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

[Clarity]

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…




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.

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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.



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…


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.



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.