Clarity, Markus and Jamar in Negril – Nov 2011 Trip Report: Day 1-3

[gerryg123]

i think Clarity has kind of been hinting we might have seen the last of Jamar -- but I hope not!

[Rum-polephoreskin]

Clarity, Hubbyman and Jamar,
Thanks.
I was unaware of this T.R. until now (today).

You've captured so much, it's almost a Negril primer.
Seriously this is very strong writing (travel writing but more than that) and I say that as someone who's had his travel writing published.
Your stuff could be the seed of a travel based book, especially the family history angle, simply great stuff, and Jamar finding a muse . . .

Your (collective) report is absolutely gripping.
I'm going to insist my girlfriend read your report before we leave because I believe you guys have illuminated aspects that make Negril more than just a vacation destination.
Much of your writing distills why we all must "come back to Jamaica."
Kudos!!!!

Mickey (my real name)

[sandy-girl]

@Rum-polephoreskin And this trip report is not done yet. Patiently waiting for the next installment.

In the meantime, you should read Calrity and Hubbyman's first trip report which was very touching.

[irie luv]

Yaaaay my favorite virtual couple is back!!! Markus so glad to hear you are doing better. Love your optimism and looking at the bright side of things. I know your wife misses you like crazy(she told us )! So glad that you had a safe journey to and fro. I know it feels great to be back home after so long! Welcome back, and by the way, I know you hear this all the time but your sideburns ROCK!!!

[Hubby-man]

@gerry123 No worries, I thought I had seen the last of Jamar many times. He is still here We are gonna put the thumb-screws on right now and see if written words come out.

Thank you all for your kind comments. Thank you Irieluv for the compliment on my side-burns! I'm almost shocked! I do get a lot of grief for them from Boss-lady! This is vindication.

And Rum-polephoreskin, that is one heck of a name! Thank you for your kind compliments.

@Everyone: Thank you so much for your concerns about my health. I hope Daisy has not worried you too much. She can be rather dramatic. And thank you all for your patience .

@Shauna: Yeah the Irie Box is filling up. I can't believe you know that term lol. Daisy must have talked. I really can't wait to meet you and your husband. I feel like I know you guys, without ever having met you.

Okay, Triple update coming up

[jamariquoi]

Sorry for being M.I.A. Not gone, just really really busy. A lot of changes happening in my life. More about that a little later.

Trip report continued:

So we arrived in Negril and settled into the Grand Pineapple resort for the next three days…

My First impressions were that it was incredibly beautiful and amazing how close to the
waters we were.

My room was less than 20 steps from the beach and I was just dying to get my feet onto that sand.

That’s when I started to meet many of the locals. I noticed they were on one side of this imaginary line and the tourists on the other in their lawn chairs relaxing on the beach… I couldn’t figure out why that was… many were trying to call me over to them. Initially I tried to call them over to me on the resort side to no avail and that’s when I figured out the line between resort beach and public beach. So I went over and chatted with a few of the locals and immediately people were beginning to offer me things. I was still in shock mode of just being in Jamaica and bought more than what I really wanted or needed. I had a hard time saying “NO” because I felt so bad for them and seeing as how they didn’t have much and a few dollars here and there was not going to break my bank…

But as time went on and more and more vendors were trying to sell me stuff, I realized that it does add up and my bank would soon be broken, if I didn’t learn how to get a tougher skin and say “No thanks”. I got the hang of it all eventually. It was all good.




All in all, I really enjoyed Grand Pineapple and the beach.




The next morning we took a wave runner out with Markus and Daisy for some fun, but INTENSE moments out into the middle of the sea



(Basically the intense moment was jumping off the Wave Runner into the ocean and not being able to swim much because of the fear. We were really far out there... out in the deep waters

and all of us trying to get back onto that Wave Runner was an adventure in itself...).

[Clarity]

I have to agree with Jamar. The Jet Ski adventure was not exactly the cake walk I thought it was going to be.

Markus will have a different take on this, but that's because he is a great swimmer with a scuba license. You can toss him out of a plane into the middle of the ocean and he'll be happily breast stroking back to shore. Jamar and I are doggie paddlers. I feel nervous when I can't touch the ocean floor with my feet

The Plan: Rent Jet Ski and park where the corals are, The three of us jump off and snorkel for a half an hour. Then we just jump back on the Jet Ski and ride back to land. Easy, right?

