Negril Trip Report 1999

[HuskerJohn]

Thanks lane! Some Kool pics!

[HuskerJohn]

Day 6 Sun. 2-21-99
Got up late this morning after a heavy night at NYC. Breakfast at Sonia's again! Hashbrowns, scrambled eggs, bread/w guava jelly, oj and coffee. $820J for both of us. Nothin’ special on the agenda, so we thought we would head to Bloody Bay. Ten minutes later we’re walking down the path to the “Office of Nature” on Bloody Bay. We walked right by and headed north up the beach. The farther we walked, the less people. Kay finally picked a nice spot under some overhanging trees. I brought my snorkel gear and already had my swimsuit on, so I took off my shoes and shirt grabbed my mask and I was ready! But wait!…..I was at Bloody Bay! I didn’t really need the suit. So I took it off and walked into the water. Naked snorkeling, it’s great! Kay was worried I would sunburn something that never sees the light of day but I said, “no I’ll be alright”. Cheeks were a little red when we got back to Charela but not too bad.
Bloody Bay is mostly sand bottom with some nice beds of sea grass. Just gliding around with a snorkel and mask is a joy. Saw a few fish but nothing like the reef. The only downer was the ski boats from the all inclusives. They damn near ran me over a couple of times. At least from the water it seemed like they came way too close. Only a few fruit vendors and the ice cream mon riding an ancient Honda motorcycle came by. A Jamaican couple pulled up in a nice Toyota, left the radio on and went in the water for a swim so we had the music goin’ too. The Jamaican couple stayed in the water for a long time and it was plain to see what they were doin’ locked in that embrace for such a long time. All in all it was an Irie day on the beach at Bloody Bay.
We didn’t bring anything to drink but a bottle of water. When that was gone we headed back to the office or Nature for some Red Stripes. The “Office of Nature” is a huge tent fly strung between the trees, with picnic tables and a rasta guy cookin’ up all kinds of great stuff. Jerk chicken, fish, lobster and served with all the trimmings. There were probably 30 people under and around the tent fly. Jamaicans talking politics, tourist families eating and quite a few just partying and enjoying a great Sunday afternoon. We sat down at one of the tables with an Italian couple from Rome and had a nice conversation. They had traveled all over the World and found Negril to be one of their favorites. After a few more Stripes a couple from California sat down and ordered the fish. The California dude was a fireman in San Francisco. Said he brought down all his own spliffs from home. “Wow” I said, “isn’t that kind of dangerous gettin’ through customs”? “Naw” he said, “I do it every trip and no problem so far”. He lit one up and passed it around. When the Jamaican who was sitting with us got hold of it he passed it to one of his friends at another table and we never saw that spliff again! The fireman said “that happens all the time, they love good old Californian”. One of his Rasta friends came up and asks for another Cal. spliff and off he goes. “See, they really do love it but I’m almost out and I’ve only been here 3 days!” We sampled the Ganga Tea and it was pretty good. Kay said she didn’t feel anything but she sure was doing a lot of talking. Hehe
It was getting close to sunset so we headed back to Charela. Thought we would take a likkle nap before watching the sunset from the porch but didn’t wake up until 9:30!! Oh well, we had another great day in paradise so we hung-out on the porch and listened to West 104 before we turned in for bed.

[HuskerJohn]

