|
All Around Jamaica March/April
2003...Day 2
by Liz Maher
Day Two, Thursday (St. Mary)
I woke up before sunrise,
realized it was dark and went back to sleep...for maybe an hour.
Our cottage faced east, so I just knew there was a spectacular day
starting out there and since it was dark when we arrived, I was
eager to see what things looked like, so I got up. After a short
time, the family became aware that we were up and we met Marcia,
who would cook our breakfast and take care of the cottage. First
order of business was coffee on the verandah while the sun did its
thing...nice. The Sinclairs had asked us what we'd like to eat and
we said everything sounded great, surprise us. Marcia got busy on
callaloo, some cakes, fresh fruit and these awesome coconut/banana
milkshakes that are her morning specialty. While we were having
coffee, Libby came by. She is exactly as friendly as she appears
in her photos and online, I felt comfy with her right away.
We had a nice long chat and caught up on things,
had some good belly laughs, got scolded for not calling when we
arrived the night before and generally got ready to enjoy a day
in St. Mary. We decided pretty quickly not to head on to Port Antonio
today and just hang out here and have a relaxing first full day.
We promised to come down to the beach later on and Libby went back.
After our most healthy breakfast (the Sinclairs
are mainly vegetarian and organic and use all local produce, in
most cases from their own land. Everything was delicious), Mr. S
went down to the beach and we took a swim in the pool and explored
the property. Wow...it's hard to describe how pretty the place is,
I'm glad I have pictures. One of the children acted as tour guide
for us and we checked out the recording studio, outbuildings and
got a tour of the jungle, complete with stream, paths for walking
and a BBQ area.
When we were ready, we hopped in the car to the
beach, 2 minutes away. The S family also owns some beachfront property
nearly adjacent to Libby and Chef and Mr. S has a crew of 10 guys
or so down there working on a retaining wall for the hill and a
new beach bar sort of structure. Eventually (maybe this winter)
sand will be brought in to make a beach...right now there is a nice
somewhat narrow beach with clear, calm water and a reef for snorkeling
right offshore, plenty of shade trees. We snorkeled happily for
an hour or two, saw lots of small fish (no jetskis or parasailing
around here, thus a healthier reef), staghorn coral, brain coral
and fans. There is a great view back to the mountains and towards
Port Maria and Monkey Island from the water there.
Libby and Chef run the aforementioned Sea Lawn
Coral Beach, a lovely property down by the beach with two rooms
for rent, (hot water, private bath, $35...I'd do that anytime, great
vibe down there) camping space on a grassy flat lawn and a little
beach bar. It's just down the villa road and off the main a bit,
maybe a 15 minute walk but 2 minute drive. You can look at the sea
right from their porch...it's maybe 15 steps down a hill/cliff to
the sandy beach but the bit of height offers great sea views and
a constant breeze. The youth club is building some little fishponds
and such down there and they also keep things clean...it was really
nice.
When we arrived, Libby pointed out a surprise
(to me) guest...Bill Evans aka Accompong! I had no idea he was there
and it was a great treat to meet and talk with him for awhile. He'd
be around for a few days.
One thing about this beach and Castle Garden in
general...we met several people that morning and not one asked us
for anything but a conversation. Being a Negril regular and rather
used to the "No thanks we're all good" routine, this was
a very welcome chance to just talk with people and we did or rather
I did...P is quieter than I am, friendly but not the most talkative
guy...we're a good pair that way. Tim, the Youth Club president,
(he proudly told us) was an especially nice kid.
We were getting hungry so we headed back down
to the beach to investigate Mr. S's claims of lunch on the sand.
Sure enough, the construction guys were on a break...one was frying
up some freshly caught fish over a fire on the beach, escoveitch-style.
I LOVE that stuff...scotchbonnet peppers, onions, vinegar and spices
make that fish like nothing else. P doesn't love fish, as I said
yesterday, so a box lunch of chicken and rice was picked up for
him from somewhere...I think we paid $2 each for these lunches and
they were both delicious. In fact, everything was cheaper here...no
such thing as tourist price and local price since there are so few
tourists. We finished lunch, ran a few errands in Port Maria and
headed up to the house for a pool swim and a nap.
After a rest, we went back down to hang out with
Libby, Chef and Bill some more and decided to go to dinner in Ochi
- the Big City, as it were. It's only about 30-40 minutes away and
we went to Bi Bi Bips for seafood on the water...very nice meal,
not cheap but very good and P was able to have something other than
fish :). The meal knocked us out completely and upon arriving home
and NOT having locked any doors that we shouldn't, we collapsed
into bed around 9.
Tomorrow, we really are going to head to Portland
but we've already thought about spending a night here again on the
way back. We are liking the people, being near friends, the lovely
scenery and our little cottage.
Shop
Now for anything and everything Jamaican in our online store.
|
