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2004 was to be my year! I had signed a lease on an apartment outside Negril and was preparing to move just after Christmas….for good! Boy! How things changed this year. First a portent on what was to come as Charlie broke a front window then Francis tore the roof off my home followed by Jeanne who uprooted three trees and finally Ivan that damaged my apartment in Jamaica. Some things just are not to be at least at this time, that is!
I had promised my friend Shereth that I would spend my birthday with her so I took my $100 “Florida Fling” ticket and a one-week vacation and headed out Halloween the day before my birthday. I packed my usual presents for friends, supplies for school children and a box of floating candles that a fellow boardite had requested I purchase but never paid me for and headed for the airport in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. My good friend Mary Bridges (and second cousin) was going to Jamaica at the same time so we decided to meet and travel together while sharing expenses. We have been good friends for over 30 years and had traveled together to Jamaica three times before the last time being over 8 years ago. She was coming from Seattle Washington and her plane arrived in Montego Bay a mere 15 minutes after my arrival.
DAY 1
After meeting Mary at the airport, we headed for the Customs line where Mary zipped right through. For all you travelers, here is a piece of advice. Don’t tell the Customs Officer that you are staying with friends or that you are staying in a relatively unknown place, as they are more apt to search your bags. Just say you are staying at Sandals or another Mega-Compound and they will think you are too shallow or impersonal to bring a few presents for friends. This is a sad but true reality which resulted in me being directed over to the “Search for Goodies Table” to deal with the worker bees.
As I said before, I was bringing a shoebox full of floating candles and that is what the worker bee saw first.
“What is this?” she asked while looking me in the eyes.
I leaned over and said, “This is for my girlfriend and me to use as we like to take baths together surrounded by the floating candles.” I then winked and she smiled in a brief second of understanding. “Take a few for yourself.” I continued in a low voice. Your boyfriend will love you for it. Her eyes darted around and then she took a package of the lavender ones and hid them below the podium where I was standing.
Unzipping another compartment she pulled a pair of knee high leather boots with a heel that I was bringing for Shereth as a birthday present I promised her earlier in the year but could not find in hot and muggy Florida in May! “Another gift for your friends?” She continued with a smile. I decided to try another approach. “No, they are mine.” I lied. She laughed and said, “Put them on for me please.” Defiantly I answered, “No!” but she asked again two more times. “Look”, I continued, “Take the candles I gave you and enjoy them with your man, okay?” No longer smiling now and showing a general irritation with the process. Thinking she nodded and told me to zip it up and to gwan. I thanked her and strode off to meet Mary, as she was ready to exit the hall.
Much to my surprise, the continued renovation of the airport in Montego Bay had thrown me a new curve as they had recently moved the main exit to the far end of the hall where you rent cars and get buses instead of immediately to the right as before. Mary and I walked to the end and exited the hall only to find no one there to meet us. Now, my 50 or more trips to and from the airport had netted me a gaggle of drivers who came to my aid but I explained I was waiting for someone. I begged a call from one of them and reached Shereth and my driver from Negril, Ian, who were just leaving Green Island as a community roadblock had delayed them.
To the uninitiated, communities often set up roadblocks to protest the inaction of the police or the government to address a problem. Often that problem is a large hole in the road or no response to complaints. In this case, the roadblock was in protest to the Government and JPL (the power company) for not restoring all the power and water service after Hurricane Ivan. The Government also puts up roadblocks to search for weapons and drugs and, sometimes, to just check for proper vehicle papers. Most times they will just waive a tourist through if riding in a red plate taxi or driving without locals in the vehicle.
We went over to the seats in the shade of the old exit awning and waited. A driver friend came over with two cold Red Stripes for $200 J, which really hit the spot. After waiting for a little short of an hour, I saw a familiar person coming towards me wearing a red wig! It was Shereth. She greeted us and took us into the parking lot to load our bags into Ian’s little car.
We traveled to Negril to drop off the baggage at Whistling Bird before going to Shereth’s house for a dinner of fried fish in a special sauce, potato salad, calaloo, coconut rice and some fresh carrot juice with a hint of ginger. On the way, we stopped at one of Shereth’s favorite roadside stands for a jelly coconut. I did not have any Jamaican money yet as I was planning to go to a Cambio in Negril but Mary offered to buy. Remember now, it has been a long time since she visited Jamaica and she revealed that fact by pulling a lot of small denomination Jamaican bills from her coin purse. In it she had a $2, $10 and $20 bill along with some coins that the shop operator, Shereth or Ian hadn’t seen for years! We all had a great time reminiscing about the “Good Old Days” when you could get things with a $2 bill!
Whistling Bird. What more can I say! This is one of the best run and friendliest properties on Negril’s beach. You could see the damage that Hurricane Ivan had delivered to Jamaica and to Whistling Bird in particular but already the scars were healing nicely. Mary, having never been there before, couldn’t tell a storm had even hit. Damage to the treetop canopy and to the little bar down at the beach’s edge were the most prominent as a worker said the toted out 40 loads of tree parts and debris.
Don’t worry, however, as the general ambiance has not changed. Andrea and Lilly were there to meet us and Andrea gave us “Parrot” Cottage for the next 3 nights. We unpacked our bags and headed down to the bar for a quick drink and to chat with Lilly. After awhile, we headed out to Shereth’s house for dinner.
After a fantastic meal, we retired to the front verandah to chat. Mary had been traveling for much of the previous night and this day so the meal was putting her to sleep. She stretched out on the verandah’s floor that signaled us that it was time to leave. Shereth agreed to meet us around noon the following day so we could go out and see Negril and celebrate the birthday a little.
