Heavy rains the night before may have dampened the dry earth
around but not the spirits of the 25 member strong group of Montegonians which
was all set to make the best of the 2 days long trip to the lush green,
un-ruined, un-trampled terrain of Port Antonio, Portland on the north coast of
this beautiful island country – Jamaica.
The group consisted of the age range 8 yrs – 82 yrs but the
enthusiasm of all was equivalent to that of excited kids who have got a break
from the drudgery of school. All were set to make the best of the following two
days – away from each one’s respective tensions, attentions and vocations. Even
the gentleman who, given a chance, would even sleep in his shop so that not
even one customer is missed, was all gung-ho about the trip.
The Journey
The 21-seater mini bus was choc-o-bloc with 25 people (no,
we do not offload passengers even if we have oversold – we only need to
accommodate our friends in our hearts and physical space is automatically
created) each with his/her backpack or duffel bag and some delectable home-cooked
food to be used for lunch on day 1.
And behold! For once we followed the pre-decided time
schedule and not the Indian Standard Time which we are (in)famous for.
Off we went, on the wide and winding highway, by the side of
the Caribbean Sea’s calm waters in hues of blue and green, glittering in the
morning sunlight as if a giant sheet consisting of millions of little mirrors glittering
in the sunshine was spread across the water. We sure were heading for a good
break, a much awaited getaway from our routines.
The breakfast stop at Ocho Rios tricked the mind for a few
moments to believe that the trip was being undertaken from Coimbatore to Ooty
in South India. Well, one can forgive the mind for that was bound to happen
when the ‘Total Treats’ Restaurant had no local customers around and served us
hot Masala Dosas, Idlis and Uttappams. Good beginning!
An hour later, with happy taste buds and satisfied tummies,
we were heading towards our first ‘tourist’ destination – Somerset Falls
Somerset Falls
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| boat ride at Somerset Falls (image courtesy: Tripadvisor.com) |
Nestled in the lush green rain forest, just off the main
highway is the beautiful locale for the Daniels River to plunge through a
narrow gorge into a pool of cool, fresh water. The main waterfall, also known
as the Bridal Veil, is hidden behind the rocks and we had to spend a
considerable time to queue up for the short boat ride to get to it. Few
adventurous amongst us took the kayak ride instead of the proper (read
conventional) boat. Usually not the one to venture to get too close to rapidly
flowing water (don’t count the rapid flow of water from the taps at home), I
was in the last group left to take the ride and as luck would have it, the last
group was perhaps the most experimental one and I was coaxed to get off the
boat, on the rocks right below the base of the Bridal Veil.
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| Bridal Veil (Image courtesy: kidnplayja.com) |
Thankfully so! The experience was great and the time was too little. The
falling water was immensely relaxing and was in fact much better than any other
therapeutic massage I have ever had (except for the one in Bangkok..;). Though
extremely tempted to take the plunge into the pool below the rocks, I timely
remembered my swimming imperfection and decided not to stretch my courageous capabilities
too far and took the boat ride back.
Frenchman’s Cove
The final destination for the day – a 42 acre sprawling property
with villas hidden amidst the tropical foliage giving them the much sought
privacy in such romantic places, the Frenchman’s Cove is an idyllic location
for a relaxed vacation right above the Caribbean sea. Considered to be the
first all-inclusive resort in the world and (then) frequented by the rich and
famous, including the British Royalty, the resort was severely damaged by
hurricane Gilbert in the 1980s but has been restored and is fully functional,
though no longer as an all-inclusive one.
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| Frenchman's Cove Villa Interior |
The group members settled in their allocated villas and
remembered that we had missed something. The lunch!! But ‘Jamaica, No Problem’
attitude prevailed and the supposed to be lunch was consumed as dinner
accompanied by lot of real and fake beer (somewhat uncomfortable writing
‘alcoholic’ and ‘non-alcoholic’ for beer).
What followed was a walk at the Errol Flynn Marina &
Devon House i-scream (ice cream) as dessert and that was enough to crash in the
beds for many – a few hard-core ones did manage to spend a few more hours trying
their luck with the playing cards and a brave walk around the Frenchman’s Cove
in the dead of the night at 1:00 am. Did meet a couple of ferocious looking dogs
running loose on the property however, they apparently found us more ferocious
and disappeared quickly.
The Morning After
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| Frenchman's Cove Beach (Image Courtesy: Laju jaswani) |
A very pleasant morning, not a speck of cloud on the
horizon, sounds of chirping birds drowned by the occasional roar of the sea
crashing against the rocks right below the villa and a cup of hot tea (only few
managed to get one before the kettle decided to retire). The cameras were out
clicking at various angles capturing the natural beauty of the place against
the backdrop of the dew bathed foliage and the blue-green ocean. Wasting no
time, we broke our overnight fasts with some continental stuff including lots
of fruits, sang the birthday song for one of the senior members of the group on his 70
th
birthday and dashed to the best feature of the property – its serene, scenic
beach. Cupped between two towering cliffs it is perhaps one of the best private
beaches of any commercial property in Jamaica. The little stream of the
mountain river that joins the sea on one side of the beach gives you an unique option
of taking a dip in the fresh water if you have had enough of the salty sea
water (trust me, you can never have enough of it).
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| The Blue Lagoon |
Having had our due dosage of salt, reluctantly, the team
checked out of the resort to head for the next destination – Boston Jerk
Centre. Hot ‘n’ Spicy Jerk Chicken, steamed Breadfruit & Yam washed down
with some chilled beer and fresh coconut water was perhaps the best lunch we
could have had at that time. Happy tummies headed straight to the ‘World Famous
Blue Lagoon’. Some intense negotiations with the boatmen supported by some
internal politics between them, the group of 25 happily struck a deal and
loaded on to two boats for a joy ride on the Caribbean Sea up to the Winnifred
Beach which was buzzing with activity on the national holiday. A brief
stopover, a couple of youngsters taking a quick dip (almost like a holy dip at
the Sangam), the boats headed back to the eerily calm, bottomless (so they say
with the deepest point being 185 ft.) Blue Lagoon. In the normal course,
perhaps some would have ventured to swim in the Lagoon but probably the Jerk
inside did not allow any scope of adventure.
The Final Stages
Slowly, but surely, the day was giving way to dusk and the
holiday spirit was giving way to the thoughts of the soon to set in work
routine. Almost like the last flicker of a flashlight before the batteries die
out, the final stop at Folly Ruins was a Photo-Op stop (did not find any ruins,
though). The final installment of birthday celebrations was completed by way of
cake cutting which was also witnessed by a solitary Sea Gull perched on the
small visible part of a fallen tree on the waters. One more adventure trip up a
narrow road to a place called ‘Bonnie View’ – a once upon a time hotel – proved
to be quite an exercise for our driver David and a couple of us who finally
managed to get the bus to reverse on a road which was as wide as the bus
itself. The view of the Navy Island was worth the exercise.
Curtains drawn. The single bus caravan headed back towards
Montego Bay. The restaurant which served us during the onward journey, prepared
to receive us on the return journey. This time with Hot Chapatis/Rotis, Palak-Paneer, Dal Makhani and some Chilly Mushroom. For me, the chilled
beer before and the masala chai after dinner was good enough. Dinner was just a
dividing line between the two beverages.
Our physical selves – content with food & beverages, our
mental selves – content with the de-stress and intoxication provided by the
luxury called ‘holiday’ and our cameras content with the hundreds of
photographs clicked and waiting to be splashed on Facebook, we all reached our most
looked-forward-to domains – our respective homes.
It’s over for now, until the next time. Soon!!
