First Stay On The Cliffs (Seastar Inn & Catcha) Trip report: Day 4 - 7

DAY 4

I woke up at 7:30 to the sound of chirping birds and sunlight streaming in through colorful wooden shutters of the Grand Pineapple hotel.

There is nothing better than that feeling of waking up in Jamaica. You know, those first moments when you blink open your eyes and realize where you are…

I love opening up the hotel door that leads to a balcony and feeling the heat from the sun on my skin mixed with the warm ocean breeze. Listening to the sound of rustling palm tree leaves.

We had been in Negril for 3 days so far and So much had already happened during that time, it was an entire vacation in itself. First trip to Biggas, first ride on a Jet ski , Mayfield falls, the Jungle, XXX, Canoe, Sunnyside, … and most importantly locating and meeting my cousin. (You can find day 1-3 of our trip report here: http://negril.com/forum/showthread.p...Report-Day-1-3)

Today was Moving Day…Time to pack up our bags and check out of our beach hotel.

We were moving up to the cliffs for the first time.

I have to admit that I had conflicting feelings about this move. I’ve always been eager to experience new places and I’d heard such great things about the West End. I knew it would regret it if I didn’t at least check it out.

It was my idea to split our trip half beach/half cliffs. I was beginning to have doubts and wonder about that decision …

I’ve always been a beach girl. I just love the beach. I love the feeling of warm sand in-between my toes. I love stepping into the crystal clear turquoise water and feeling the gentle waves lapping over my ankles. I love sand gravity. I love the expansive stretch of beach to walk on. You can walk left or you can walk right for miles…

http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/...ca/01beach.jpg


So far we’ve only walked to the RIGHT on the Negril 7 mile beach strip. We still haven’t made it past that bar with those plastic chairs hanging on rope (Sunbeach?). I don’t even know what happens when you walk LEFT from the Grand Pineapple.We haven’t done that yet! So much ground still left to explore. So many beach bars yet to experience…Live music…People… Action…Excitement!

Only 3 nights left in Negril and now we were leaving the most beautiful beach in the world to sit on rugged rocks on the edge of a cliff? What if the waves are crashing against the rocks and it’s too rough to swim? What if there are too many lionfish in the waters? (I’m terrified of Lionfish and was still scarred from my Xtabi experience) What are we going to do there? Is the silence going to be suffocating? Is there any action out there? Any music? Would it just be a bunch of conservative folk in rocking chairs with a lone dog howling in the distance? All of these worries started crossing my mind

I shook Markus excitedly awake and the two of us walked over to the Grand Pineapple beach bar for breakfast. Ackee & saltfish with dumplings and sausages.

After Breakfast, Markus went back to the room to start packing..

…And I stayed behind to talk to my Cousin. He was there again that morning just as he said he would be. We sat across from each other in the dining area and had a really great conversation. He told me that my grandfather’s brother had 5 children… Those children had children… as a result. I have family all through out Jamaica. Kingston, Mandeville, Negril, Sav La Mar. I found out that I even have a cousin in Los Angeles! We talked about our lives and our families. We shared our stories, We took pictures and exchanged contact information.

After that meeting I called my mother on Jamar’s cellphone. “Mom, You’re not going to believe this! I found my cousin!”

She was equally in awe and informed my father, who was shocked!

My parents had been contemplating a trip to Jamaica. Their last trip was for their honeymoon back in the seventies. They had still been on the fence about it though. I think this cemented their decision to celebrate their next anniversary in Negril in August, to reconnect with the family he lost touch with back in 1974. It felt good knowing that my visit was going to be the first step to bringing together my family again. This is really something special, and means more to me than I can attempt to put in words in this trip report.

****

When it was time to check out of the Grand Pineapple, we didn’t want to! We weren’t quite ready to leave the beach yet. I needed one last dip in the ocean waters. They were willing to watch our luggage and said we could stay as long as we wanted.

http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/...01beachday.jpg

Jamar, Markus and I all jumped in the water at once. We swam around aimlessly just enjoying the waves … We snorkeled and searched for shells in the sand.

After 30 minutes, Jamar and I stumbled out of the ocean and just lay in the sun for a while. Markus was still hunting for shells. He emerged from the water with this in his mask…

http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/.../01lobster.jpg
The smallest baby lobster-thing I’ve ever seen...

