My love affair begins - first trip to Jamaica

[Vi]

Re: My love affair begins - first trip to Jamaica

Jacqui...u comin bac??? [img]/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

[rudemonk]

Re: My love affair begins - first trip to Jamaica

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Jacqui351:
[qb] Oh No! I just realized that I forgot to post the pics.! Duh! [img]/forums/images/graemlins/704555_dwl.gif[/img]
I loved this sign!


Just a public service announcement- cigar king sells fake cuban cigars, sorry to say...

[Island Girl]

Re: My love affair begins - first trip to Jamaica

Jacqui oh Jacqui where aaaarrrreee you??? [img]/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] Just got to this trip report and now I am hangin! Please oh please come back with more! IRIE! *IG

[Jacqui351]

Re: My love affair begins - first trip to Jamaica

Sorry it took me so long... again [img]/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
I'll post the pics. tomorrow.

Day 6 - Wednesday

Awaken at my usual time and find myself back on the balcony. The heavy rain from last night has moved away and has left high wispy clouds in it’s wake. After it rains it is almost possible to overdose the senses on the sweet, musky scents that arise from the earth. With the daily rains that we have been receiving, there is now an abundance of flowers blooming in the gardens. When it is this quiet, you can actually hear the soft bubbling and popping of the parched earth as it eagerly soaks up every drop of the life sustaining liquid. I swear you could almost hear an aaaaahhhhh! Lol

We finally get situated and head to breakfast to meet everyone. With it being an AI I haven’t talked too much about the food, but I do have to mention that the pancakes at the RTB were fabulous! They just melted in your mouth! Yummy! The girls and I decided to take the tour of Negril that is sponsored by the resort. We leave at 3:00pm and I can’t wait to get back into town! The guys said they just wanted to hang out at the pool bar and beach while we are gone and relax.. They think we don’t realize that they really just want to watch all the bathing beauties! Lol

After breakfast we get changed and find our spots on the beach. It is extremely muggy this morning and the only place to find relieve is in the water, so we scoot our chairs out into the shallows and sit for awhile in comfortable silence just watching the world go by. John and I finally decide to take a walk back down the beach toward the new Riu. It is nice to see everything in the daylight that we missed the other night walking this same stretch of beach and getting side-tracked by the call of the sea! Hehe We come up to the Office of Nature and stop to look at everything and promise to stop for lunch on our way back down.

This area and all the way to the new Riu is still undeveloped which makes it feel as if you have stepped into a time warp and have been transported back to the days of unspoiled, tranquil beaches. This revery is stopped abruptly as the sounds of those d***** jet skis fills our ears. Man I hate those things! Lol Before we know it we are at the new resort and walk around it for awhile checking everything out. Pretty much the same as RTB, but the atmosphere is totally different. I don’t know if it is the newness of everything or what, but it seems so different.

After a couple drinks we head back to our “compound” lol When we get back to the Office of Nature our lunches are waiting for us along with a cold red stripe. I wanted to get an aloe massage but the girl was busy with other people the whole time we were there. I am going to try to get back there before we leave. If you haven’t been to Office of Nature, you really have to check it out before it is no more. [img]/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] The food and conversation is wonderful! These are some of the nicest people you will ever meet! It saddens me to know that another resort is being built and nearly taking the balance of unspoiled land in Bloody Bay. The folks at Office Of Nature should be allowed to remain in their small area undisturbed. I hate to think that the next time I come to Negril, the Office could be gone! :’(

The Rasta shell mon comes strolling up with fresh Conch and gets this huge smile when he sees us and comes over to give me a hug. He then proceeds to tell everyone within earshot that I am the lady from foreign that he told them about, that kept him out of trouble. Suddenly I was the center of attention and everyone was coming over. He kept telling John that I was a “good lady” and “he was lucky man”. (I wonder if John believes it now since it was someone else telling him and not me! LOL) I was so embarrassed that I wanted to just dig myself right down into the sand! Lol Ok, so the shyness IS still hiding in me! Lol We stayed and talked to everyone for awhile until I remembered that I had a bus to catch into Negril. More hugs and promises to meet up again and we headed back home.

I flew onto the bus with about 1 minute to spare! The “guide” told us about all the different places we were passing and gave some history on each one as we headed toward the roundabout. When we got to the Craft Market he said that the tours used to stop there but so many people complained about being hassled and frightened that they have to skip it now. We ended up stopping at all the places that we had already been to. [img]/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] Then went up to the Lighthouse and watched a very brave Jamaican boy climb a tree and jump into the water. There was an old Jamaican man, whose clothes were very tattered and threadbare, sitting on the low wall trying to sell shells and pretty much being ignored by everyone from the bus. With the slump of his shoulders and the sad, vacant stare he had the look of a man who has had a hard life and has just given up. Tears welled up in my eyes and my heart broke to see him sitting so dejectedly. Maureen went over and tried to engage him in conversation but, he didn’t really have much to say. We did buy a couple of shells from him and he smiled as he thanked us, but it was such a sad smile. I pray that one day he finds the peace that seems to have eluded him.

