Our 5th trip to Jamaica ******TRIP REPORT*****

**gerryg123** · 03-06-2012, 04:44 PM

Incredible report. You can feel the authenticity .... Plus, you're hangin' in ALL my fav spots including BB Barn (yes, Michael is the security guard, but he switched to nights) and Whistling Bird (great bar staff, great manager named Anthony, an expat).

**gerryg123** · 03-06-2012, 04:56 PM

Originally Posted by Jamaica Joleen

Here is a little snippet of RIU Tropcal Bay…………if I could use vulgarity here, I would tell you this place is F*&^ing AWESOME (sorry Mom). Seriously, this place is beautiful. This is my 1st time at a RIU and I can totally understand why people would be loyal to the brand. ... How anyone could complain about this place is beyond me.

I agree. The RIUs get a bad rap .....

**Jamaica Joleen** · 03-08-2012, 03:28 PM

Tuesday

I wake up at 7 am and it is cloudy and the sea is a bit rough. I wonder how the lady from last night is doing and if she had to go to the hospital? I make a vow to try to find her today. If she is here, I know I will be able to recognize her.

Glen and I both agree that we should call Captain Moses and cancel today because the sea is too rough. Glen makes the call and we agree that he will pick us up tomorrow at 9 am and we will go to Booby Cay for snorkeling and lunch. I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS!!!

We go down to the front desk and ask about a one way cab to The Lighthouse on the west end. She says $20 US. We thank her and start to walk away and she says $15 US. We agree to same. She goes out to a red plate and has a discussion with the driver and then waves us over. As I am getting into the cab (Glen is behind me), I again confirm $15 US, the driver says “Yes Mon, get in, get in”. The door slams and Glen (who didn’t hear me confirm the $15 US price) says to the driver “$15 US to the Light house, right? “ The driver says “If you go round trip, the price will be $30”. We tell him we are not interested in round trip because we plan on walking a good portion of the way back. Driver “Then the trip will cost you $20 US”. We immediately got out of the taxi and walked 10 feet and reached an agreed price with a red plate for the $15 we were supposed to pay. We ended up calling this same driver from Canoe and got a ride back for $10 US. Was $5 worth the hassle? Probably no, but it became principle and I can’t reward that type of behavior. By the way, we will use our new driver- Malcom for all of our needs the rest of the time we are on the island and we might even use him next year. He was a really great driver and we really enjoyed his company.

Malcom drops us off at The Lighthouse. There is a gate that is closed and a sign on the gate that indicates they are open and to come in. Malcom tells us to be aware of the dogs. We laugh because this place is kind of scary. There is NO SIGN of life except for the dogs. We agree that the last thing we are afraid of right now is the dogs. We walk up and around some houses and see a man in a swing in front of the light house. He says hello to us but nothing else. We make our way out to the cliff area and are admiring the view when we note there are 2 Jamaican men heading for us. These guys looked a little shady and to say I was getting more and more nervous is an understatement. The 1st guy tells he is the crazy cliff jumper guy and he will jump for us if we give him a likkle tip. The other guy wants to take us out to his ganja farm.

We agree to tip the 1st guy if he jumps. He quickly strips down to his holy underwear and jumps of the cliff straight into the sea and then climbs up. Glen gave him 500J. We asked the other guy about his farm. How many acres does he farm? He indicates he does not have acres but rather a big patch. We decline the ganja farm tour and quickly make our way out.

We got about 30 feet down the road when a route taxi pulls up and our new friend Delbert gets out and decides he is going to give us a walking tour of the west end. We tell him it really is not necessary as we are only going to Sexy Rexy’s. He wants to walk with us and tell us about his 2 boys- 11 and 13 years old and how he is a single father raising these boys. The mother ran off with another man when the boys were little. Delbert is a really nice man and we can tell he is poor……I mean really poor. After we get to Rexy’s, Glen gives Delbert 500 J and buys him a red stripe and thanks him for the tour.

Sexy Rexy is ALWAYS a hoot. This year, he seems much healthier than last year. He tells us he is on blood pressure medicine because when his blood pressure gets to high, his nose bleeds. That’s cuz “dis foking guy bust mi nose and de tissue is all mashed up der”. Then the story about “dis foking guy who kill mi goat rite in mi driveway” and on and on and on. I could listen to Rexy’s stories for hours.

When it started to rain, Rexy invited us across the street to get out of the rain. He had 2 of the cutest (and mangiest) puppies I have ever seen, plus cats, a chicken and Billy the KID. Billy the KID is the wickedest looking billy goat I have ever seen. If you know what a Calico Cat is, breed a big one with a wicked goat and you got Billy the KID.

Then, Rexy taught us how to play Dominoes. Glen actually won the 1st 2 games, but I think Rexy let him win.

The rain lets up and we leave with blessings to and from our friend and tell him we will see him next year, JAH willing.

We make our way down the road to Tensing Pen, grabbed a Stripe to go and snapped a few pictures.

Next stop, Rockhouse. I always wanted to eat here as had heard such awesome things. I had 2 Dirty Bananas, Glen 2 Red Stripes and we shared the $22 US appetizer platter for 2. The good thing about Rockhouse was the view, however, other places have the same view. We found the food mediocre, at best and expensive. Sorry Rockhouse fans…..just writing it how I see it. I can tell you the service was awesome, the place was clean and staff really friendly, so not all bad.

After our appetizer at Rockhouse, we were really hungry and decided to stop into 3 Dives. We met a couple from Syracuse, New York. Glen and the guy (can’t remember names) discussed white tail deer hunting. We threw back a few ice cold stripes and ordered Curry Chicken and Brown Stew Chicken. After our new friend gave me a sample of his jerk chicken, I wished I had ordered that. It appears they do Jerk really well.

We leave there and walk to the Canoe for a 2 for 1 rum punch. Not much going on here today, so we call Malcolm and he comes and picks us up and takes us back home.