jeff kushner
Well-Known Member
Tammy et al,
We don’t return to your beautiful country because we have to, it’s because there is simply no place on the planet that provides the most welcoming folks, a top 5 world class beach as well as the most beautiful lush jungles and byways along with water that to me, is unmatched in beauty and safety (because 90% of where I swim there is protected from ocean exposure) as close to where I live, period!
Tahiti offers nothing more other than an additional 14 hrs sitting on a jet, not on my top 10 things to do!
These are my own opinions so while I hope I don’t offend; I’m usually pretty honest bout stuff….no sugar coatings.
You have to understand the value I place on the people in a place before the place even matters when I travel. If they are sketchy, I don’t go b/c I DO have a choice and mom only raised one dummy, he lives in Flagstaff! LOL When I heard the recent warnings, I knew that where we were going, would be 100% safe, the folks who live there have a VERY vested interest in NOT letting sketchy folks move in!
Many folks are without much means in Jamaica but you won’t find a prouder people…..imagine a city full of poor folks and NO BEGGING, ….EVER, EVER, EVER!! NO ROAD RAGE, even though they all drive 20kph like old ladies or Indy race drivers! Zero anger other than a raised fist once in a great while. "Respect" is often used as a greeting in Jamaica, for good reason. Respect Tammy!
Jamaica, at least in the western-half of the country where I travel in my own personal opinion was ravaged by “covid” worse than many countries due to their reliance on the tourist industry to support so many folks in that part of the country. Google will not tell you this but spend a few weeks spread across 30 yrs and you see the tourist industry and it’s downhill economies, some white market, some black market that really supports more than ½ of the country by area. The amount of empty resorts, shut down and boarded or taped up closed abounded where 6 yrs ago, were full of people. A couple of tours run along the coast tells the same story. The upside is that while things are crazy expensive for the folks that visit or live there, things are coming back really nicely. We were careful to remember when we had opportunities, that these folks basically missed two years of personal income.
I have spent more than a minute in Negril and you can have it's narrow "7 mile beach" and it's concrete boxes (really just under 4 miles).....I prefer the seclusion of Bloody Bay just North of 7 mile.
Our return to Sunset at the Palms was a Story of “Getting the Band Back Together”! It was so cool to see so many friends from our previous visit 6 years ago! Hedrika from the Club Mobay(pro tip-buy their airport service) met us at the Gate with a sign & a smile and walked us past the 2+ hour-Disney lines to a reserved Customs agent who got us through in 4 minutes flat then to the lounge for a nice lunch & private bathrooms to clean up, to Omar at the car service who met us at the airport entrance with a sign remembered us from the last trip. Shinelle who I met as my assigned concierge in ’17 and became “best of friends” was there to greet us again, Eric the insane-driving taxi driver was found hanging around on the road next the resort in a brand new minivan(he even drives sane now-progress LOL), They told us Sinclair the “knowledgable taxi driver” was still there, Joseph my weed-man who wears a "Sheriff Joe" police badge was not only on the beach the night we arrived, he remembered me……Kerry couldn’t wait to get a pic as we chatted, the goof. Kevon our beach guy was still there and even Henry the boat operator who we hired before was still there! There was Piano Paul, an elderly man in ’17 but a personable entertainer, I had feared covid may have got him. I was thrilled to recognize his playing as we were eating dinner in one of the restaurants! They had assigned us a tree house with screens since I forgot to mention I NEED glass windows….”Karen”(Kerry lol) was on it with a call to Shinelle to get us switched…and they put us back in #702, where we stayed in ’17. It really was “getting the band back together”.
We met the new manager Romeo McIntyre (’19) who had a Returnees dinner for us and the other guests on the beach, big fire, great time….beautiful surroundings, no bugs! Romeo is here talking with Chris and his wife Jess.
He has done a fine job of letting the folks who know how to treat their guests, do their jobs. We found no change in the level of service b/c most of the folks that worked there before, are still there! While 2 years of being empty certainly hurt the tropical landscape, they have obviously been working hard to restore it. The buildings also are 6 yrs in the jungle, older but still nice and cool. Imagine eating outdoors in an open but covered restaurant with fans in the middle of a lush jungle….zero bugs!
This is where I find my inner peace…..man was that sweet!
The parafail ride was a bit sketchy but we put it behind us and had a fantastic time. The Humming bird garden was a let down, 2 birds! LOL. Eric drove us there and waited for us for 1.5 hrs. The Owner was nearly 80, a longtime Bavarian(guess) immigrant who took our admission fees, then apologized for there being no birds b/c of the intense heat that week. LOL I smiled, we see the bigger picture and his gardens are beautiful!
Kerry gets into the wildlife too!