It attracted the attention of all the kids on the beach and they all crowded around him to see it.

http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/...obstershow.jpg

While I watched him interact with all the kids in the water, I thought of how he’d make a great Dad some day… Someday very soon.

That’s when we spotted a beautiful woman strolling down the beach in a white bikini and sporting a bright pink sunhat casting her face in a shadow. She looked familiar. I squinted against the sun in my eyes and sat up in my beachchair..

It was Bea!!

Jamar and I greeted her on the beach. I’m beginning to realize how small Negril really is! You don’t need a cellphone, just hang out on the beach and you’ll bump into a fellow boardie within minutes. We decided to all head over to Sunnyside for a few drinks. The Red Stripes are cold and cheap + Maureen and Robert are fun to hang with. I miss the “For Real” Bar, but this one has the same vibe. It’s just smaller.

Jamar and Bea went ahead without me. I had to drag Markus back out of the water, which is no easy feat.

We finally met up with them 15 minutes later. Turns out it was Maureen’s birthday!

http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/...enbirthday.jpg

We all had a celebratory B-day shot with her (a Bea creation that was delicious), sang happy Birthday and enjoyed the cold drinks, warm sunshine and conversation.

http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/...tsunnyside.jpg

Afterwards, we wandered into a few of the vendor shops and talked to people… I bought a beautiful stone butterfly necklace for a really good price from this place:

http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/...eachvendor.jpg

(Rise and shine mosaics – Gareth Reid - he has the most adorable puppy “I-ranger” in the world)

http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/...1cutepuppy.jpg

I haven't even read it, but am stoked you posted it. HAHAHAHAHHAH. Now it's time to read.

I also kept my eye out for earrings for Tic Toc..

http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/...aandseller.jpg

That’s when I glanced at my clock and realized it was already 3:30 PM. Our luggage had been sitting in the Grand Pineapple lobby for 4 ½ hours already!

It was officially time to leave the beach and move over to the cliffs.

We said our goodbye’s to Bea,(we would be seeing her later at Seastar Inn for the concert) and we headed back to the lobby to pick up our luggage.

It was hard saying goodbye to all the staff at the Grand Pineapple. We all hugged. Tayshaun took a picture of me and Paul, together. I knew this goodbye wasn’t final. It’s just the beginning of many future trips..


Chicken was waiting for us with his car.

“Ready to go?” He asked with a smile

We responded with a thumbs up. He helped us toss all of our luggage into the trunk, then we piled into his car.

“So Where are we going now?”, Chicken asked.

“Next stop is Sea Star Inn” I said

and we were off to begin part 2 of our vacation..

To be continued…
Markus & Jamar are up next tomorrow.

Damn, you're not even on the West End yet, lol. Jamar sitting next to Bea with the look of " I might get lucky tonight."

Nice read Clarity. I freaking hate Lionfish as well.

Just one word to sum up all my feelings on this post:

YAY!!!!!!!

OK Clarity.
Time to bring it (it being storytelling).
Love your vocabulary.
Gerryg said he thought you were a teacher, true?

What's the deal on lionfish?
They seem like slow moving bottom dwellers to me.
I know they can be poisoness, but did you have a run in with one?

I spent more time in the water than anything else on this last reach, launching from Xtabi each time.
The only lionfish I saw were between Xtabi and the Blue Castle.
I think I saw two.
I saw none around Xtabi or between Xtabi and the Rockhouse.

I offer this up for your piece of mind.

One other thing:
Why did your pix get cut off on the right side.
The first one is framed right and all the rest have the right edge cut off.
I'm asking because this inadvertant crop really made a pic I posted look bad.

Your pix as always have rich color, and great composition.
Kudos.

Rum - Lionfish are kinda the scourge of the reef. Starting about 2 years ago for some reason tons of them came and "invaded" Jamaican waters. There's been a real push for fishermen to catch them - when cleaned properly they are apparently a nice tasting fish, many restaurants have them on the menu. The fact that you saw just a few is a testament to the fishermen pulling them out and the community using them for food. In Alligator Pond at a restaurant called Little Ochi they were going to be having a a lionfish cook-off competition!

Rastagirl777.
OK, I got the scourge of the reef, but Clarity made it sound personal.

BTW I looked them up they're natives of the pacific.
Looks like they got released into the Atlantic in the 90's.

Also R/G777 you may know the answer to this - is the reef just beyond the old Negril Yacht Club still healthy?
I haven't seen it since the late 90's but that used to be a really spectacular shallow water reef.