Trip Report 1 ~ Grand Pineapple ~ May 2011

[lovenegril]

I am a newbie to these boards & I gotta tell you, I have spent the last few weeks being a voyeur. Loving the pictures and the trip reports and the overall goodness of the people here. I have been to Negril 3 times in the last 18 months, and am eagerly awaiting my 4th trip in Jan. I am sure I am not going to be nearly as entertaining as most of these trip reports and I certainly don't have a knack for writing like Clarity, Manda, and most of the others but I will give it a go.

First trip was planned for months. My 2 friends & I had been planning a girls trip. We have been best friends for 20 years, since middle school & wanted to get away. My co-worker and great friend (badnaz) had been to Jamaica 17 times and was always taking about it, so with alot of her advice and knowledge, we finally settled on Negril. Keep in mind, I had never been outside of the continental United States so I was sure it was going to be fun for me. I just never knew that it would change my life. We booked our tickets & decided to stay at the Grand Pineapple because it was right in the center of the "action." But we also figured it would have a local vibe which we were looking for as opposed to a Beaches or a Sandals. We are ready for our 7 nights in paradise. I am armed with a list from my friend about different things I MUST try and places I MUST go when I am in Negril and we are ready.

Day 1 ~ Myself, Eryn, & Julie are meeting up at 4 am to head to the airport. I am recently separated from my husband & the mother of 1, Julie is a fun, single, hard-working girl who has traveled all over the world, and Eryn is a married mother of three. Julie also does not drink at all, and we have given her the nickname VOR ~ (voice of reason) for this trip. We arrive at Julie's and are checking to make sure we have our passports, suntan lotion, etc. I have heard that cigarettes are expensive in Negril so I have packed a whole carton. I check with Eryn (who only smokes when she drinks) to see if she has enough cigarettes. She replies with I have almost a full pack so I think I will be fine. Lol. Guess she underestimated how much we would be drinking. We arrive at the airport for our 6 a.m. flight and off we go. I am so nervous, but so excited. After a brief layover in Atlanta, we are off to MBJ.

We arrive at the airport and I am overwhelmed with the customs process but everything goes off smoothly. We get outside to the hustle & bustle and immediately see our driver, Dudley holding up a sign with our names. WELCOME TO JAMAICA!!! I am already amazed by how friendly everyone is and cannot wait to see the beach. We get in the very nice, air-conditioned van and begin our journey. Dudley has a cooler of cold Red Stripes for us and we are off. Words cannot even describe how beautiful the drive is and I am immediately shocked at how un-educated I am about other cultures. Driving down the road, Dudley is giving us so much information & he is extremely helpful and welcoming. We book a trip with him to go to Mayfield Falls later in the week. As I open my 2nd Red Stripe, I am shocked to see the schoolchildren walking on the sides of the roads and am overwhelmed with the differences. In the midwest where I am from, no-one more than a half-mile away actually walks to school & if they do, there are sidewalks, crossing guards, and parents with them. My 3rd Red Stripe goes down smoothly, and just as I pop open my 4th one, Dudley says... Welcome to Negril.

Arriving at the Grand Pineapple, I am blown away by how everyone is so friendly. Of course, I am also enjoying quite a buzz from the experience already, not to mention the 4 Red Stripes. We are welcomed with a ginger drink (which I did not love, but my friends did) and are shown to our room. We quickly get on our bathing suits and head down to the bar & beach. There are no words to describe the beauty of the beach as you are seeing it for the first time. I won't even begin to try because you all already know. We head to the bar and are welcomed by Andrew. Along the way, I am shocked that the staff all welcomes us by name. Andrew makes Eryn & I our first of many Dirty Bananas (one of the MUST try items on my list) and we head down to the beach. Ralston (the security guard) welcomes us and assures us he will be looking out for us because beautiful girls such as ourselves "his words" shouldn't worry. Did I mention I love it here already. We decide day 1, we are just gonna walk the beach and take in the beauty. We head down the beach, and probably have "First day in Jamaica" written all over us because everyone wants to talk to us and help us out. We meet Captain Jack Sparrow & Shama-Lama-Ding-Dong who want to take us on a boat ride, we meet the "pharmicist" who can get us anything we need without a prescription, jet-ski, parasail, snorkel, excursions. What do we want to do? We go offered ghanga, cola, red stripe, and even Big Bamboo. We end up with some bracelets, a sarong, and some small gifts from home and finally settle on having a cold drink at Sun Beach (a MUST stop on my list) After a few Red Stripes and some early lessons in Patois, Julie (who doesn't drink) gets up and dances on the bar with the encouragement of the bartender and I can't believe how much fun we are having. We are jet-lagged and decide to head back to GP for dinner and relax on the beach. This is where we first meet Gilbert. We are enjoying our "fresh mango & papaya" which has got to be the best thing I have ever put in my mouth when Gilbert stops right in front of us & does his thing. Many people have their own ideas about what he is doing, from preaching to herding cattle to driving out demons, I think he is just being Gilbert and I can't stop watching him. I love that the locals will give him water, beer or cigarettes because they are looking out for him. Day 1 is coming to end, we meet some great people at the hotel and after reassurance from Patrick (guard 2), we book Captain Jack Sparrow & Shama for a trip to Rick's cafe the next night.