03-05-2015, 02:52 PM
Spent the last couple of weeks at my home-away-from-home aka Roots Bamboo on the beach in Negril. Feeling rejuvenated so vacation did the trick. Nice break from winter here in Minnesnowda. Experienced a 100-degree temperature swing on day one with it being -15 in Mpls and +85 in Jamaica. Had to walk the 7-mile beach for about a day-and-a-half before I was fully thawed.
Tarrus Riley ("She's Royal") performed at Roots Bamboo on the night I arrived. Speedy and crew set up the perimeter fence digging holes in the sand with a machete. Leroy wore his complete all-white chef's outfit with floppy cap to serve jerk chicken from his kettle inside the Roots Bamboo compound while the other food vendors fought for position on the road outside the front gate. Fabled saxophonist Dean Fraser hit notes that made the stars twinkle, shine brighter, and streak away into oblivion practically every song...although it could have been the ganja.
Watched most of the show from backstage alongside my favorite Rastaman Herbie. Saw ever-smiling boardie Wendy sitting at the bar with her favorite Rastaman too.
Big improvements at Roots Bamboo. The opening driveway is now paved and the guard shack by the road is actually staffed on concert nights to keep non-ticket holders out of the compound and it makes a world of difference (ie-fewer prostitutes /taxi drivers hanging around). Plus the stage has been completely replaced. It's far lower, much sturdier and now has four light towers for stage lighting. And the bar has been renovated with new countertop, murals by Rohan, etc.
But the biggest change--and the one that affected me immediately since I'd just shown up unannounced without a reservation--was the demolition of all the cheap rooms that lacked bathrooms, which is where I typically stayed. In their place is a two-story development still under construction that good ole Ted Plummer certainly never would have allowed.
So I wound up renting a little cottage with all the comforts of home for once (toilet, shower, fridge) PLUS a glimpse of the ocean from the front porch. Even better I'd brought along a coffee maker and an electric skillet so making breakfast (jerk bacon, eggs, pancakes) became a routinely delicious and time-saving snap.
ABC=Always Bring Coffemaker
Spent the extra j's for a big bottle of Sangster's rum cream. Alas it didn't last long. Mmmm. Sweet milk is pretty good too.
Shamrock cashier lets me owe him $20 ja when the provisions I've gathered exceed the buying power of my $20 us. Thanks he'd say when I repaid him a few days later.
Cab rides downtown run $120 for Jamaicans so I'm paying $150 and not asking for change. Red plates only. Avoid the white plates unless you want a chartered ride covering the same distance for $10 or $20.
The vacant lot between Roots Bamboo and Rooms is also undergoing development. Looks like a gigantic Margarittaville type structure (restaurant/bar) is being built. It's still in the framing stages but the workmen are on site from sun up to sun down.
Couldn't help but overhear the activities from nearby Fun Holiday. Sounded like they had lots of stretching and exercise classes so I'd occasionally join in from afar--sometimes while I was in the standing in the Caribbean using the water as resistance. A one, a two, a three, a four, etc.
Oh, here comes the lobster guy! He usually starts showing up around 11 am and after an offered sniff to assure it's fresh I plunge into a couple heavily discounted crustaceans with a lime and red stripe afterwhich I decide one would have been enough. Sure beats paying $30 at a restaurant (for one lobster cut in two).
Needed a new beach towel so procured a very positive "Lively Up Yourself" Bob Marley print. Ya mon!
Paid Speedy to find an air pump and blow up my air mattress aka sea bed so I wouldn't get a headache using my lungs. The mattress was transparent so I told Captain Evers it was my "See Bottom" boat. Easily one of the best investments you can make when visiting the beach.
Still no jet skiis. Hallelujah!
One poor pony ran the beach pooping and looking for riders.
Parasail business was seemingly doing well.
Italian Irie Max was visiting Negril. He's no longer running a business on the beach. His wife is pregnant and they've been denied permission to re-enter Canada where they had been living as non-residents.
Well, that's a decent start. More to come.
Tarrus Riley ("She's Royal") performed at Roots Bamboo on the night I arrived. Speedy and crew set up the perimeter fence digging holes in the sand with a machete. Leroy wore his complete all-white chef's outfit with floppy cap to serve jerk chicken from his kettle inside the Roots Bamboo compound while the other food vendors fought for position on the road outside the front gate. Fabled saxophonist Dean Fraser hit notes that made the stars twinkle, shine brighter, and streak away into oblivion practically every song...although it could have been the ganja.
Watched most of the show from backstage alongside my favorite Rastaman Herbie. Saw ever-smiling boardie Wendy sitting at the bar with her favorite Rastaman too.
Big improvements at Roots Bamboo. The opening driveway is now paved and the guard shack by the road is actually staffed on concert nights to keep non-ticket holders out of the compound and it makes a world of difference (ie-fewer prostitutes /taxi drivers hanging around). Plus the stage has been completely replaced. It's far lower, much sturdier and now has four light towers for stage lighting. And the bar has been renovated with new countertop, murals by Rohan, etc.
But the biggest change--and the one that affected me immediately since I'd just shown up unannounced without a reservation--was the demolition of all the cheap rooms that lacked bathrooms, which is where I typically stayed. In their place is a two-story development still under construction that good ole Ted Plummer certainly never would have allowed.
So I wound up renting a little cottage with all the comforts of home for once (toilet, shower, fridge) PLUS a glimpse of the ocean from the front porch. Even better I'd brought along a coffee maker and an electric skillet so making breakfast (jerk bacon, eggs, pancakes) became a routinely delicious and time-saving snap.
ABC=Always Bring Coffemaker
Spent the extra j's for a big bottle of Sangster's rum cream. Alas it didn't last long. Mmmm. Sweet milk is pretty good too.
Shamrock cashier lets me owe him $20 ja when the provisions I've gathered exceed the buying power of my $20 us. Thanks he'd say when I repaid him a few days later.
Cab rides downtown run $120 for Jamaicans so I'm paying $150 and not asking for change. Red plates only. Avoid the white plates unless you want a chartered ride covering the same distance for $10 or $20.
The vacant lot between Roots Bamboo and Rooms is also undergoing development. Looks like a gigantic Margarittaville type structure (restaurant/bar) is being built. It's still in the framing stages but the workmen are on site from sun up to sun down.
Couldn't help but overhear the activities from nearby Fun Holiday. Sounded like they had lots of stretching and exercise classes so I'd occasionally join in from afar--sometimes while I was in the standing in the Caribbean using the water as resistance. A one, a two, a three, a four, etc.
Oh, here comes the lobster guy! He usually starts showing up around 11 am and after an offered sniff to assure it's fresh I plunge into a couple heavily discounted crustaceans with a lime and red stripe afterwhich I decide one would have been enough. Sure beats paying $30 at a restaurant (for one lobster cut in two).
Needed a new beach towel so procured a very positive "Lively Up Yourself" Bob Marley print. Ya mon!
Paid Speedy to find an air pump and blow up my air mattress aka sea bed so I wouldn't get a headache using my lungs. The mattress was transparent so I told Captain Evers it was my "See Bottom" boat. Easily one of the best investments you can make when visiting the beach.
Still no jet skiis. Hallelujah!
One poor pony ran the beach pooping and looking for riders.
Parasail business was seemingly doing well.
Italian Irie Max was visiting Negril. He's no longer running a business on the beach. His wife is pregnant and they've been denied permission to re-enter Canada where they had been living as non-residents.
Well, that's a decent start. More to come.