Day 7 Mon. 2-22
Woke up before dawn. (We got plenty of sleep the night before after the ganja tea experience at bloody bay. Sheesh! Slept through the sunset and the whole evening!) What a quiet, peaceful time on the beach! The only living soul we saw on the beach from our room at Charela Inn was the night security man and an occasional cat slinking through the shrubbery. Kind of nice to just sit back, with a cup of coffee (laced with Baileys) and watch the beach wake up. The sea was so calm when the sun came up it looked like a mirror stretching to the horizon. The sounds of the tree frogs are slowly replaced by the singing of the birds. The fishermen in their dugout canoes are paddling out to the reef and an occasional walker or jogger passes by. Then the fruit and oj vendors start to pass by, followed by other vendors on their way to set up their beach stands.
Hung out on the beach most of the morning and then wandered over to White Sands where Fatfish (aka Jeff) and Carol were staying. We went next door to Nirvana to see if Lonnie was around and check out the property. WOW! What a cool place! Lonnie gave us the grand tour and was very helpful with any questions we had about the property and Negril. The grounds are beautifully landscaped and the cabins and villas are something to see. Lonnie and her husband Stanley, started building Nirvana in 1983 and just kept adding cottages and villas ever since. Definitely want to stay there sometime! While we were sitting under the shelter in the middle of the grounds Dr. Kamayani walked through and Lonnie introduced us. A very interesting lady. She has an organization to help the children of Negril and also is a practicing chiropractor. She was carrying a little fold-up table and was off to give someone a massage.
Spent the rest of the day on the beach. Charela has Sunfish, a Catamaran, Sailboards and Sea Kayaks for its guests. I’ve always been intrigued by the idea of sailing on the ocean. However, I have no real sailing skills whatsoever! But it didn’t look so hard to sail. I’d been watching boats for the last two days and I thought I could handle it. WRONG!! Everything went fine until I was about 30 feet from shore. Then the boat just stopped and wouldn’t go anywhere. Fatfish and Ray from next door at White Sands were takin’ a dip when they saw me in the stalled sailboat. "How come you’re not moving?” “I’m just waitin’ for a puff” was my answer. I’ve heard sailors talk about puffs of wind so I thought that would sound like I knew what I was doing. NOT!! All in all I think I dumped the Sunfish 4 times. Once while trying to light a cigarette, twice on the ropes around the swimming area and the last when I was almost back to shore. I was just sure everyone on shore had a good laugh while this fiasco unfolded in front of them! The last time the boat flipped over I couldn’t get it righted. Had to have Cedric swim out and help me back to shore. How embarrassing! However, no one on the beach seemed to be looking at me when I finally made it back to shore. They were all just staring out at the ocean with wry little smiles on their faces. Fatfish, Carol and Kay watched the whole thing. When we walked over to White Sands Fatfish wanted to know what it was that I stuck in my mouth just as the boat went over for the third time. (It was a $500J bill that was floating in the bottom of the boat from the time I dumped it while trying to light a cigarette.) I didn’t loose my Red Stripe hat and sunglasses so that was a small victory. Cigarettes and lighter were never seen again. Guess I’ll just stick to sunset cruises for my sailboating.

[HuskerJohn]

Kay and Starfish Mon.

[papamark]

Been following along...loving your "vintage" report and pictures.
Thank you for sharing!!
And enjoy your upcoming trip to the max...

[HuskerJohn]

Been following along...loving your "vintage" report and pictures.
Thank you for sharing!!
And enjoy your upcoming trip to the max...

Thanks papamark!

[HuskerJohn]

Day 8 Tues. 2-23

Wanted to go snorkeling at Bloody bay in the morning but the seas were too rough. Met a young man, last Sunday at

Bloody Bay, who had nice looking glass bottom boat. Said he is always at the beach across from Negril Cabins. We had

planning on going around the north point of Bloody Bay and up to Orange Bay. Oh well, it is something to look forward to

next time.

We were scheduled to go on a sunset cruise with all the other guests at Charela at 3:00 so we couldn’t plan an all day

trip. Finally decided to take a likkle trip up to White Hall Great House and kind of cruise through the hills above

Negril. Went out front of Charela to find our driver Munroe or his son Milton who has been doing a lot of the driving for

Munroe. Just as we came out of the door we saw Munroe’s Toyota heading out the gate. Milton was driving and Munroe said

he would be right back. He had to take a couple up to Bloody Bay.

Milton didn’t return for almost two hours, to the total consternation of Munroe. “Dat bwoy, im no have no bisnes sents.”

