First trip to Negril - Travel Report - Day 4 - Moving over to the Coco La Palm

[Clarity]

It's the weekend, so we finally had some time to write more of our trip report...

DAY 4 – Leaving the Grand Pineapple

I woke up to the now familiar cry of a peacock. I lay in bed for a long moment just listening to all the sounds streaming in from our open window. The dogs barking in the distance, the birds chirping, the rustle of palm tree leaves, the sound of some of the staff speaking in patois to eachother.. I was really falling in love with this symphony of morning sounds.

I realized this was our last morning at the Grand Pineapple. I felt a mixture of emotions about this.

On one hand I was excited because today was the big move over to Coco La Palm hotel. It represented a new chapter in our vacation. I wondered what it was going to be like at a non-AI resort in Jamaica. We had explored a bit of Negril, but only ventured about mile away from our hotel so far.

I also felt some anxiety when I realized it was already 9:00 AM. We had overlslept and checkout was at noon. We weren't packed or ready to leave yet.. our clothes were still strewn all over the room.

It was going to be sad to have to say goodbye to Patrick & Ralston, the security guards. Andrew the bartender, Dahlia at the front desk, Kenneil and Davina. All these faces that had become so familiar and comforting to us. The Grand Pineapple had become a second home in only three days.

I shook Markus awake and suggested we get some coffee before we attempted to squeeze all of our belongings back into our two tiny carry-on bags.

As we headed back to the Buffet & bar area we could hear the music was already playing and most of the guests had already claimed their usual spots on the beach. We waved at our british friends in their lounge chairs.





We poured two cups of strong coffee..




and sat down at a table to sip our hot caffeinated beverage with a view of the beautiful beach in front of us.

[Clarity]

Ralston came up to greet us. "Hows your morning going?"

"Good.. today is our last day here", I said sadly.

"What?! Leaving already??", He asked in surprise "you just got here!"

We explained that we could only afford three days at the Grand Pineapple and that we'd be moving down the beach to the Coco La Palm for the last stretch of our trip. We thanked him for all his guidance and great advice.

Side Note: We just heard that Ralston was just promoted to a management position at the Grand Pineapple. it's a much-deserved promotion. To anyone that crosses paths with him in the future, please tell him that Daisy & Markus say "Hi" and that we really miss him.


Markus and Ralston

We were running out of time so We went back to the hotel room to start packing up our belongings. we worked at cramming it all back into our suitcases...



We left a tip and dragged our suitcases out of the room. We sat on the balcony together for the last time and took in the view of the lush surrounding garden area for the last time.

The cleaning lady came up the steps and asked if our room was ready for cleaning.

"Yes, we're all packed and ready to go..." I said.

It was 11:45...We realized it was time to bid a final farewell to room 14.

[Clarity]

We crossed the street and the crossing guard asked "Leaving already? ." She asked "I had no idea! I'm sad to see you go.."

She said it with such sincerety that it touched us and we both hugged her.

"You're both always smiling... every time we see you. I'm going to miss your smiling faces", she said.

"We'll be back" I assured her.

We checked out with Dahlia at the front desk.

"The check in for our next hotel is at 3.. is it okay if we stay here until then or should we....?" I asked

She told us "Of course! Stay as long as you like and go enjoy the buffet. Lunch is starting in 30 minutes. we can watch over your suitcases until you're ready to depart"

We head back past the buffet area and saw that our british friends were down at the beach speaking with Greenie, the bartender from the English Rose! Markus went over to join them, while I ordered a drink. My last dirty banana at the Grand Pineapple.



When I glanced back towards the beach, Greenie was gone and Markus was now talking with Hillary and Earl Grey.



Side note: Take a look at his hair. He was returning to that windblown curly and free hairstyle that I hadn't seen since our college days in Florida. I loved it! It's amazing what a few days in Jamaica can do. We were both walking slower than ever and relaxing into the vibe of the Island.

He gestured for me to come join them and I did.

"Greenie is having a live band come to the English Rose tonight. He is inviting us all to join. He'll be playing the steel drums. It starts at 8:00 - want to go?"

