First trip to Negril - Travel Report : Coco La Palm - DAY 5

[Clarity]

Thanks everyone!

Big Frank - I DID notice that the cats in Jamaica had bigger ears! I wonder why that is...

Col Andy and Wildcat Pam - Markus and I have never seen a Pennie-wallie. We'd love to see that picture if you can find it. You've captured Markus's curiosity in particular.

Michele - Congrats on booking your christmas trip! I'm excited for you! I bet christmas in Negril is amazing and you're going to have a wonderful time!
We haven't decided on our next trip yet. November is still a possibility, but we wont know until September. At that point, we'll count up the money we've been saving in our little vacation box . If we managed to scrape up enough funds by then we'll be going again in Early November. *fingers crossed* If not, We'll just keep saving and make our next April trip longer.

HuskerJohn - That is the scariest thing I've ever seen!
Thanks for the nightmares lol!

Next update has just been posted on the following page

[Nurse Marcia]

[QUOTE=Clarity;5851] Big Frank - I DID notice that the cats in Jamaica had bigger ears! I wonder why that is...


Helps them lose heat.

[Clarity]

Markus would be a much better narrator for this night because he remembers a lot more than I do.. (ahem).. But unfortunately he's in the middle of a big programming job so the task has been placed on my lap.

I'll do the best I can...

Before heading off the Luciano concert we decided to open up the Rum we had gotten from the Grand Pineapple and enjoy some of it on the balcony.



Then we called for a taxi at the Receptionist area and we were off.

This was our first time heading away from the seven mile strip of beach. It was really exciting.. Even though it was dark and we couldn't make out much as we weaved around the curves on the narrow road leading up to the cliffs.

When we reached the Seastar, We said goodbye to Tall man (our taxi driver) and joined the group of people lined up to buy tickets to the event. It was pretty crowded. It looked like a good mixture of locals and tourists, which was really cool to see.

We decided to opt for the buffet and show combo for 25$. It seemed like a good deal and I was eager try the Seastar buffet that everyone has been raving about.

We purchased our tickets and passed through the crowd to the stage. I saw that a lot of the tables close to the stage were already filled. People around us were all greeting eachother cheerfully. I imagine there were a lot of Negril.com boardies in the mix, but I realized that I was going to have a hard time figuring out who was who. There were no name tags and it's hard to spot people based on their tiny little profile pictures of Negril Sunsets and beaches.

“I don't know who anyone is...” I whispered to Markus

“Don't worry”, he laughed “I'm sure they'll all recognize you from your very detailed close up profile picture of your EYE”

hmmm.. he had a point there. Maybe it's time to change my profile pic...

We went up the stairs to check out the Buffet. It looked delicious, we immediately piled up our plates filled with food.

Then we stood there with our plates in hand. We realized that all the tables were occupied with other people. It was kind of like entering a new cafeteria on your first day of school. We scanned the area for some empty seats..

We noticed some seats available at a table with two women. They both looked really cool, so we hesitantly approached them.

“Mind if we sit here?”, Markus asked

“Of course!”

Phew.

I pulled out the seat next to a slender woman with short blond hair. She greeted me with a friendly smile and nod.

Little did I know at the time, this was a fellow boardie, Michele (choochy420)! It was great meeting you!

The food was incredibly good! I highly recommend this buffet to anyone going to a seastar concert. It's feel good food and so tasty. It would be impossible not to find something you like from the spread.

We enjoyed the food and the view of the first performer from the balcony area. Eventually a man with dreadlocks came and sat down with us too. He was with the woman sitting across from me. He was really friendly too and we had a conversation about Luciano. Turns out he was friends with Luciano!

[Clarity]

Eventually we said our goodbyes to the group and headed downstairs to get some drinks at the bar area.

That was when I spotted Rob and Lisa filming the webcast in the back.

“Look! There's Rob and Lisa!” I said

“Why don't you go say “hi”?”, Markus asked giving me an encouraging nudge

“No, They look really busy.” I said shaking my head “Besides what am I going to say? 'uh, hi there.. I like your webcasts...'”

“Well yeah!”

I started walking in their direction, then I lost my nerve. I turned around quickly and walked back. “I'll bug them when they're less busy”, I said pushing him towards the bar “lets get a drink first...”

“You're never going to go over there, are you? You're too shy!” He teased

“No, I will, you'll see!”

We sat down at the bar and ordered some drinks. One girl that looked just like Shellyk leaned across the bar to order a drink and disappeared again into the sea of people. I thought to myself, man.. I need to be more pro active about introducing myself to other boardies...Everyone had helped us so much in planning our trip. This is really silly.