The Reality: First thing was the drama between Jet Ski owners. When they saw us putting three people on one Jet Ski, Another person stepped in offering us a second Jet Ski for Jamar to ride solo. Which infuriated the first Jet Ski owner that we had made the deal with. So there was a shuffle between those two involving some harsh patois i.e “bombaclaat” and “pussyclaat”. We just stood there frozen, while a group of German tourists watched the scene unfold sipping their rum drinks on their lounge chairs.

Eventually that was cleared up. 3 of us remained on one Jet Ski and we were off. Markus began to speed over the choppy waves, Jamar was almost tipped right off the back, but managed to hang on to my life jacket.

Once we were out there bobbing in the middle of the ocean, I realized this was not going to be as easy as I anticipated.

Markus jumped off first, this caused the entire Jet Ski to jerk over to one side... Jamar and I had to push our weight way over to level the Jet Ski and avoid it tipping over entirely. This was a slightly terrifying moment.

What do you do if a Jet Ski flips over when you're in the middle of the sea?

Jamar jumped off next and so did I.

Foolish move on my part. The Jet Ski began to drift away, it was still idling. So we started swimming after it... which is harder than it sounds in a cumbersome life jacket. I felt a sting on my lower leg and then another one.

Jellyfish. Great!

Trying to get back onto a Jet Ski that is spitting water on your face is a challenge.. There were a number of attempts. Finally I managed to pull my weight up using the handle on the back.

That's when I saw a light flashing on the dashboard indicating that we were running out of gas.

I didn't want to be stranded on a Jet Ski with no gas out in the middle of the Caribbean ocean... Dark clouds began to form overhead. Rain was coming..

Jamar looked slightly terrified in the water, I helped pull him back onto the Jet Ski with me. We both breathed a sigh of relief. My snorkeling plans were completely forgotten. My goal now was to get us all back to shore before we ran out of gas.



But Markus was nowhere to be found.

“Markus?!” I screamed “Markus?!” I started driving in circles while in idle, searching for bubbles. The waves were swelling higher. I couldn't see him anywhere. I searched the endless horizon feeling panic in my chest.

[Clarity]

Markus emerged from underwater, far in the distance, holding a sea star in his hand “ I'm over here! Look I found a sea star!”



He began to swim towards us. He was enjoying this underwater snorkeling adventure and he couldn't understand why we both looked so freaked out.





Markus did some more exploring, and eventually climbed onto the back.. holding onto Jamar. “Okay, take us back to shore”, He said to me.

“I don't know how to drive this thing” I said (this was my first time on a Jet Ski) “and the gas light is flashing red”

“Don't worry about that, we still have enough gas to get us back to shore and to ride a few waves. Just Gun it”, He said.

We jerked to a start and next thing I knew I was jumping over waves. It was more fun than I expected!!

We parked at the Alfred's floating platform, and took turns riding the Jet Ski solo.

Despite the Jelly fish sting and moments of terror, I would definitely take a Jet Ski out again for a ride. (minus the snorkeling attempts)



Has anyone taken a Jet Ski out to Booby Cay? This sounds like it would be a lot of fun. If so, how much did it cost and how long did it take to get there?

After the Jet Ski ride, we stopped in our rooms to shower and get dressed for lunch. We had some time before the Canoe webcast, so we decided to head over to Sunnyside bar to visit Maureen.

Markus is back... (so happy to have him home again!) so I'll let him take it from here.

[Jaherring]

Loving your report while sitting here bored at work! I really enjoyed my stay at the GP, and I didnt realize Ralston was not there anymore.

[Hubby-man]

Oh yeah, The Jet Ski experience...

I was lucky enough to enjoy the luxury of a private jet ski in Florida for a few years, but I was really surprised that Daisy & Jamar would suggest that we rent one. They seemed really eager, but once we were jetting at 40 mph over the little waves catching a little air here and there, their faces turned a soft shade of green and they uncomfortably held on to the small seat behind me. The machine - while rather big – might just NOT have been intended for three passengers. As scary as that would be for anyone, my two companions are really more beach bums than open water enthusiasts....