We all agreed to meet at the English Rose at 8:00. I was happy to know that we wouldn't have to say goodbye to our british friends just yet and that our partying together as a group would be continuing even when we moved over to a new hotel.

The lunch buffet just opened and we decided to grab a bite to eat before heading off. As we were walking over, Kenneil came up to us.
"What's this I've been hearing? you guys are leaving already?", He asked.

"Unfortunately.. but we're going to have lunch first. Want to join us?" I asked

Kenneil agreed to take a short break from the DJ booth and we all headed over to a table together.

I'll let Markus take it from there....

[Hubby-man]

Ever since the relationship between me and Daisy began I have really enjoyed how she continuously adds a different perspective to my way of seeing the world. She is never out of surprising, intriguing and sometimes quirky attitudes in perception. She often develops ideas in her quest to tackle this thing called life, which she holds on to for a certain amount of time.

Then, when she has had her fill of seeing or doing things a certain way, she suddenly has a NEW idea that will determine the flavor of the next few months or sometime years. It's never boring.

This whole vacation is just one example. As we described earlier, we had absolutely no opportunity or means to travel in the way of a vacation during the first near-decade of our marriage.

Since we made our first short trip to Mexico, less then 12 months ago, We stuffed three 4-5 day trips under our belt, the last one being this much anticipated 6 day Jamaica trip. The big idea is to travel as much as possible during our limited time on earth.

This bigger idea is then refined. This belongs the rule that we must SPLIT UP our stay between Hotels so that perceived length of the trip is extended..

“I can't believe we've only been here for three days. It feels like much longer and now that we are going to a new Hotel, it's like there is a whole other vacation ahead of us!”she kept saying. I have to smile.

We had already signed out with the front desk and had received permission to enjoy the Hotel Grounds for as long as necessary today. I was rather hungry and very relieved that the coming lunch buffet was not yet off-limits.

At the beach we found Hillary and Earl Grey. A bearded Jamaican was talking to them and waved me over. At first I thought it was Mischief Rasta, whose story, I now realize, we never told. Maybe that's for the better, since he is just a very irritating individual. I couldn't hide and pretend I hadn't seen, so I walked closer and realized to my great relief that it was Greeny from the English Rose who was talking to them.

Hillary: “Hi Markus, Greeny is just telling that he wants to have a concert at his bar tonight, just for us. What do you think?”

Me: ”That sounds splendid”

Hillary: “Really? So you would want to go then? we were on the fence.”

Me: “I would be honored, Greeny!”

Hillary: “Ok, Greeny, we'll go. But you're gonna have to come down with the prices for us. We are just spending way to much money at your shack.”

Greeny: “I'll do that for you. But you will come? I have to know, since I have to tell my band members.”

We promised our attendance and Greeny promised us $200 JA Red Stripes.

Lunch was served soon. We headed over to the buffet one last time and ran into Keneill. He like most people was very surprised to hear we would be leaving already. So we invited him to have lunch with us, which he accepted.



We sat down at a big round table and Kenneil lounged in on of the reed chairs across from me with one arm slung over the back of the chair. He has the demeanor of a boy-band rock-star mixed with a splash of class clown. He is very confident but at the same time you can just feel how he is constantly struggling to reach his full potential. He told us about all the hotels he has worked at and gigged for. Customer service, dancing, singing, teaching entertaining and then back to being a clerk in the gift shop. You can clearly see, he has much bigger dreams and he's very talented.



That's why you all have to help out. Here are two you tube links for the Music-videos Keneil and his friends have put together in Negril. It's great stuff! Some views would make a difference for him and don't forget to click the “Like”-button if you like it.

http://youtu.be/q8Jn_AjpIps

and here is another one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jze7...eature=related

While we were sitting there talking, we observed some more incredibly rude tourist behaviour. We had been there talking together for no more than 20 Minutes, when one of the German Lady tourists walked by and sneered: “Nice long lunch break you got there Keneill. Wish I could do that at MY job.” (Some people are just sad and bitter!)