Suddenly a man appeared behind me that I did recognize immediately. He smiled.



Rasta Stan!
Such a cool guy!

We all chatted a bit, then the Seastar drummers came on




While that performance was going on another woman came to sit next to me and order a drink.

“Hey are you guys on your honeymoon?”, She asked

“Actually we're celebrating our 9 year wedding anniversary”, I said

“You guys look just like newlyweds!”, She said

I blushed “haha! Thanks.. I'm Daisy!”

“Nice to meet you! I'm Gail”

We chatted for a while. She's on Negril.com – can't remember what her screenname is, but if you are reading this.. it was so great meeting you too!

At that point, Luciano entered the stage. We all crowded around cheering



The concert was amazing! Everyone dancing in a mass and moving to the music. His performance was incredible and I was so caught up in the excitement of it. It felt so surreal to be there in Jamaica at that moment seeing Luciano live , I just took it all in and felt so grateful that I could experience this.

His performance of “Legalize it” was particularly memorable.

That's where it got all blurry for me and I'll just leave it at that without any further explanation.

So Gerry123 you're in luck and in the clear... This chica here can't remember much of what happened after that point. It's all a blur of meeting new people, laughing and dancing... I'm sure I met some more of you reading this trip report right now and don't even know it!

Markus says that after the show, I shook hands with Luciano and he even gave me a kiss on the cheek Lucky me! Our camera died halfway through the show - I wish that was captured on film.

Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to chat with Rob and Lisa that night. That's my only regret. Next time I will get over my shyness and just say “hey!”

I remember the ride back was pretty wild, Music was blasting and we were swirving around the cliffs while the group in the van cheered.

When we returned to Coco La Palm we tried out the fancy Jacuzzi in our honeymoon suite
It was truly the perfect night...

Sadly our trip would be coming to an end soon

only one more day in Negril...

Day 6 coming very soon

[gerryg123]

great stuff, Clarity ....

[Clarity]

Thanks Gerry! I'm looking forward to hearing about your trip when you get back! Are you all packed and ready to go?

[Michele Beisser]

Very Cool report guys! Totally enjoyed it!
Luciano at the SeaStar was special! Wish we got to hang out more!
I was on a healing trip myself so I apologize if I was a little non-social at the show but I was deep in my own thoughts & meditations!!!!
I'm still waiting for my friends wife to send me the pics we took with Luciano...My rasta friend knows a lot of artists, he toured with Bunny Wailer and was Bunny's personal chef. I always enjoy his cooking while in town.
Anyway, Glad u had a good time and got to experience the SeaStar..........I could go for some of that pan fried snapper right about now!!!!

[head in the trees]

So glad you're sharing! This has made my day. Thanks!!!

[NOLAnmr]

Hey Guys,

I was recently engaged viewing your photoposts of your recent 2nd trip and started reading that trip report (what is written so far anyway). I enjoyed what I had seen so far and decided to click on your link to your first trip report that I had not seen. I had no idea what I got myself into, this report is a beast! Great job, it also makes me anticipate the rest of the 2nd trip report.

You see, we leave in less than a week, next Fri (11/25) from New Orleans to Negril for our 3rd trip to Jamaica and 2nd to Negril (we were married there in '08, 2nd trip was to Runaway Bay). Like many others, I am scouring the internet and this board in anticipation of our trip. So I'm up REALLY LATE Friday night (Sat morning really) when I decide to start on your first trip report. What a mistake... Once I started reading, there was no way I was not going to finish it all at once. So thanks alot, it was 9am once I finally finished.

I really enjoyed viewing the photos of Coco Lapalm, your room & the pix of the wedding you witnessed. That is where we were married 3 years ago and we stayed in that exact same honeymoon suite. So it brought back a lot of great memories. Here are the pix of our wedding:

https://picasaweb.google.com/stephan...scarStephanie#

Here are some other pics of our CCLP stay:

https://picasaweb.google.com/stephan...er/CocoLapalm#

If at all interested, here's the link to my first trip report on this board that included the stay in your room at CCLP:

http://negril.com/forum/showthread.p...rd-Part-1-to-6

2nd Runaway Bay trip:

http://negril.com/forum/showthread.p...uperFun-Resort

Well, I wish you guys the best. Thank you for your efforts into your reporting, I look forward to the rest. I promise to write something up after our upcoming trip to Xtabi to pay it forward.

Oscar