TizzyATX Trip Report - 1st Timer

[TizzyATX]

Day 2

Alarm blaring…feeling ill. No time to nurse a hangover…got to get to the airport on time. Once we are there we decide it might be clever of us to check in at our gate FIRST this time. Ok, we’re good on time. Now we’re off to find the death room in this concourse. When we get there we are pleasantly surprised. This one is clean, ventilated, with windows, and we are the only ones there. Bowl of fruit loops, two bloody marys and a couple smokes later it’s time to board the plane for Jamaica. Yeaaaah Mon.

I’m excited on the plane….want to talk about it….all girlfriend wants to do is sleep! What is up with this girl. I want to look out the window and she’s arguing about needing to sit there so she can lean on it to sleep. Are you serious right now? I’m not missing my very first glimpse of Jamaica so that you can take a nap. Did you think to bring one of those neck pillows, sleepyhead? No? How unfortunate. This isn’t my usual nature but this chick’s been giving me all kinds of attitude since I picked her up for her free trip…

Eventually I see the water start to turn different shades and I catch my first glimpse of da island!!!! I’m officially vacating. Touching down was crazy….runway is so close to the water you can’t see the ground. Looks like you’re just going to land right there in the ocean, and I honestly wouldn’t mind if we did.



We are one of the first ones off the plane…follow the leader….get to customs/immigration. Friend can’t find her passport. Seriously? I even took the time to buy her a little passport holder/wallet with a strap to go around her neck… This irritates me a little bit, but no worries…I’m in Jamaica. I hand this nice young man my little customs card that I filled out on the plane. He looks at me and starts laughing, “You’re from…divorced? I never heard of dat place.” We both start laughing at my mistake. Would you believe that was my second try at filling that thing out? He says yes. I scratch my head… feeling pretty special. In my defense, it’s been a long trip and I’m not on my A-game right now. Girlfriend gets back with passport in hand. We breeze through.

We step over the threshold from the sanctity of the airport into the crowd of cab drivers, and we get swarmed, but I was prepared for that lol. I can’t even hear what they are saying, I just shake my head “No, no thanks I’m alright”, and keep walking. Finally get to light up, ahhh yesss. I find Alfred easily. He laughs as he tells me how he came the day before to pick us up…I apologize, I tried to give him notice but I guess he didn’t get the message. He just laughs, very good natured guy, I like him already. Turns out he is waiting on another larger group so he sends us with a dude named Edward…he is quiet but friendly. As we drive through MoBay, there is so much to take in, and I am looking forward to the drive, but first I ask Edward to stop at the MegaMart for us to pick up a few items. MegaMart was cool. Lots of stuff, and my ADD kicks in but my friend keeps me on task. We grab a collapsible cooler, some munchies, and bottled water then make a stop in the liquor store for rum, vodka and mixers. Change money…this currency thing is throwing me for a loop…that’s ok, it’ll take a minute but I’ll get it.

We on our way now! Not long before we get stopped by 5-0…Been in JA for less than an hour and the cops are already f’ing with us? hahaha Not really, seems they just wanted to check Edwards driver papers? This took a long time. I don’t know what they were talking to him about, I don’t understand when they speak patois so fast…from the bits I picked up on, seemed the conversation turned into friendly chatter about life. Sorry, I appreciate that everything is all friendly and stuff, but I have limited time on this island and hanging out with cops just wasn’t part of the plan lol. I love the heat, I’m from Texas, but this hot ass air in the car is stagnant and it’s starting to bother me a little. My friend seemed on edge during the ride…white knuckles gripping the “Oh **** bar” (thanks for the term Manda) lol…me personally I loved it, and I am constantly marveling at the effiency of the way Jamaicans drive. These folks get where they are going! No BS. Somebody driving slow in front of you, just get around, no matter if there is on coming traffic, just squeeze through, and tap the horn a couple times! Love it! I’m trying to take pictures but we are going so fast that buy the time I snap a shot, the picture is something completely different than I intended. Not worried about it, because everywhere I turn there is something to see, something that reminds me I’m not in Texas anymore. The drive is beautiful…lots of activity, very different from home. Reggae and dancehall coming from all different directions. Colors. Everything is SO colorful….