We went out as far as we dared, not all the way out to the reef as we had planned, but the information from the gas-gauge was a little disconcerting. I would suggest, that if you rent a Jet Ski, you pay first and ask the guy renting it to you, to make the trip to the gas station before you take a ride, rather than after...

After we had all taken a swim and climbed back onto the wobbly motor-float, we noticed that our seating arrangements had been unkindly reversed. We were now sitting in order of who wanted to get out of the water first, with Daisy in front. Since switching seats would have been a highly acrobatic experience and neither Jamar nor Daisy wanted to go back into the water again, Daisy became the default driver for the trip back.

She was a little nervous at first, but once she felt the sporty machine responding neatly to her commands and the powerful motor between her legs roaring out at the slightest touch of her finger on a button, she was kind of hooked. While we were bobbing scarily back and forth behind her she leaned into spray and gunned it towards the beach, possibly because she wanted to get back to the safety of shore in a hurry.

In front of Alfred's Daisy slowed down to an idle and we hopped off on the platform to let Jamar have a go. We watched him from the platform as he drove circles around it, a little like an old lady on mobility scooter at Walmart: slow, a little dazed and slap-happy.

We had to do something, so I started yelling at him to get his butt of the seat and drive standing up. “Come on Dude! Push down on that gas button! Don't be a wimp!”

Peer-pressure always works! Within minutes Jamar turned from a grandma into Action Jackson, and soon drove standing up and hugging the corners, crossing and jumping over his own wake with a dramatic splash. We definitely all got our moneys worth!



Back on the beach I dropped the two passengers off and had another go myself. But I am not 20 anymore and there is a definite voice in my head now, that tells me I have a lot to lose. I am not the same person I used to be. We used to race through the mangroves on a jet ski knowing full well behind every corner the water way could be abruptly cut off by a branch or sandbank. We used to crash into the unforeseen obstacles, go flying into the shrubbery and got up to get some more bruises. Now I can't even let it rip on open water with out pissing my pants. I am getting old … and reasonable - yuck.

We went to grab a quick lunch. Then Daisy, who directed and managed every detail of our vacation, like a benevolent bridezilla, informed us, that it was time to see Maureen at the Sunnyside bar. So me and Jamar dutifully grabbed our wallets and trotted to the beach behind her.

Sunnyside Bar is not far from the Grand Pineapple and right next to "ROOMS". Don't look for a sign, yet. They are saving up to have one painted. (I would have loved to paint one for them, but it didn't feel right to offer something, that would have taken work away from a Jamaican Artist. Plus it would hardly have been authentic).

On the short walk down the beach we made some obligatory promises to see peoples vending booths just to hasten our progress. We also have to keep a constant eye out for Jamar or he'll get lost and disappear somewhere with some shady character, only to return frustrated with more stuff he didn't mean to purchase. He already had one person chasing after him, demanding a ridiculous sum from him, for no more than the sharing of an herbal cigarette.

Once we reached the vicinity of the sunny-side bar this was no longer a concern. I remember the first day we met Maureen and she almost brought a broom out to chase away a beer-mooching fellow. One look from her can kill any trespasser.

A tall figure was sitting on the bench in front of the bar one leg up and his arms slung around the knee. We hesitantly approached. Then Daisy and Maureen made eye contact. Their faces brightened and Maureen came around from behind the bar and opened her arms invitingly.

Maureen's hugs, if you can get one, are brisk and economic. When you meet her you will find a sincere woman that has no time for nonsense. It's not that you can't tickle some playfulness out of her. You certainly can, She is not cold at all. She is in fact very warm and kind, but she doesn't suffer a fool. From her mouth you can get an utterly sober view of Jamaica. She works hard and if you want something from her you need to show some effort. She doesn't just deserve one's respect, she commands it.



But if you do get her to smile and laugh, you are looking at one of the most beautiful and radiant woman we have met in Jamaica or anywhere else for that matter. I personally enjoy strong women, after all I was raised by several.

We clumsily climbed over the ridiculously high bench that wraps itself around the little bar. And started off the boozy part of the day with a round of beers.