What a cool place to make new friends. We met a lot of folks but ended up hanging out with 3 other couples…nice folks. One of the couples was Crazy Albanian from Jersey named “Dashi” and his stunningly beautiful wife, Arietta…OMG…he was a treat…..opinionated and loud…..he was a blast to hang out with. His wife is perfect for him, she loves him to death and he NEEDS her to keep him straight! LOL We will become friends. Kerry really liked his wife so I asked Kerry to get his # from Arietta on the D/L so I can surprise him tomorrow evening! What a special, special person…..LOL He’s the guy that will embarrass you with his loud comments, but is so darn funny, you just have to like him! He’s only 100 or so miles away, would be a cool to get together again. She texted me before bed last night, she’s got his #!
The coolest thing was an impulse to hire “September” & his boat to take us out to deserted Booby Caye. We had heard that locals cook lobsters on the beach and the snorkeling was great so we grabbed the subnados and off we went! What a F ING FANTASTIC time! Wow that was a great place. We met KG, a local “chef” as we got off September’s boat. LOL He seemed okay and he was hustling so he drug his trap up and we picked out the lobsters we wanted. KG opened the trap then I got Kerry to take them out. They slap their tails, LOUDLY when upset…was kinda cool. He took them into the most primitive of camp-grills. We’re talking stuff a lot of folks wouldn’t even eat from. KG told us it would be 30 minutes or so. Honestly, I didn’t care, I don’t even like lobster…..LOL. We talked to some other locals guys, 1 had a 200cc Yamaha…they loved my bike pics and the water scooters. Instant friends, they suggested we follow this path around the island to the other side….when they saw my hesitation, they added it was safe…..they were telling the truth(superman stuff) so we took off and found the most beautiful tiny beach, 60’ wide to the reef…..
We explored and went out to the deeper water snorkeling
then came back to a meal that blew us both away! Kerry hasn’t given me her pics yet but we sat at a picnic table and were presented with plates dressed with heavy bread on both sides, sprig of something accenting the dripping butter sauce complete with freshly chopped veggies topping two perfectly grilled lobsters covered in sauce…..holy frickin cow! How that kid assembled this meal in that kitchen was surprising enough but I’m telling you, the flavor was out of this world! He said his recipe had been in the family for a long time. He had been doing this for 10 years! Kerry got his What’s app and we will “talk him up”. Good person…..and yes, that’s weed hanging out his mouth while he cooks…..LOL We said our goodbyes to the locals and other folks who showed up and September took us home. What a wonderful spur of the moment thing to do! I don’t even like lobster!
What a great trip!
I apologize for some of the pics not being very good, I left the underwater Olympus on ORF files instead of saving as JPG, when I converted them, they sucked in comparison!
We don’t return to your beautiful country because we have to, it’s because there is simply no place on the planet that provides the most welcoming folks, a top 5 world class beach as well as the most beautiful lush jungles and byways along with water that to me, is unmatched in beauty and safety (because 90% of where I swim there is protected from ocean exposure) as close to where I live, period!
Tahiti offers nothing more other than an additional 14 hrs sitting on a jet, not on my top 10 things to do!
These are my own opinions so while I hope I don’t offend; I’m usually pretty honest bout stuff….no sugar coatings.
You have to understand the value I place on the people in a place before the place even matters when I travel. If they are sketchy, I don’t go b/c I DO have a choice and mom only raised one dummy, he lives in Flagstaff! LOL When I heard the recent warnings, I knew that where we were going, would be 100% safe, the folks who live there have a VERY vested interest in NOT letting sketchy folks move in!
Many folks are without much means in Jamaica but you won’t find a prouder people…..imagine a city full of poor folks and NO BEGGING, ….EVER, EVER, EVER!! NO ROAD RAGE, even though they all drive 20kph like old ladies or Indy race drivers! Zero anger other than a raised fist once in a great while. "Respect" is often used as a greeting in Jamaica, for good reason. Respect Tammy!
Jamaica, at least in the western-half of the country where I travel in my own personal opinion was ravaged by “covid” worse than many countries due to their reliance on the tourist industry to support so many folks in that part of the country. Google will not tell you this but spend a few weeks spread across 30 yrs and you see the tourist industry and it’s downhill economies, some white market, some black market that really supports more than ½ of the country by area. The amount of empty resorts, shut down and boarded or taped up closed abounded where 6 yrs ago, were full of people. A couple of tours run along the coast tells the same story. The upside is that while things are crazy expensive for the folks that visit or live there, things are coming back really nicely. We were careful to remember when we had opportunities, that these folks basically missed two years of personal income.
I have spent more than a minute in Negril and you can have it's narrow "7 mile beach" and it's concrete boxes (really just under 4 miles).....I prefer the seclusion of Bloody Bay just North of 7 mile.
