The (rare) 'Luxury' of a holiday

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

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. 

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.

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

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).

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!!