We figured we better keep Keneill out of trouble and said our good-byes.

[Hubby-man]

One more piece of business had to be taken care off. Daisy had been eyeing a beautiful butterfly, that Courtney at the beach had cut from a solid chunk of Cypress with nothing but a box cutter knife.



At 35 dollars it was a little more than we usually spend on a souvenir, especially since we already had to get an enormous amount of gifts to bring home for co-workers and friends. But when Daisy really wants something, which is extremely rare anyways, it isn't worth saving the money. I couldn't spend it on anything else to make her more happy anyways.

So when we went back to the beach and Daisy gazed at the thing again I finally whispered in her ear: “Just buy it!... ” Really, what are 30 something Dollars gonna do either way in the states?

Courtney gave us a discount because Daisy had been coming by every day to touch it longingly. He dated and signed the butterfly in front of us. His skill with the knife is really something to behold. Daisy told him she would treasure it always.



Ralston, was sitting at the beach with a friend of his, a tug-boat Capt. from Brooklyn and a man of few words. They joined us and as we were standing together at the beach it really felt like we were going to leave a family behind here.



We talked a while longer and were genuinely sad when it was time to leave Hotel Number 42.

Before that could happen I needed to get some more money. I left Daisy in the lobby with a Tayshaun, a rep ready to sell Daisy her next year's vacation, while I made off on foot towards the ATM at time-Square.

The weather was incredibly hot and sweat was pouring down my face as I walked down the dusty shoulder of the road. At every driveway small groups of cab drivers waited and offered their services. I could now handle that situation much more easily and no longer felt like I owed any but the most eager fellows a lengthy conversation. There seemed to be an understanding within myself now, that I had earned the right to walk this strip of road and previously cumbersome situations could now be handled with a wave and friendly “Ya-Mon! Everything Irie!”

Occasionally I jumped a bit when a car came too close during a passing maneuver, or when a motorcycle pulled up to offer me a ride beeping loudly. But all-in-all this was a piece of cake now.

Time Square looked like a boring strip-mall in Palm Beach. The Parking lot seemed to be expecting an onslaught of a hundred cars, but no one was really there. The stores offer the same wanna-be-multi-culti crap you can find at Pier-1 Import. Sort of an exotic identity for sale. Not sure why anyone would want to buy a $20,000 1-ton wooden Giraffe from Nairobi on a vacation in Jamaica.

What is worse ,the one useful item, the ATM was not working according to the bored store-clerks was never really reliable. So I turned about and walked back the Hotel.

When I got back, our vacation for next year was in full planning. All that was needed was my approval and signature to make us Pineapple Perks Members and receive our next hotel rate at a great discount.

This was definitely more expensive than the butterfly, but the wife wants, what the wife wants. 3 more days at the pineapple booked for next April and it was – of course – all Refundable. Plus we got a free bottle of rum for the road.

Before going to the Coco La Palm we had to make a detour to Scotia Bank downtown Negril.

Daisy and the cab driver waited inside the car while I struggled with my first Jamaican ATM- experience. I still have not found out how to take JA out from a US account. Maybe I was just to hesitant to type in a huge numeric amount, but no money would come forth unless I chose to extract US-currency. That was easy as pie however.

The cab drove us the short distance down Norman-Manley Blvd. We thanked the man for his patience with us and entered the lobby, to our new home....

[Clarity]

I was still holding my new carved butterfly signed by Courtney in my hands when we pulled up to the Coco La Palm hotel. We spilled out of the cab and paid the taxi driver for the ride.

The lobby had a colorful Jamaican mural, and the receptionist was wearing a bright yellow shirt and was in the middle of talking with a customer on the phone. We waited a moment and gazed around at our new surroundings. We could hear the sound of water trickling from a big fountain in the distance.



"Hi!" the Receptionist greeted us with a big smile. "Welcome to Coco La Palm!"

We gave her our last name and she went into the backroom to check her files. She came back and spread the paperwork onto the table for us to sign.



