Monty & Melo's "5 Months Mon Goat Can Eat" Trip Report - Oct 2012

[Monty&Melo]

So on the ride from the Cliffs to the beach the trip took a very interesting turn. Our driver also raises goats and sells them to restaurants in Lucea, Green Island, Orange Bay and Negril. We talk about the goat business with him every time we visit the Island. I love Goat and I eat it many times on each of my trips to Negril. I even buy frozen goat meat here in the states and cook Curry Goat at home a couple times each year. So when we get picked up at Le Mirage and are driving towards the beach, our driver informs us that he wants to have us over to a friend’s house in Lucea one day of our trip and he will bring a goat and we will make a big pot of curry goat as well as some Mannish Water and fry chicken. It’s very slow right now and if he misses a day of work it won’t be that big of a deal because this time of year literally whole days go by without him getting any paid rides.

Wow, I’ve hung out with Jamaicans plenty of times, but this would be a first for me. A day at a Jamaican home cooking and drinking and having a good time. Perfect I thought!! However, before committing, I told our driver that we would talk it over, figure out what day would be good for us and that we would let him know next time we see him.

We very quickly pull up at Rondel Village. As we suspected our rooms were not ready, but no problem, we just stashed our bags in the office and headed to the beach. We very quickly encountered Carl, one of the security guards at Rondel Village. The greatest thing about Rondel Village is the staff. We know all of them, from the housekeepers, to the security guards, to the best bartender in all of Negril, Delroy. The staff is what keeps us coming back, these folks literally feel like family to us and the first day there always feels like I am back where I am supposed to be. The Hotel recently took over the bar and restaurant after leasing it out to third parties for several years. They renovated the kitchen, added a second bathroom and now have nice changing rooms as well as separate men’s and women’s restrooms. Currently they are renovating the property across the street, adding 16 rooms (there were 8 over there before) as well as adding a spa facility. It looks like it is going to be very nice over there and we decided when we got home that we would get a room on the garden side for our upcoming February trip. The hotel just keeps getting better and better!!!

The bruddas upon arrival (I assume that is his girlfriends's purse, my brother does not carry a purse, not that there is anything wrong with that!!!)


Melo getting a hug from Carl on the beach



Home Sweet Home



We took the rest of Sunday pretty easy, hanging on the beach, enjoying the sunset and finally walking down the road to Best of the West for some jerk chicken. It was another early night for us. I almost couldn’t wait to get to bed so that I could get up early and take my first beach walk of the trip. I liked walking the West End (plenty of new things to see), but I live for my beach walks. I love watching the beach “wake up” in the morning and its damned good exercise to rid your body of the excesses of vacation, too much food, too much drink, you know the rest…..

First full beach day soon some…..

[HuskerJohn]

Wow! you walked all that way out there? I rode a bike out to Westender and I thought that was something. LOL! From where you stopped (that is kind of creepy, those empty buildings), Westender is another mile or mile and a half.

[Hettie]

Enjoying your report! I'm another big fan of the Charlotte airport. The first reach we flew Delta connecting through Atlanta, found the US Airways connection through Charlotte the next time and never looked back. I work on racking up those US Airways miles all year long!

[Lady Jane]

I wondered how long that beach walk up to Sandals was. Good to know I am putting in some miles

[Monty&Melo]

Monday morning, day 4 of the trip. First full day on the beach and more importantly first morning beach walk of the trip. I like to get out early, before 7am, usually around 630am. Today was no different, I left Rondel about 640am and headed up the beach, knowing that I was going to have to navigate the sea on the way, I walked barefoot. If I know I can stay out of the water the whole time I usually wear running shoes and socks, but I actually prefer barefoot, although the bone spur I have in my heel prefers that I wear shoes. I figure what ‘s a little short term pain for the feeling of having the sand between my toes as I walk up the beach.

After navigating in and around the wata at the Boat Bar and Mariposa, I am off. Walking, walking, walking. I am surprised at how slow it is on the beach and the rest of the week as I walk I keep running into the same 10-15 tourists each morning. Not even many beach guys working the beach. I joked with the bartender later that day that I was on the beach walking for an hour and a half and only got offered ganga twice. I guess that is one way to measure how busy Negril is. I will compare it on my February walks when it should be in full business mode.