Sorry the pics aren't better....like I said....Fast driving = Bad pics



The drive into Negril was interesting because although I’d never been there in my life…It felt familiar yet foreign. Norman Manley, we zooooom past all these places I had been reading about on the board. I liked the fact that I couldn’t see the beach from the road, left me in anticipation. Approach the round about and start to head up the West End, and I’m already pretty sure that the cliffs was the right choice for me, but still had no clue just how much I would love it here. We pull up to Samsara and Edward helps us unload our bags at the entrance. Check in was fairly easy, although they had made no record of the changes to our itinerary. Young JA woman at the desk…nice but confused, “You suppose ta be here yesterday?” Ok, I’m not sure who I talked to yesterday about the change, but she clearly didn’t find our conversation important enough to make note of. lol Our room will be ready in about an hour ½. No problem…We’re starving so we cross the street…wasn’t as intimidating as I was expecting from all the talk about West End Rd, but yeah take caution when crossing, they drive fast and there are a lot of blind curves. We get a table at Ciao Jamaica. Staff there is friendly. Diana (waitress) asks if we’d like something to drink….feeling really dehydrated so I ask her for a large glass of cold water. Waters never been more quenching. I expected to wait awhile for the food, so asked for a mango salad to start. It came quickly and was delicious and refreshing. Ordered a really delicious pasta dish for my entrée and friend got grilled lobster that was superb. Afterwards we chatted with a woman downstairs, and I got the feeling she may be the owner of the hotel/restaurant. Not sure, but she was nice and made us feel at home. As we left the restaurant, it was raining a little. No biggie right…actually it IS a big deal…Texas hasn’t seen rain in what seems like years, this foreign substance falling from the sky is nothing less than a gift from God….one not to be taken for granted.

We’re led down a pathway that is lush with vegetation, and real freakin slippery when wet. Almost ate the ground a few times on the way. We reach our room, I’m pretty sure I called twice to reserve a “king cottage” but they put us in a “standard oceanview”. Maybe because we were a day late? Come to find out they had plenty of cottages vacant. Lol Anyways…”Standard Ocean View” I think that’s a little misleading considering the view of the ocean was completely blocked by huge palm leaves. LOL I’m not the type to complain and both rooms were the same cost…plus I don’t plan on doing anything in there accept showering and sleeping…but if I was more high maintenance they might have had a problem with me. I’ll say this much, the room was nothing to complain about it. Certainly not fancy… but I’m not fancy. It was clean, AC, had plenty of room/shelves/drawers. The bathroom was clean and up to date. Two queen beds were a bit firm, but that’s good for the back. See…I’m an optimist. Had a little balcony with table and chairs….and of course, an incredible view of a palm tree!!! I didn’t take really any pictures of the room…in fact I really didn’t take that many pictures at all now that I think about it. I can say that is my one regret about that whole trip…shoulda snapped more pics...that and the fact that I didn’t stay longer, and missed out on most of the restaurants/bars that I wanted to hit. Dang.

No time to waste… I get my suit on and have my towel in hand, lickety split. I see my friend is over there unpacking her suitcase….putting all her clothes neatly in drawers…strategically placing her toiletries in the medicine cabinet in the bathroom, and setting things up on the dresser as if she’s moving in. I’m sitting there scratching my head wondering the point of all this. If you must give into these compulsions, can’t it be done later? Eh, we all have different ways of traveling. Anyways, I’m not hanging around here any longer, the sun has come back out, and I wanna go burn one on a cliff hanging over the Caribbean. Yep. You go ahead and keep nesting…

Attempt the slippery-ass walkway again…I develop a strategy pretty quick. If you step on the mortar, it’s all good. I pass the bar…it’s quiet, not many people…definitely apparent that it’s the slow season. Pool is on the right. Straight ahead are the cliffs and beyond that is the most beautiful water I’ve ever seen. I sit with my red stripe on the edge of the cliff and get lost in all the shades of blue and turquoise of the water below. Serenity. Peace. Give thanks.