2010 Jamaica

When you pay $65 per night for a resort hotel room in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, you don't expect a whole heck of a lot. Rooms Ocho Rios, was pretty much just that, rooms. But the lady who checked us in at the front desk had been extremely nice, efficient and helpful. So when we were considering whether or not to drive into the Blue Mountains, we went back down to talk to her. We'd been through the mountains during our previous trips, but it was still a little scary. We'd heard many stories about police doing "racial profiling" and pulling white Americans over to make them pay a traffic fine, whether they'd violated any law or not. There were stories of other bandits and general bad people up in the mountains as well. Driving from Mobay to Ochi had been a little scary at first, but it turned out to be not so bad - there were some crazy drivers, but the traffic moved along, and the roads were passable. We were pretty sure that the roads in the mountains would be a much different story. I did, on the other hand, still want to see the verdant mountain scenery, get some famous Blue Mountain coffee at a plantation, and maybe take a short hike or two. So we asked, "is it safe to drive up into the Blue Mountains?" Simple enough, no? I expected an answer of something like, "Yes, it's perfectly safe, just be careful on the hairpin turns", or "No, it's not very safe for tourists, but you can consider this organized tour instead." But the actual answer, when it came, was one we'll never forget. "Well... I DON'T KNOW...." That doesn't sound so funny, but the way she said it was. Just ask Debbie to re-enact the whole conversation for you. Instead of the mountains, we drove to another place on this side of the island that I'd been wanting to see for a long time: the idyllic little village of Port Antonio. This was the home of James Bond author Ian Fleming and actor Errol Flynn. Located on the eastern end of the island, it was supposed to be remote, but scenic. Sounded a little like the village of Hana on the island of Maui. Like the trip to Hana, this drive had some hairpin turns and took much longer (2.5 hours) than planned. It was scenic, but not so much compared to the Maui drive. When we arrived in Port Antonio, we got a bit of a surprise. Yes, it was different from the other villages we'd seen driving around Jamaica; it was *much* worse; a total slum. We immediately turned around (which in itself was a challenge, with driving on the left and then hitting roundabouts and one-way streets), and drove the two and a half hours back to Ochi. So now we still haven't set foot in Port Antonio, because we never even got out of the car there. Ochi itself was also a little disappointing. Not the hotel so much, since our expectations weren't high, but the noise. First there was the booze, I mean, sunset cruise. They BLASTED out the noise as we were trying to get to sleep: "Bend over. Boom, boom, boom. Back it up. Boom, boom, boom. Now help me put it in. Boom, boom, boom. Now wiggle, wiggle wiggle." And so on. Then, not to be out-done, a bar down the beach started blasting extremely loud music that finally died down about 3:30am. The announcer may have been the same guy from the boat. The highlight of the Ochi portion of the trip was, however, Shaw Park Gardens. They were beautiful, complete with waterfalls, gobs of different types of flowers and outdoor ornamentation. The views looking down at Ochi were really great. Vincent, the head gardener, was our guide. We got to Sandals Whitehouse in one piece. I was sooo very happy to be relieved of that rental car. Whitehouse is on the opposite, southwest side of the island. Sandals is the only resort in the area. The south side is undeveloped, and totally different. Sandals is totally different as well. You could say that we had different expectations for our nearly $400 a night room than for the $65 a night room. Our expectations were met in both instances. All meals, drinks and tips are included. The resort's layout, gardens, rooms and other amenities were all first class. The food was plentiful and very good as well. I should also mention that it's party central. It helped that the whole family was there to join the fun. And speaking of parties, Mike and Brittany's wedding was fantastic. Never having attended a beach or any destination wedding, it sure was memorable. Of course the weather, the beach, the scenery and everything was absolutely perfect. The ceremony was really well done by Sandals and their minister. After some photos we sat down - right on the beach - to a great meal; the best we had there. The day was capped off with a gorgeous sunset. It couldn't have been better. Debbie and I pretty much stayed put at the resort. There wasn't anything nearby to see anyway. The rest of the gang went on a zipline safari one day, but they otherwise stayed put as well. I snorkeled a couple times and took two other boat trips with Debbie. I ran the beach and the roads. (For more about that, see my running blog.) Debbie and I walked the beach each day as well. Another highlight was the Jamaican people themselves. After some initial trepidation, we learned that they are truly gentle and very nice to talk to. The best part of all was being with the family for so much of the fun.