My brother usually leaves later than me, so I usually meet him on the way back. Today I saw him approaching me as I was just about to get back to Beaches (or whatever it is now). He removes his headphones (he likes to listen to music when he walks alone, he says he gets left alone if he can’t hear people offer him stuff). We start walking back towards Rondel. He immediately tells me how nice the beach walk is compared to the cliffs, and then tells me how freaked out he was on our cliffs walk yesterday. I finally figure out why he kept asking me when we were going to turn back on that walk yesterday. He could have just said something….but I guess I was supposed to get the hint, being the wiser older brother that I am.

Back at the hotel we pick up the girls and head for Firefly, our normal beach-breakfast spot. We also frequent Montana’s in the wintertime, but it was not open in slow season. The view from Firefly is great. Here are a couple of shots of the Firefly. Of course if you have ever been there in February or busy season you know that the “scenery” changes quite dramatically from this time of year.

While this tree doesn’t provide much shade, it is pretty cool looking and the color contrasts in this shot are awesome I think



Another shot of the beach at Firefly



Monty, Melo and JMA at the table at Firefly (OK, I’m having a Dragon Stout for breakfast….don’t judge!!)



After breakfast we head back to Rondel, get on our suits and hit the beach. Just hung out on the beach for most of the day, my brother and I did take a walk down to Bourbon Beach, I had to judge for myself whether it was back to its former glory. I can attest that it is. The bar was busy with a nice mix of tourists and locals, we grabbed a qtr jerk chicken and some fries and let me tell you, the jerk chicken was awesome, and you’ll forget that ketchup even exists if you dip your fries in the jerk sauce….wow good stuff and cheap too, $700J for chicken and fries that the 2 of us almost couldn’t finish. Well worth the walk down and what was even more impressive was that the whole bar transactions were being recorded on an Ipad with a Bluetooth receipt printer and everything. Highest tech bar I have ever encountered on the beach in Jamaica.

When we got back to Rondel, the girls were getting their lunch from Norm. Here is a picture:



When we returned home we tried to explain this bicycle to my dad. No chain, no pedals, he just pushes it down the beach, I am not sure dad ever understood how this actually works....

Of course later in the afternoon we made our way down here, as is our normal habit when in Negril



Caught this crab enjoying a spliff on the beach at Canoe….looks like he is having a good time and now I know why those little things don’t walk straight!!!



After Canoe, we walked down to Doc’s, he had promised us conch soup the next time we came and even had some curry goat, so all was right in the world again. That conch soup will bring you back from the dead. I know healthcare in Jamaica is not the greatest, but if I am ever near death in Negril and need something to bring me back from the brink, I am going to get the conch soup at Chicken Lavish and I figure if it doesn’t rescue me at least I will die happy and well nourished. After hanging out there for a couple of hours we were back at Rondel ready for another good night’s sleep in Negril….

[Monty&Melo]

So Tuesday, day #5 started out as usual, long walk up the beach, breakfast, beach, wash, rinse, repeat…you know the drill….

I decided to take a swim….with the beach so small, all of the sand is located out in the sea so you can go out from the beach for a long time without losing the ability to touch. I’m a decent swimmer so I don’t worry much about not being able to get back to the beach, so I float around out there for a while, or long enough to drink the beer that I have with me. I begin to work my way back in and when I get in the very shallow water I turn around with my back towards the beach and just use my hands to propel me through the water to get back to the beach. All of a sudden…damn that hurt, my back is on fire and crap, its spreading and f#$@ now my wrist hurts. I jump up out of the water and run to the Rondel Village foot wash/shower area, I figure I am going to wash off what is hurting me. The water doesn’t wash away the pain, so I head over to the bar to get my wife to rescue me. I explain what happened and immediately Carl says “Jellyfish mon, he bite you, get some Vinegar from the kitchen.” So the bartender runs into the kitchen and comes back with a teacup full of vinegar. Melo starts to apply it and immediately it feels better. She treats the two spots on my back, my upper arm and finally my wrist. 18 trips to Jamaica, swimming in the sea everyday and never a jellyfish sting. I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later and if that is as bad as it gets I guess it was not so bad. But I definitely don’t look forward to the next one!! Here is a pic of the damage.

