Day 1, April 22: Sitting here at LAX waiting for my flight to Miami and on to Montego Bay for a Society of American Travel Writers board meeting. One more in Leipzig, Germany in October and that’s it for me as Western Chapter chair and board member. I will miss it; I won’t miss it.
Boarding time in 15 minutes. A long layover in Miami. I almost forgot my Traveling Teddy. Good thing he was sitting on my bar as I was leaving. He still has his Christmas sweater on. The one he wore skiing in South Lake Tahoe in January. I wanted to buy him a pair of shorts for Montego Bay.
The Traveling Teddy is part of the Society of American Travel Writers geography program. An elementary school classroom adopts a teddy. He travels with a travel writer around the world. The writer sends photos back of the teddy at different sites along with a story about the destination.
Mechanical problems delayed my flight 35 minutes. The American Airlines flight did not take off until 9:15 a.m. Amazingly, I checked one bag and it was free. I also got headsets, which I never use.
The guy sitting next to me (middle seat) had a burrito for breakfast and kept passing gas — curling my hair. He also went to the bathroom every half hour. One time, he was in the lavatory for about a half hour.
I’m dying of hunger. I’m not about to pay $6 for some crackers, nuts and a cookie. The yogurt I had for breakfast at 5 a.m. will have to last me until I get to Miami.
Got into Miami on time (4:30 p.m.). Looking for a decent place to eat was an adventure. This is an old and dirty airport. Went to my gate for the connecting flight to Montego Bay. I had three hours to kill. The only restaurant around was a sports bar that only had a burger, club and one other sandwich. No fries. I went in search for a place to eat where I could sit down and get served and have a cocktail. I had to walk all the way to Gate D49 to find a café. It cost me $35 (including tip) for conch fritters (OK), jerk chicken sandwich and a Bushmill’s on the rocks. Interesting meal after only a yogurt before leaving for LAX at 5 a.m. Jerk chicken sandwich was too dry. Disappointing.
I tried to call my wife but she wasn’t answering her cell. Out of sight, out of mind.
It’s now 6:45 EDT. About another half hour before boarding Flight 503 to Montego Bay. Jamaica is on Eastern Standard Time. The island doesn’t do daylight savings time.
It was an easy one-hour flight to Montego Bay. I was picked up at the airport by a limo service and driven the 2 to 3 miles to RIU Montego Bay, an all-inclusive resort. My room (suite) overlooks the beach and the ocean. I was told not to drink tap water. It’s bad. I was surprised. I expect that in many places I travel in Mexico but not in Jamaica. But, who needs tap water. There is plenty of bottled water and a complete bar in my room.
Quite a few people here for late April. Mostly Europeans (Germans and Brits). The resort’s general manager told me that two plane-loads of Europeans had to cancel because of the volcanic eruption in Iceland. No Internet service here except for Wi-Fi in the lobby. Makes it tough for business people.
Day 2, April 23: Woke up early. Already warm and humid. Walked down to breakfast. Nice buffet. Getting ready for a swim. I’m on my own all day until a 6 p.m. reception at the poolside bar. Guys deal drugs right on the beach. They sell junk jewelry as a front. Yesterday, I was told, they pulled four guys off the beach. If they are in the water, there is nothing the resort can do. It has no jurisdiction.
I spent all day in the pool and at the swim-up bar. The reception started late — 7 p.m. It followed dinner at the buffet. The food was mediocre. You can stay here for as little as $150 a day per person. That price includes all meals, drinks (alcohol or otherwise), tips, shows, activities and your room. For that price, you’re not going to get gourmet food and top-brand liquor.
Day 3, April 24: I had a board meeting from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Ate lunch at Mahoe Bay. Again mediocre but all you can eat and drink. Spent most of the afternoon in the pool. Took a rafting trip down the river and enjoyed the lush Jamaican mountainside. This was our best dinner so far. The rafting was great. Our guide gave one of our board members a pedicure using limestone. She said it was great. Got back to RIU at about 10 p.m.
Day 4, April 25: Early morning zipline experience with Chukka Caribbean Adventures. I took the White Witch Canopy Tour through the jungle via a series of nine decks and platforms. All are connected by traverses mounted in the trees of Jamaica’s rainforest. The guides were terrific and funny. All had at least 240 hours of training. To say it was exhilarating would be an understatement. My Traveling Teddy rode along with me in the backpack. I did my best Tarzan yell during one traverse; I had a fantastic view of Montego Bay as I flew through the rainforest at 50 mph on some of the longer traverses.
Annie Palmer was known as the White Witch. She is a pretty scary character in Jamaican folklore. Short (4 feet 11 inches), but brutal, she married her first husband, John Palmer, who was the owner of Rose Hall Plantation, just east of Montego Bay. She was 17 years old.
John Palmer and Annie’s two subsequent husbands died rather suspiciously. Annie, who became known as a mistress of voodoo, which she used to terrorize the plantation, was thought to have brought about the demise of her husbands. It was speculated that she got rid of her lovers as well when she became bored with them. True or not, it makes for great storytelling and has made her a legend in Jamaica.
The legend continues with her death, murdered in bed by one of her slave lovers during the slave uprising of the 1830s.
If you tour the 19th century Georgian Rose Hall Mansion you are told about Annie Palmer’s alleged cruelty. It is told that she conducted human sacrifices, especially of infants, using the bones to practice black magic. She watched from her bedroom balcony each morning the torture of her slaves into submission. She is buried in a tomb directly behind Rose Hall. Of course, the White Witch still haunts the mansion.
It was on her property that I ziplined. Also on the property is a beautiful golf course known as The White Witch Golf Course.
After my ziplining morning, I had to spend a tough afternoon in a board meeting after a short swim. I swam again after the meeting then had a steak dinner at Mahoe Bay with five of our board members. I grabbed a bottle of champagne that had been left in my room and headed over to the theater to watch the Michael Jackson show. I didn’t stay to see the finale. Staying at RIU is like being on a cruise ship.
Day 5, April 26: I spent the morning swimming in the pool, the ocean and walking the beach. The final board meeting took place in the afternoon. The stay ended up with a gala dinner on the beach with wonderful food, drinks and dancing on the sand. Jamaica’s tourism minister spoke and invited SATW back for a convention in 2013. I had one martini too many. I got to bed at 10:30 and had to be up at 4:45 to go to the airport to catch my flight to Miami and then on to Los Angeles.
The flight to Miami took us over Cuba. I had a four-hour layover in Miami. My breakfast at Miami International Airport was a mediocre Nathan’s hotdog and bad fries. My American Airlines flight touched down in L.A. at 4:30 p.m.
Montego Bay is not unlike most beach towns. Jamaica is a poor country, but the streets and buildings of Montego Bay were clean and tidy. It has its run of the usual suspects of fast-food restaurants, including KFC, MacDonald’s and Starbucks.
They have a number of beautiful golf courses and a Ritz-Carlton Resort. Jamaica is the home of the World’s Fastest Human — Usain Bolt — who blew away the field in the 100 and 200 meters at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China. It is also home to the now-famous Jamaican bobsled team and home to the late, great Bob Marley, one of the fathers of reggae. He died in 1981 at the age of 36, his musical legend secured. Another Jamaican, Joe Higgs, who died in 1999, is considered the Father of Reggae Music, but it is believed that Marley was the man who made it popular.
(All information is accurate at the time of publication but prices, dates and other details are all subject to change. Confirm all information before making any travel arrangements.)
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