Well we made it to Jamaica. The flight from Toronto went well. There wasn’t any crying babies or jerks kicking peoples chairs so that’s a bonus. When we landed at 7:30PM we were the only flight in at the time. Immigration was a breeze we were through in 10 minutes or so which is pretty much the norm with this later flight that we take. We made record time through the rest of the airport, even though I had to stop and grab some Amaretto from the Duty Free stand for our friends staying at Travellers. Apparently its not readily available…..who would have thought that in the land of Red Stripe and Rum! LOL!
We come out of the airport and our transfer from Kingsley is waiting for us. The drivers name is Milton and he has come to pick us up in a small tour van. He’s seems like a great fella and in no time we are loaded and on the way. DK had arranged with Kingsley some extra beverages so I had some Red Stripes in his cooler along with her and her man’s Cold Guinness. She’s mad for the stuff back home but almost loves this bottled stuff more than the pints at our local hangout.
We get situated in the van, with me acting as bartender, apparently I am the only one who can open beer with a lighter in our crew. I thought that was an essential life skill that all Canadians learned lol! As soon as we are seated we open up the windows in the van and it begins. The breeze, the sounds of the streets of Montego and the cold refreshing first Red Stripe of the reach! Yeah that’s a good day my friends. That’s a good day.
We make our way through Montego Bay and soon we are on the way to Negril. Being a Saturday night there is lots of activity on the road to keep us entertained. Unfortunately because its dark I can’t really get any pictures but I am sure most of you are familiar with the scenes. Cars pulled off the side of the road, small bars jumping with sound systems bigger than their seating area pumping out the music. Cops doing shake downs and loading up guys in the back of trucks for transport. We were definitely in Jamaica.
Right about now is when you begin to notice it. You know what I mean. I know you know what I mean. The smells.They are vibrant and you are quickly reminded by the bodies strongest sense that you are indeed in Jamaica. The smell of the moist air is what gets you first. We don’t have that where we live. You can feel it on your skin but the air you draw into your lungs is just different and a reminder to your body you are indeed in the Caribbean. Of course as you drive by the bars and food joints the familiar smell of the pits begins to drift into the van. Oh my I miss those smells the most. I smoke meat at home on my smoker so I am lucky during the summer to have some of that experience but not so much in the winter. The smell of the rendered fat from chicken and pigs is just amazing and that’s what gets me excited the most on the ride in. I resist the urge to make the driver stop and we carry on.
The ride was mostly uneventful and we powered through our drinks by the time we got to Lucea but that didn’t dampen our spirits. We cruised the road and only had to avoid a couple of mishaps. You know the ones. Bad drivers are plentiful in Jamaica lol! Before long we see the sign. Capital of Casual! We are back!
We arrive at NBCC and get our luggage all squared away. The rooms that we got are pretty nice. There was only a small issue with beds. We will get that fixed sometime today. We were supposed to have Queens or bigger in both bedrooms of our Condo but the one room only had a double. We made do for the night. We finished off the evening with drinks down at Sondru’s bar. They are selling ice cold Red Stripe for 200J or 6 for 1000J. Not bad prices for this end of the beach! We met up with a couple of our friends that arrived yesterday and mi Doc dropped off our stuff that we store at his house every year. He’s a great guy and we were all surprised to learn he’d given up Sub’s. Guess they were getting too fattening. He is well after a bout of kidney stones last fall and so is his pretty lady.
We made our way back to the room and went to sleep. I managed to get about 5-6 hours this morning. I watched the sun come out and I figured I would write a few words to share. Once I figure out reliable internet I will get to posting some more pics as I start taking them.
Have a great day folks!!!
Tired on the Plane to Mobay!
My office this morning!