I told Munroe that he was probably just out hustling fares and he would back back after he made a bunch of money. Which is

exactly what he was doing. The wait turned out to be great. We sat out front and talked to Munroe the whole time. Munroe

has been to Florida 4 or 5 times to cut sugar cane and lived in England for two years while working in a brick plant. He

couldn’t stand the weather in England. “Too cold Mon.” When he went back and forth to England he took a ship. Says that

is the only way he would travel again. Guess he had quite a scare once while coming into Kingston on a plane. He has

friends all over the world who call him. One man in Germany always wants Munroe to visit him. Will pay for a airline

ticket and everything but Munroe says he will never fly again. Musta been a really bad flight!

Munroe got his Toyota from the States. Seems he has an uncle in New York that backed him. They shipped the car down by

boat. My! oh My! Does that Toyota looks great for a ’88. I am always amazed how sharp most cab drivers keep their

vehicles looking. The Russian Ladas are another story. Most of them seem to be rode hard and put up wet.

East from the round-about, stop for gas at the Shell station, a left turn and up into the hills. The turn into White Hall

Great House looks like a cow trail from the road. After a quarter mile or more, through a meadow with grazing goats and

cattle, a one lane red dirt trail leads to the ruins of the great house on the hill. The final 100 yds. or so are just

jagged rock. A pack of Jamaican yellow dogs will meet you as soon as you get out of the car. A small shack to the north

of the ruins sells paintings, wood carvings and other tourist items. The great house stood high on this rocky outcrop until

it was destroyed by fire in the mid 1980s.

The scenic vistas are amazing! To the North are the Great Morass, the Seven-Mile Beach of Negril, and the Fish River Hills

that stretch all the way to Hanover Parish. To the East you see the Negril River valley and eastern tip of the Negril

Hills. In the immediate area of the great house are some very large trees. One Cottonwood tree is said to be the oldest

(900 yrs.) and largest tree in Jamaica. At least that is what our guide Roger said. Roger gave us a tour of the ruins and

the surrounding area. Pointing out the old irrigation system, the huge “elephant tree”, the grave of Robert Parkinson

(died Dec. 24, 1796), a Slave tree (large thorns on the trunk which slaves were tied to and beaten by their masters as

punishment for disobedience), assorted goats, cattle, chickens and one beautiful green lizard.

White Hall was an Allspice plantation it’s heyday. Mr. Parkinson’s gravestone says he was a “friendly and honest man”. The

grave has been looted more than once but Roger said the body of Robert Parkinson is still down there. He died of (you

guessed it) Parkinson’s Disease! The ailment was named after him. So say Roger! Kay bought a carved wall plaque and we

hit the road again.

Further up the mountain, past an occasional house, we came to Mt. Airy and then down through Mister Hoggs property. (some

really fine villas in this area.) Back down to W. End Road, past the Lighthouse and stopped at Sir D’s Lookout for a

Stripe. Nice likkle trip!

The sunset cruise was canceled so the owners of Charela had a party with free drinks for all the guests that would have

gone. We had our share before we walked down the beach to DeBuss for dinner! Met Lonnie from Nirvana and she walked with

us for a while. She sure is a wealth of information about the Negril area!
Saw Rob at DeBuss and he joined us for a dinner of Jerk Chicken and a few stripes. (Warm Guinness for Rob.) Had a nice

conversation about everything that was going on with Beingees and the trials and tribulations encountered while trying to

run a web-site in Negril. When we left DeBuss I walked off barefooted. Tia Maria, one of the waitresses, came running out

with my shoes. Guess it had been a long day! Time to walk up the beach and go to bed!!

[HuskerJohn]

A few more pics from the hills with Munroe.

[HuskerJohn]

More pics..........

[Rambo]

great reports.........we first went in mid 80's..Negril seemed to be so different....it wasnt just days, but adventures
back then.........everything changes