Our return to Sunset at the Palms was a Story of “Getting the Band Back Together”! It was so cool to see so many friends from our previous visit 6 years ago! Hedrika from the Club Mobay(pro tip-buy their airport service) met us at the Gate with a sign & a smile and walked us past the 2+ hour-Disney lines to a reserved Customs agent who got us through in 4 minutes flat then to the lounge for a nice lunch & private bathrooms to clean up, to Omar at the car service who met us at the airport entrance with a sign remembered us from the last trip. Shinelle who I met as my assigned concierge in ’17 and became “best of friends” was there to greet us again, Eric the insane-driving taxi driver was found hanging around on the road next the resort in a brand new minivan(he even drives sane now-progress LOL), They told us Sinclair the “knowledgable taxi driver” was still there, Joseph my weed-man who wears a "Sheriff Joe" police badge was not only on the beach the night we arrived, he remembered me……Kerry couldn’t wait to get a pic as we chatted, the goof. Kevon our beach guy was still there and even Henry the boat operator who we hired before was still there! There was Piano Paul, an elderly man in ’17 but a personable entertainer, I had feared covid may have got him. I was thrilled to recognize his playing as we were eating dinner in one of the restaurants! They had assigned us a tree house with screens since I forgot to mention I NEED glass windows….”Karen”(Kerry lol) was on it with a call to Shinelle to get us switched…and they put us back in #702, where we stayed in ’17. It really was “getting the band back together”.
We met the new manager Romeo McIntyre (’19) who had a Returnees dinner for us and the other guests on the beach, big fire, great time….beautiful surroundings, no bugs! Romeo is here talking with Chris and his wife Jess.
He has done a fine job of letting the folks who know how to treat their guests, do their jobs. We found no change in the level of service b/c most of the folks that worked there before, are still there! While 2 years of being empty certainly hurt the tropical landscape, they have obviously been working hard to restore it. The buildings also are 6 yrs in the jungle, older but still nice and cool. Imagine eating outdoors in an open but covered restaurant with fans in the middle of a lush jungle….zero bugs!
This is where I find my inner peace…..man was that sweet!
The parafail ride was a bit sketchy but we put it behind us and had a fantastic time. The Humming bird garden was a let down, 2 birds! LOL. Eric drove us there and waited for us for 1.5 hrs. The Owner was nearly 80, a longtime Bavarian(guess) immigrant who took our admission fees, then apologized for there being no birds b/c of the intense heat that week. LOL I smiled, we see the bigger picture and his gardens are beautiful!
Kerry gets into the wildlife too!
What a cool place to make new friends. We met a lot of folks but ended up hanging out with 3 other couples…nice folks. One of the couples was Crazy Albanian from Jersey named “Dashi” and his stunningly beautiful wife, Arietta…OMG…he was a treat…..opinionated and loud…..he was a blast to hang out with. His wife is perfect for him, she loves him to death and he NEEDS her to keep him straight! LOL We will become friends. Kerry really liked his wife so I asked Kerry to get his # from Arietta on the D/L so I can surprise him tomorrow evening! What a special, special person…..LOL He’s the guy that will embarrass you with his loud comments, but is so darn funny, you just have to like him! He’s only 100 or so miles away, would be a cool to get together again. She texted me before bed last night, she’s got his #!
The coolest thing was an impulse to hire “September” & his boat to take us out to deserted Booby Caye. We had heard that locals cook lobsters on the beach and the snorkeling was great so we grabbed the subnados and off we went! What a F ING FANTASTIC time! Wow that was a great place. We met KG, a local “chef” as we got off September’s boat. LOL He seemed okay and he was hustling so he drug his trap up and we picked out the lobsters we wanted. KG opened the trap then I got Kerry to take them out. They slap their tails, LOUDLY when upset…was kinda cool. He took them into the most primitive of camp-grills. We’re talking stuff a lot of folks wouldn’t even eat from. KG told us it would be 30 minutes or so. Honestly, I didn’t care, I don’t even like lobster…..LOL. We talked to some other locals guys, 1 had a 200cc Yamaha…they loved my bike pics and the water scooters. Instant friends, they suggested we follow this path around the island to the other side….when they saw my hesitation, they added it was safe…..they were telling the truth(superman stuff) so we took off and found the most beautiful tiny beach, 60’ wide to the reef…..
We explored and went out to the deeper water snorkeling
then came back to a meal that blew us both away! Kerry hasn’t given me her pics yet but we sat at a picnic table and were presented with plates dressed with heavy bread on both sides, sprig of something accenting the dripping butter sauce complete with freshly chopped veggies topping two perfectly grilled lobsters covered in sauce…..holy frickin cow! How that kid assembled this meal in that kitchen was surprising enough but I’m telling you, the flavor was out of this world! He said his recipe had been in the family for a long time. He had been doing this for 10 years! Kerry got his What’s app and we will “talk him up”. Good person…..and yes, that’s weed hanging out his mouth while he cooks…..LOL We said our goodbyes to the locals and other folks who showed up and September took us home. What a wonderful spur of the moment thing to do! I don’t even like lobster!
What a great trip!
I apologize for some of the pics not being very good, I left the underwater Olympus on ORF files instead of saving as JPG, when I converted them, they sucked in comparison!
I was able to feel a sea turtle when I was visiting a friend in Texas. We went to a hospital for sea turtles right on the Gulf. Anyway, I am happy that you and Kerry had such a wonderful time.
