stink eye!” says Sweetie Pie as she steps up to order, “But I have to try the goat!” It was a good call, sorry Pooper… :)

We’re all in the dining room, well, a room with some picnic tables, and we are putting our chow on. There’s a little bit of talking but it’s mostly of the moaning and exultation variety, very brief. Occasionally Sweetie Pie will say, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, but it’s SO delicious.” It is. The oxtail is. Everything is. What an experience. After we finish there is a little milling about for the Cancer Stick Crew. A fairly large group gathers out near the bus to watch one of the shop guys chopping wood. There was much interest in watching this guy chop wood. What was that about?

Chicken and GonJon at the dining room door
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And here is the wood chopper
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Just as we’re getting ready to leave I ask Sweetie Pie if she took a picture of the pots. I had seen them all line up in a row on the cooking grate and thought “Beauty!” “I was going to and got sidetracked,” she says. “Go, quick, we’ll wait,” I said and she runs around to the front of the shop. She’s back quickly saying, “One off, I hope they turn out.” Ummm, yes, they did. What a talented lady…

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Think how much you'll save...(You CAN have it!)]

Chickens Magic Bus Too is rolling and we’re barely under way from our lunch stop when someone yells out “Middle Quarter!” and someone else yells out “Pepper Shrimp!” Well, I’ve heard of these magical delicacies and it doesn’t matter that we’ve just had lunch, I want some! We pull up to the roadside shop and a bunch of us pile off. I get a bag of pepper shrimp and pop one in my mouth. Now I’m not usually a fan of shell on shrimp, especially if the head is still on, but these are delicious and pretty easy to eat. And hot. Spicy, spicy hot. So we’re milling around chatting with the shop ladies and having a nice time. One of the ladies had offered her soup when we got off the bus but no one had taken her up on it. We were here for Pepper Shrimp, after all. I’m in a small turtle circle with one of the ladies and she manages to talk Clarity into getting a cup of soup. “It’s only a dollar,” she says, “give it a try.” I won’t ever forget the look on Clarity’s face after that first sip. “Oh my God!” she exclaimed, “You HAVE to try this!” Since I’m standing right next to her at this point, I do. “Oh my God!” I exclaimed as I simultaneously reached into my pocket for a dollar bill. The shop lady has the biggest smile on her face at this point, she KNOWS what’s coming. A cup is poured for me “which I will share with you” and Clarity’s cup and my cup start a domino effect of taste, moan, purchase. Nearly everyone gets a cup. I have a good laugh with the shop lady. “You just need to get one person to try it, right?” “Just get that first one,” she smiles, “then it sells itself.” Yes it does. Marley gets her cup and gets on the bus.

The incredible shrimp
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And here we are in the middle of a soup frenzy. I think Chicken may have already finished his!!
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I want it, I want it, I want it, I want it ... (You can't have it!)


Marley lets Ninja have a taste. Now Ninja declares that he had a taste and knew that a few more bites would be counter-productive but I swear I remember shortly down the road as we were all feasting on our soup, Sweetness pointing out whole pepper shrimp in the bottom of her cup, that I heard Marley say, “Hey, I OFFERED to buy you a cup!”…

Thruppence and sixpence every day
Just to drive to my baby
Thruppence and sixpence each day
'Cause I drive my baby every way

A pence here, a pence there gets us across the southern coast of Jamaica to Black River. We pull in to a marina like area, not for pleasure boats though, working boats. We’re going to switch to boats, it’s time to take to the sea!!

Thank you Guirigay!!!! I did offer to buy him a cup! LOL
But like the good little wife I am, I shared mine with him because I knew he would love it too.....even though I must admit that was REALLY hard to do! lol

Cheers Guirigay, smiling, reminiscing and tasting that lovely damn soup again! Thanks for the fab memories, wow! Till next April (the catz are all booked whoohoo!!).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by spottycatz

till next april (the catz are all booked whoohoo!!).

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partayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!

Long delay, I know, so I'll steal one of my favorite Luvsdaislands trip report bits - Let's continue...

Turtles are tottling about the boat launch, like everything else today this runs a little slow. We’d been riding in the back of the bus with Brasi for the last stretch. He busted out the McCleod tartan scarf we will hang at the bar. I’m super psyched. We end up being the first ones on the boat, me and Brasi and Sweetie Pie. We’re on by ourselves for a little bit, who knew turtles would be so slow to take to the sea? Finally Sweetness gets on board with more than a little trepidation. Pooper sits down next to her to offer support. She is facing some personal demons to do this part of the trip. Big up, much respect sista! Do you need me to smack anyone for you? You know I will. I’ll smack ‘em good and hard for you, you just let me know…

SpottyCatz get on board and Booger takes up the coxswain’s position. Wish I’d remembered to call him that at the time, I would have had A LOT of fun with that… I’m telling you, this takes a little while, Sweetie Pie grabs a number of shots of boats and birds and dogs and… Hey we’re pulling away from the dock! Now we just need to sit idling in the river for a while as the entire process is repeated for launch number two. Which is not any more coordinated than our launch… Our captain points out all the crocodiles, which here amounts to one HUGE stuffed Croc on the dock at Swaby’s Black River Safari.

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After a long idle listening to much commotion on the launch dock we finally have a second boat of turtles under way. As we head out the estuary into the open sea the water gets rougher and Sweetness does NOT like it. We’re cutting through 2-3 footers and getting a little bump-bump and sea spray with each wave. Sweetie Pie is covering her camera and Brasi is covering his head! Not really, he’s actually coming around at this point and we’re very excited. It’s a long run along the coast before you get to Pelican. We evaluate the probable cost and level of desirability of a number of waterfront properties. It is beautiful here.