Ian dropped us off at Whistling Bird and I showed Mary to the cabin we would be sharing before going down to the bar for a chat with Lilly and an old acquaintance, Roy that was also staying at the Bird. We chatted for a while until politics and the impending coronation of “W” became the topic. I excused myself after a long day, as I was ready for some sleep….. In Jamaica!
I had promised my friend Shereth that I would spend my birthday with her so I took my $100 “Florida Fling” ticket and a one-week vacation and headed out Halloween the day before my birthday. I packed my usual presents for friends, supplies for school children and a box of floating candles that a fellow boardite had requested I purchase but never paid me for and headed for the airport in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. My good friend Mary Bridges (and second cousin) was going to Jamaica at the same time so we decided to meet and travel together while sharing expenses. We have been good friends for over 30 years and had traveled together to Jamaica three times before the last time being over 8 years ago. She was coming from Seattle Washington and her plane arrived in Montego Bay a mere 15 minutes after my arrival.
DAY 1
After meeting Mary at the airport, we headed for the Customs line where Mary zipped right through. For all you travelers, here is a piece of advice. Don’t tell the Customs Officer that you are staying with friends or that you are staying in a relatively unknown place, as they are more apt to search your bags. Just say you are staying at Sandals or another Mega-Compound and they will think you are too shallow or impersonal to bring a few presents for friends. This is a sad but true reality which resulted in me being directed over to the “Search for Goodies Table” to deal with the worker bees.
As I said before, I was bringing a shoebox full of floating candles and that is what the worker bee saw first.
“What is this?” she asked while looking me in the eyes.
I leaned over and said, “This is for my girlfriend and me to use as we like to take baths together surrounded by the floating candles.” I then winked and she smiled in a brief second of understanding. “Take a few for yourself.” I continued in a low voice. Your boyfriend will love you for it. Her eyes darted around and then she took a package of the lavender ones and hid them below the podium where I was standing.
Unzipping another compartment she pulled a pair of knee high leather boots with a heel that I was bringing for Shereth as a birthday present I promised her earlier in the year but could not find in hot and muggy Florida in May! “Another gift for your friends?” She continued with a smile. I decided to try another approach. “No, they are mine.” I lied. She laughed and said, “Put them on for me please.” Defiantly I answered, “No!” but she asked again two more times. “Look”, I continued, “Take the candles I gave you and enjoy them with your man, okay?” No longer smiling now and showing a general irritation with the process. Thinking she nodded and told me to zip it up and to gwan. I thanked her and strode off to meet Mary, as she was ready to exit the hall.
Much to my surprise, the continued renovation of the airport in Montego Bay had thrown me a new curve as they had recently moved the main exit to the far end of the hall where you rent cars and get buses instead of immediately to the right as before. Mary and I walked to the end and exited the hall only to find no one there to meet us. Now, my 50 or more trips to and from the airport had netted me a gaggle of drivers who came to my aid but I explained I was waiting for someone. I begged a call from one of them and reached Shereth and my driver from Negril, Ian, who were just leaving Green Island as a community roadblock had delayed them.
To the uninitiated, communities often set up roadblocks to protest the inaction of the police or the government to address a problem. Often that problem is a large hole in the road or no response to complaints. In this case, the roadblock was in protest to the Government and JPL (the power company) for not restoring all the power and water service after Hurricane Ivan. The Government also puts up roadblocks to search for weapons and drugs and, sometimes, to just check for proper vehicle papers. Most times they will just waive a tourist through if riding in a red plate taxi or driving without locals in the vehicle.
We went over to the seats in the shade of the old exit awning and waited. A driver friend came over with two cold Red Stripes for $200 J, which really hit the spot. After waiting for a little short of an hour, I saw a familiar person coming towards me wearing a red wig! It was Shereth. She greeted us and took us into the parking lot to load our bags into Ian’s little car.
We traveled to Negril to drop off the baggage at Whistling Bird before going to Shereth’s house for a dinner of fried fish in a special sauce, potato salad, calaloo, coconut rice and some fresh carrot juice with a hint of ginger. On the way, we stopped at one of Shereth’s favorite roadside stands for a jelly coconut. I did not have any Jamaican money yet as I was planning to go to a Cambio in Negril but Mary offered to buy. Remember now, it has been a long time since she visited Jamaica and she revealed that fact by pulling a lot of small denomination Jamaican bills from her coin purse. In it she had a $2, $10 and $20 bill along with some coins that the shop operator, Shereth or Ian hadn’t seen for years! We all had a great time reminiscing about the “Good Old Days” when you could get things with a $2 bill!
Whistling Bird. What more can I say! This is one of the best run and friendliest properties on Negril’s beach. You could see the damage that Hurricane Ivan had delivered to Jamaica and to Whistling Bird in particular but already the scars were healing nicely. Mary, having never been there before, couldn’t tell a storm had even hit. Damage to the treetop canopy and to the little bar down at the beach’s edge were the most prominent as a worker said the toted out 40 loads of tree parts and debris.
Don’t worry, however, as the general ambiance has not changed. Andrea and Lilly were there to meet us and Andrea gave us “Parrot” Cottage for the next 3 nights. We unpacked our bags and headed down to the bar for a quick drink and to chat with Lilly. After awhile, we headed out to Shereth’s house for dinner.
After a fantastic meal, we retired to the front verandah to chat. Mary had been traveling for much of the previous night and this day so the meal was putting her to sleep. She stretched out on the verandah’s floor that signaled us that it was time to leave. Shereth agreed to meet us around noon the following day so we could go out and see Negril and celebrate the birthday a little.
Ian dropped us off at Whistling Bird and I showed Mary to the cabin we would be sharing before going down to the bar for a chat with Lilly and an old acquaintance, Roy that was also staying at the Bird. We chatted for a while until politics and the impending coronation of “W” became the topic. I excused myself after a long day, as I was ready for some sleep….. In Jamaica!
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