The swelling actually went away pretty quickly



Today was the day we were walking the girls to Red Dragon with a short stop on the way. We figured we would wait until the sun got real high in the sky and the heat was at a maximum…you drink more when you are hot and isn’t that really the idea!?!? We agreed that we would leave about 1215pm and arrive at Red Dragon some time after 1pm. After hanging on the beach for a couple of hours we decided to change clothes, get our shoes on and prepare to head out.

Grab a beer from the fridge and down the road we go….first beer lasts us until we get just past Bourbon Beach, so we drop in Drinks Plus to get 4 more. They have two big freezers in there with wata, soda, ting, juice and BEER in there. Great to get beers out of the freezer, so cold!! I grab 4 beers and head to counter to pay, we turn in the four bottles that we have and I pay the lady behind the counter while Melo uses the handy bottle opener they have attached to the counter to open all 4 beers. $560 for 4 beers and we are on our way again. We usually cross the road at the Negril River bridge, I always like to walk the road with the traffic coming towards me….I figure I can jump out of the way if I actually see what is coming at me. So I always wait as long as I can to cross.

We cross the road and make our way around the roundabout, past Juicy Patties and the Shell Station and then it happened. We ended up here!!!!!



The Negril Police Station……I love stopping there for a beer on the way to Red Dragon, it is helpful to get out of the sun for a few minutes, and it’s damned interesting to see the comings and goings. On this trip there were about 100 motorcycles that had been confiscated by the Police. They were all piled in the front room, one almost on top of the other, all tangled up in each other and it really looked like a motorcycle grave yard. We were told these bikes had license issues, insurance issues, etc. Once the owner cleared everything up they could come and claim their bike back. I thought to myself, good luck getting the one out of the very back of the pile, they would literally have to move every bike to get one from the back. After a while if they are not claimed they are sold at auction. We finish our beer and head up the road to Red Ground and the Red Dragon.



I don’t usually take a camera to Red Dragon, I get it that it is not really a tourist place and that Jamaicans are living their everyday lives and use this place as a grocery store, a place to get rum, single Craven A’s, and phone cards. Trying to be as respectful as I can, I don’t usually take pictures there. This day was an exception however, because you never know if a newbie is going to be back, so on the chance that this is their one and only trip to this place, it only makes a little sense to respectfully document the experience. So we took some shots….here are a few

Melo and Gardo



Two Brothers



The pork!!!!



Like I mentioned earlier, I love the Red Dragon beer, so very cold, but on this trip for some (very odd) reason I decided that after the first beer I would get into the JB and Ting. That JB stuff is wicked but if you add enough Ting, it isn’t so bad and it goes well with the Jerk Pork. I told Gardo to give us plenty of peppers in our pound of pork, LG doesn’t like spicy so my brother didn’t have any added to their pound. WOW, those peppers made it very hot!! I ate a few of them and washed it down with JB and Ting, my scalp is actually tingling right now as I type this thinking back to it. Just a great feeling, Melo didn’t agree however and I thought she was going to kill me for getting our pork so spicy. I will remember next time to get Melo her own pork if I decide to get by Scotch Bonnet on like that. After hanging out for a while we decide to head back to the beach, I called our driver, he had a beer and some pork and we were ready to go.

When we got back to the beach we decided we might as well keep the party going and make this the Ricks/Ivans/LTU evening. So we all got ready and told our driver to come pick us up at 330pm for the trip.

More Soon Come…..

[groove16]

I am liking this report....I have been trying to get my brother and his wife to go with us since I returned the first time...I really wouild love to share the beauty of our paradise with them...my brother is my best friend....just cant get him to pull the trigger....

[Tanfastic]

Great report, I wish both my brothers would travel, one being a chef would love the Negril culinary experience and the other being a rum bum would so enjoy the punch at Canoe!

[Lady Jane]

I love how the locals say the "jellyfish bite you"

[wpyogi]

Awww, jellyfish stings are NO fun.

You hit two places I have been wanting to go to. The Police Station and Red Dragon. Thanks for the tip on the pork. Personally, i am a scotch bonnet girl and wash it down with overproof and ting.