As the Pelican nears our anticipation grows. This is just a surreal sort of experience. This thing just should not be here, but it is. It shouldn’t survive out here, but it does. There are a couple of boats here already so we’re really going to get this place hopping. It’s late afternoon by the time we pull up to the dock, we are going to make this the ultimate happy hour.

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Disembarking from the boat to the bar is a bit of an adventure and the boat captains who are there and the bar staff all assist. Stepping into the Pelican is a trip. Light filters in from everywhere, including the roof and reflected off the water and up through the floor. There really aren’t any solid surfaces here, even the bar itself is a patchwork of boards and driftwood and thatch. The bar itself holds a lot more people than I would have expected. There were 5 or 6 visitors when we arrived plus their captains plus 2 or 3 bar peeps plus a couple of rastas with a wood carving business and our 15 plus our captains. I have figured at least 25 people and the place did not feel crowded. It seemed to have a kind of Tardis effect, it seemed bigger on the inside.

I’ve been worried that Sweetie Pie’s camera has been soaked on the way out. It has taken some humidity damage but it recovers, after snapping this first fuzzy pic in the bar.

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We wander around the bar a little bit, check out the pier and decide we need a dip in the water. I look out to see Ninja nearly out to the reef and head out that way, Sweetie Pie follows behind. As I’m on my way Ninja makes it to the reef, there are a number of places where the water barely covers the surface of the reef and Ninja is standing on one of them. “Walking on water!” yells Ninja. Damn, this cat has water command skills. “Splash high!” and it does. “Support my weight!” and it does. “Take care of my used Red Stripe!” and, well, it does…

As we're on our way out to the reef, a wayward pirate appears to have been kicking sea urchins...
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Sweetie Pie and I go to the surf side of the reef. Hubby-man is behind us and he and Ninja get into a National Geographic episode. It’s just a very cool spot. You move very slowly and watch each step to stay on the dead coral around a variety of different shallow tidal pools. I’ve never been any place like it.

After a bit we regroup with Ninja and Hubby and head back toward the bar. We all successfully navigate the water shoe eating pit of muck. Somewhere just before the bar we pull up short and shuffle kick the water trying to alert the wildlife to our presence. You know how it’s always good to have some winnowing members of the bale? Slower than you so you can out swim the shark, deafer than you so they don’t hear the click of the spear gun, less cautious than you so they’ll check if that pile of hot dogs has a hook in it, less aware than you so they don’t notice an entire bale of turtles splashing up on them? Yeah, it’s great to have them around! I don’t think they thought of it as winnowing, though, I’m pretty sure they were thinking #winning…

When we get back to the bar there is some commotion about Clarity being injured, but there is no existing evidence. Clarity is up and around as usual, Marley’s overproof shot must have been a wicked painkiller. Sweetie Pie and I decide to switch from warm Red Stripe to warm rum. It goes down smooth and easy at the Pelican. The bar is hopping.

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Brasi and I pick out a good spot for the McCleod tartan. I ask Brasi if he brought a pen. “I knew you were going to ask that!” He smiles. No worries, we’ll leave our mark anonymously. I find a cross bar as high as I can reach and tie the scarf off in a knot then drape it over the rafter. It looks good. We take it in for a few and Sweetie Pie snaps a shot. We’re clearly not clear headed as we forget to get a shot of us with the tartan.

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Sweetie Pie and I end up on the dock platform with another group that has come out to the Pelican. We’re both pretty mesmerized by the place and are discussing the possibility and logistics of actually being married there. “It would be perfect,” says one of the ladies in the group, “It can be done, it has been done. You just need a minister willing to come out here.” We talk excitedly for a minute and then realize there is no way we could get our parents out here. The boat transfers would be just about impossible. Around this time Marley has tottled in and says something like, “They wouldn’t have any problem getting into or out of Catcha!” I believe this moment would be referred to as planting the seed…

There is much back and forth between the dock and the bar and down the steps to the water and back up to the bar and back out to the dock. Several more warm rums are consumed. Rastas laugh at pathetic turtles trying to corral wayward children for sacrifice. A few turtles pay the wood carvers to add their names to pantheon. Some terrific photos are taken. Love and friendship are celebrated in truly epic fashion.

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Pirate Clowns! Just what the heck are you supposed to do when you're invaded by pirate clowns???

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No one has any particular interest in leaving but we realize the time is coming, the sun is dropping on the horizon and the wind has picked up a little bit. “Looks like we might be against the wind both ways,” I say to our captain. “Ya mon,” He says, “That’s why we should go.” Our boat is first at the bottom of the steps and Sweetness joins me in the back. No one needs their ass kicked at the Pelican, lovely people out here and real gentlemen. They have Sweetness relaxed and smiling before we leave.

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As we’re idling off the bar we hear a scream worthy of any horror film shriek out behind us. “Hmmm,” we wonder but by the time we look back the other boat is rocking and laughing and hooting. Couldn’t have been THAT bad! The good news is that in the time it has taken us to saddle up the bale the wind has shifted and we’re riding the rollers instead of cutting them. With less to worry about the captains run side by side and we have a mock race. I have some good boating conversation with our captain and thank him for running side by side. It just adds more things for them to be aware of, it’s much easier to run separate. “Ya mon,” he says, “ We like to do it when we can, it’s much more fun for you.” This is obvious as we have all kinds of interplay between the two boats.