"We're excited to be here... we've heard a lot of great things about this hotel" I said

"Is this your first time in Jamaica?", She asked.

"Yes, we're celebrating our upcoming 9 year wedding anniversary", I told her happily

"Congratulations!!", She said. She shuffled the papers a bit and pulled out a slip of paper that she placed on top of the forms. "Well,you'll be happy to know that you have a free complimentary upgrade to your room."

Complimentary upgrade?



I was so excited that I whipped out my camera and took a picture of it. She watched me with amusement. (We could only afford the most discounted rate which only guaranteed a bed to sleep in... so I figured we'd be stored in the maids quarters or something. I was really okay with that.... So this was a big deal!)

"Here are the keys and your towel cards. You'll be staying in room 536", She continued. "...That's the honeymoon suite"

THE HONEYMOON SUITE?! I froze. At first I thought she was joking with us. Then I realized by her expression that she was totally serious.. Markus and I looked at eachother in shock.

"Wow, I-thank you.. that's... amazing!" I managed to stutter out.

The concierge came up from behind to take our bags and show us our room.



I was still in a bit of a daze as we navigated through the lush surroundings of the hotel. I could see kids splashing in a pool through the palm trees and a hot tub nestled in the foilage. Everything was white with murals painted on the walls. The rooms seemed to be named after different Jamaican birds.

[Clarity]

We reached our door and Markus used our keys to open the door.



There was a loft-like narrow staircase leading us up to our private room.

When I saw the room, I nearly fell over. There MUST be a mistake here...



I looked over at the man that was putting our bags down and expected him to say
"Ooops.. sorry, wrong room. My bad" but he didn't. Instead he pointed out the fridge and the coffee machine to us..

The room was stunning.. large wooden ceilings.. big windows.. massive poster bed..So amazing!!



"The doors lead out to the balcony with a view of the ocean, there is a walk in closet in the bathroom and a Jacuzzi" he continued

A JACUZZI??


We just gazed at him speechless in shock. He laughed at our expressions. "Well, if you need anything you can just call the front desk... enjoy your stay at the Coco La Palm", He said with a smile.


we tipped him and he head back down the stairs.

We stood there frozen in place for a second.

"Oh my god...", I whispered. "Am I dreaming right now?"

Markus started laughing "I... can't- I can't BELIEVE this!!!..."

Then we started running around like little kids checking everything out...

Markus swung open the balcony doors and took in the view. "Honey.. this is... look at this!!!"



We stood there taking it all in.. the sound of the surf, the view of the beach through the almond trees.. the soft breeze..the sound of reggae music from the downstairs bar... It all felt very surreal. I had tears in my eyes that I kept brushing away with the back of my hand so Markus wouldn't see. They were happy tears, but I will still embarrassed.


It's just that we couldn't afford a honeymoon when we first got married. Our entire wedding cost 500$ - which was a lot for two kids right after their college graduation. We had to go back to work a few days later. We always said "Someday we'll have that honeymoon.". So naturally we had never experienced staying in a room like this before. This was all new to us.

Now 9 years later we finally made it to Jamaica..in a honeymoon suite with a view of the most beautiful beach we'd ever seen in our life...

[Clarity]

I went into the bathroom to check out the Jacuzzi..



and I peered through the slits in the bathroom window to see a view of the pool below



"This is incredible.." I whispered. I felt like we didn't deserve this.

I joined Markus in the bedroom. I watched him collapse onto the big bed with a huge smile and I fell next to him.
we both gazed up at the swirling ceiling fan...

This marked the half-way point of our vacation.. instead of going with the glass half-empty theory, I saw it as half full. we still had another three days in Jamaica spread out in front of us. I felt blessed to be able to experience as much as we had already in the past few days.

“Want to go explore the grounds?”, Markus asked

I nodded.

To be continued...

[Leo]

Love your writing! Thanks for taking us along!

[irie always]

Nice place Coco - we really enjoyed our visit there. Every year we go back to Negril my hubbie makes a point to drop by and say hello to Stevo, Charlton and Andrew. Looking forward to the next installment.