Our next stop was at a place on the cliffs near the lighthouse. Of course, I have forgotten the name of it, but what a cool place it was! (I keep wanting to say it has sands in the name(?)) Anyway, forgetting my foggy brain, this place has a real nice bar and a covered area with couches and seats with beautiful murals painted on the two sides that were walled. They also had cliff diving here and there were two pros(?)diving as well as guests. We had a couple of drinks and watched the divers for awhile, then I went into my “sea trance” and sat staring at the sea and the setting sun. I never really remember what I was thinking about, but I can do this for hours anytime I get near an ocean! Lol (Maybe some kind of self-hypnosis?! Lol)

I was jarred out of my “trance” by the sounds of a woman moaning and crying. I turned around and a couple of guys were helping one of the girls from our resort lay down on a chaise. With every move she was crying out in pain and her whole body was shaking from the effort. I walked over and her boyfriend told me that she had just jumped off the cliff and landed wrong. She was able to get out of the water but she couldn’t climb the steps and could barely walk. I leaned down to try and calm her down and asked her where she was hurt. She said it was her lower back and her legs were tingling. Someone brought a bag of ice and they put it on her back. She also had a large bruise starting at the top of her legs. The guide from our bus came over and told her she had to get up and move around to keep the muscles from tightening up. I have always been told that anytime there is a suspected back injury you do not move the person and told the guide this. He just kind of waved me off and said this happens all the time, I know what she needs to do. Ok, but if it is serious she can be paralyzed for the rest of her live if she is moved. I got one of those, “shut-up stupid” looks and he proceeded to pull her up from the chaise.

They walked her out through a walkway and everyone from the resort got their stuff together and headed for the bus. It wasn’t time to leave but everyone was worried and upset by what happened to her and were ready to call it a night. The change that had come over the fun-loving crowd at the beginning of the tour was profound. Even the few young children on the bus were quietly playing in their seat. The only conversation was of wondering how she was. Everyone assumed they would be calling an ambulance to take her to a hospital. Well, we assumed wrong! About ten minutes after we boarded the bus we see a group of people walking slowly through the doorway and in the middle of them was this poor girl being walked slowly to the bus. She would let out a cry of pain each time she took a step up onto the bus. Being unable to sit, the driver put up the small center seat so that she would be able to lay down. Every time the bus hit a bump in the road there would be another cry of pain from this poor woman. We finally made it back to RTB and a staff member was waiting with a wheelchair. We overheard him tell the guide that the nurse had left for the day, but they had a doctor on the way. Our rooms were just past the medical building and each time we passed it through the evening we could see lights still on inside.

Needless to say, our evening was very subdued as we worried about the woman’s welfare. We listened to the Reggae Band until it started raining and we called it a night.

[rudemonk]

Re: My love affair begins - first trip to Jamaica

they couldn't really call an ambulance if they wanted to.

[Jamaicamiss]

Re: My love affair begins - first trip to Jamaica

Jacqui: please tell us what happened to her. I am worried about them moving her too.

[Marilyn]

Re: My love affair begins - first trip to Jamaica

Wow
And I thought I banged myself up in Jamaica. I know not to do a cliff though.

[Jacqui351]

Re: My love affair begins - first trip to Jamaica

More pictures...
Daycare

Huge tree at Lighthouse entrance

Wanna' jump!?

[Jacqui351]

Re: My love affair begins - first trip to Jamaica



really brave (crazy?) kid

[Jacqui351]

Re: My love affair begins - first trip to Jamaica




If only buildings could talk... bet these would have quite a story to tell.


This was at the place that I can't remember the name of. If anyone knows, please clue me in.

[Jacqui351]

Re: My love affair begins - first trip to Jamaica


Sure you don't wanna' jump?!

See the splash? Just missed the dive! Darned delay on the camera! lol

[Jacqui351]

Re: My love affair begins - first trip to Jamaica


The coolest grill I have ever seen!

[cdmsunshine]

Re: My love affair begins - first trip to Jamaica

keep it coming J.. great pictures

[Jacqui351]

Re: My love affair begins - first trip to Jamaica

Can't forget this picture...

When we got over to the cliff diving place I saw the sad shell man from the lighthouse sitting on the point. This is probably my favorite picture because there is so much meaning to it.

[Jamaicamiss]

Re: My love affair begins - first trip to Jamaica

Just love the sad shell man pic. I see a lot of meaning in it. What is he dreaming as he looks out to sea?