Greetings from Accompong Town St. Elizabeth, Jamaica.

I am starting a thread on my stay this winter. I am not able to post any pictures at this time but I will later. Since the first part of my trip deals with Negril, I am starting it here. I will, however, post the remainder of it at “Living in Jamaica” Forum for all those interested.

Well, here goes……

Sometimes I lose perspective on my life going back and forth from my home in Jamaica to where I work and live more and more infrequently in Florida. Maybe it is due to the fact that where I am in Florida is so similar to Jamaica in both the weather and the many Jamaicans who live in that area. However, nothing even comes close to my home on a mountain top deep in the Cockpit Country of St. Elizabeth, Jamaica.

This time, I overstayed in Florida due to a heavier than normal workload and the more and more frequent spells of daydreaming could no longer provide enough sustenance to satisfy my deep desire to go home so I finally bought a ticket and arrived at Montego Bay on October 15th to the smiling face of Linston, my friend and driver, for the first part of my trip.

Linston has just the right amount of qualities that I look for in a driver. Punctuality, a good fair price, safe driving and the right amount of chatting. When I arrive in Jamaica, I want to drink in the atmosphere. The sights, sounds and smells are eagerly assimilated into my consciousness and I appreciate not having to engage in idle chatter over trivial things. Linston treats you like an old friend and not just a paying customer.

Normally I just go straight up into the mountains seldom seeing the ocean or the coast until I leave in mid January to return for some work. This trip I decided to spend a week in Negril to wind down and relax before I headed home. I chose the Primrose Inn on Breadnut Lane (check them out on the Hotels link at the top of the page. All their contact information is there.). Gosnel Hylton and his son Martin run a nice quiet and secure 5 unit inn on the West End (Cliffs) of Negril. I like the size, the good reasonable price, hot and cold water showers and particularly the well stocked kitchen. Longer term stays can be negotiated.

I had a major case of burn out and just wanted to sleep in peace without the constant telephone ringing in my ears. Linston stopped for me to get a box lunch at a little shop across from Drifters on the beach. I don’t eat meat so a delicious meal of stewed bonita with some vegetables with lots of rice and peas fit the bill perfectly.

He dropped me off with a promise to come back the follow morning so I could get a new chip for a cell phone and groceries to last for the week. I hardly remember lying down but the sun was barely down and I didn’t wake up until it rose the next morning.

Except for the occasional visit by a friend or two, I did pretty much nothing but relax and read. I did enjoy having a good WiFi connection in my room so I spent some time catching up on my interests that I didn’t have time for at work. Because I live in Jamaica, I just don’t have the same drive to go out and explore Negril but I did pay a visit to Chris at SeaStar Inn on Saturday afternoon where I ate my only meal that I didn’t cook for myself.

The week passed by slowly but I was thankful for the slow pace and the healing rest. I made plans to return to Negril for one night on November 10th to see my good friend and Accompong Town neighbor Mystic Bowie who was headlining a show at 3-Dives that evening.

I was packed early on October 22nd and waited for Linston to take me home. First, however, we needed to pick up Jitterbug and her friend at BarBBarn who wanted to have a scenic day out on the island.

More to come on the trip up to Accompong Town.

Hope you enjoy.

Peace and Guidance