What does it look like over there?

in the

Feel by turns the bitter change, of fierce extremes, extremes by change, more fierce . . .                                                 John Milton, Paradise Lost, 1608-1674

One of my favorite songs in life, for twenty plus years, has gotten me through a lot of sad moments as I revisited places from my past, like California, Arizona, Mexico, places in Colorado, and yes, Jamaica.  It's an old jazz song by master guitarist George Benson. "Everything must change.  Nothing stays the same.  Everyone will change, nothing and no one goes unchanged.  There are not many things in life you can be sure of, except, sun shines in the sky, the moon will rise at night, hummingbirds do fly.  Winter turns to Spring, the wounded heart will heal, and ever much too soon, everything will change....."

For our most recent visit to Western Jamaica, home base was a villa at Firefly, on the beach, with upstairs bedrooms and full kitchens,  dining rooms, and living rooms downstairs.

I rate Firefly highly.  The accommodations are centrally located, the staff friendly and respectful, there is security on the grounds, a hot tub jacuzzi, the price is very reasonable and you can even higgle with them, especially during off season.  They also have small rooms for students on a budget, that have the original feel and look of 70's Negril.  Their beach is nice, with free access to the whole 7 mile strand.  The high point though, is the gardens.  The property is bursting with flowers year round, and you'll be sharing the property with a plentiful amount of hummingbirds too, as the staff hang feeders around the place.

We rented a car and toured a lot, all over western JA, and spent a few nights in Black River as well.  We ran into problems, chiefly infected mosquitos, Hurricane Mitch, and too many of Jimmy Buffet's sharks that feed on the land, but looking back, there were a ton of wonderful times and beauty beyond belief.  We stayed a bit over three weeks and I took my older daughter Calypso, my younger daughter Sapphira, and her best friend, from 1990 to present, Jessica.

Sapphira

Calypso

Rose and I have been friends since 1983 and she has been there for me on many occasions. For those that believe Jamaicans are not as giving and caring  as they should be, I hope you all have a chance to meet someone like Rose and her husband Lorrie, on one of your trips to Jamaica.

Jessica

Marble and Rose, and Rose's nephew

We spent the first few days in Negril proper, getting reacquainted with its sights and looking up old friends.

Some places hadn't changed at all from how we remembered them.

and the beach was still amazing . . . though too many sharks were  grazing . . . pardon the  bad rhyme.

When looking up old friends after years have passed, especially in Jamaica with its rancid bad health "care" (not!), beware of heartbreak.  One of my dearest friends from Green Island, Miss Coolie's daughter Suzy, had died OF AN ASTHMA ATTACK from having no inhaler.  A senseless tragedy.   I myself contracted Dengue Fever on this trip, in Black River at a villa that had no mosquito control, as did Sapphira's father, Charlie, who stayed in Jamaica and died of complications months later.  Thank God I wasn't living in Jamaica then, relying on their medical technology, or Sapphira would have been an orphan.

Charlie at the Bungalows, and at Negril Gardens.

Charlie annoying Sapphira, bragging about his Dawta, at the Bungalows

ALWAYS use a mosquito coil in JA, and use Deet in your sunscreen!

Jessica at the Bungalows, left, and Calypso and Sapphira, right. I also highly recommend the Bungalows for accommodations in Negril.  Owned by Charlie's friend Sala who maintains the place impeccably, they have a lovely pool and a great restaraunt, and are yards from the beach across the street on Norman Manley Boulevard.  Also, "Bungalows" is  centrally located to all the music and nightlife action and the rates are reasonable as well.

This picture illustrates some of the changes taking place in Negril.  The parking lot where the buses are parked used to be green growth and, need I say it, there was no Burger King back in the day.  If we were having a little culture shock and  desperate for American food in the old days, we'd head out to the West End to Archway for some great pizza. Yet, this picture also shows that the more things change, the more they stay the same.  I used to park my bike and meet my moneychanger in this driveway, and horses and goats would sometimes pass as we counted out our bills. I believe I copied this picture from Beingee's Negril Today site.  Correct me if I am mistaken.

Barring nuclear holocaust, I think one thing that we can rely on staying awe-inspiring and wonderfully satisfying is the Flora and Fauna of Jamaica.  When people let you down and traditions you loved fade away, rent a bike, pack a knapsack, and grab your camera.  Jamaica is one of the most beautiful places in the world, and for every damaged reef there are a dozen in more isolated spots that are lovely (please don't touch so they'll stay that way).

Flora and Fauna in Beautiful Westmoreland Parish, Jamaica

The crystal waters of Negril's West End

Plains of Westmoreland, courtesy Lee Abel

Below, Big Red, Chef Extraordinaire, with friends on the Negril West End Cliffs

Some spots on the Cliffs look the same as twenty years ago.

Left, fine Jamaican Lace

Negril Beach is still heavenly; in the Morning, Afternoon, or Evening

It is, alas, inevitable that you will find yourself saying "No thank you" every few minutes.  Be firm and be strong.  "No thank you" is all it takes and only takes a few seconds.  If you are too gentle or frail to say "No" firmly, I suggest staying at an All Inclusive or far down on the beach near Rutland Point, or on the West End Cliffs.

photo courtesy jamaicans.com

We still have some time left on some of our favorite traditions.  Jamaica is still full up of street vendors hawking juicy morsels of delite.  Thanks to Sis I for the tek a set photo.

And then there's the night life . . .

Negril is a great place to hear new and upcoming young reggae artists.  I myself don't approve of the influx of certain types of establishments and also not rock and roll on Negril Beach, though I LOVE rock and roll here at home.  I see nations all over the world losing their culture and it scares and angers me, so, BOYCOTT ROCK AND ROLL ON NEGRIL BEACH!

Sapphira and Jessica getting ready to go out and party at De Bus, it was "De Bus" til a minute ago and we thought forever, and it was booking Reggae bands a minute ago and we thought, forever

What keeps us coming back?

Denise and her old friend photo courtesy Denise of MiYard

Rose at Negril Gardens

Old friends

and new friends

the crew at Bloody Bay's Office of Nature photo courtesy Frank Kukla

and, of course, the Beach

a bad day on the beach is better than the best day off at home, reading, watching the tube, or even hiking in the mountains

Walking away is always hard.  Even on this trip, sick with fever and hurricane Mitch moving in fast, leaving was difficult, and saddening. Although I do not subscribe to "Post Negril Syndrome" (I have a Life!) and I don't count the days and hours til my next trip (I love Mexico and Nawlins and other places as well) leaving Jamaica is always one of the harder things in life for me to do.  I am sympathetic to tourists that go down and go a little crazy, running away to the bush and leaving their "real" lives behind for awhile.

I also remain sympathetic to those who cannot run away, those Jamaicans that struggle to survive each day, with no recourse, since that struggle IS their "real" life. I try to remain open-hearted and non-judgemental about those that struggle, and the decisions they make to live through each day.

FYI, I did recover fully from Dengue Fever, a type of malaria, but it took nearly a month with the aid of Florida Hospital in Orlando.  Here I am six weeks later, at the Westinghouse Strategic Initiative Team "success" dinner, celebrating our success in putting a package together for Siemens' owners from Germany, that procured the sale of Westinghouse to them for over $3B.  Sorry, just a little proud of my involvement with this project.  Later that night we all went over to the Howling at the Moon Saloon at Church Street Station and the guys got drunk and were on stage singing, it was hilarious.  Then Todd (the dorky guy on the right of larger pic) dared me to smoke a cigar, which I did, and won $50, but puked for twenty minutes straight afterward.  I'm not as tough as I try and make out I guess.

page one of old Negril

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