We’re off on a Jamaican adventure!
Just a quick post, then, to set up the blog and document the trip.
After a Thursday of last minute shopping, washing, packing, dog grooming and list checking, we said goodbye to the kids and made a break for it, Jan picked us up on the wet fall evening and took us through the rain to the airport, We leave at the beginning of storm #2 of a trio of bad weather, abandoning our children to the elements.
We were in plenty of time at #yyj and no trouble getting our bags on, I downloaded the Air Canada app to get notifications on gate changes, etc. We boarded the Dash 8 just after 9pm and by 10 we were cruising through the Vancouver airport to our next gate. In preparation for the overnight, I picked up a couple of flight pillows and a snack.
Boarding our 767-300 to Toronto just after midnight we hit the only snag of the trip – someone on the plane was sick and had to be deplaned, the plane had to be “groomed” and the fuel topped up, costing about an hour before takeoff. The storm was setting in so it was a bit bumpy heading over the Rockies, but soon after the trip became calmer and we tried to get some sleep,
Not much though, given that the trip was only 4.5 hours and the pilot was trying to make up time. We got to #yyz just past 7:30am local and while the circuit to the next gate was rather involved (now going international) at least we stayed in terminal 1 and things were clearly marked. We arrived at Gate E76 (changed during the night) with about twenty minutes to spare. As we took our seats on the Airbus, we saw the baggage cart arrive and were relieved to see our own suitcases stowed.
The last hop to Montego Bay was around 4 hours and uneventful, though interesting from my passenger window: we flew directly over Washington DC and I was able to make out the White House, the Washington Monument, etc; and as we flew over the Caribbean we were able to see the stunning changes to the colour of the ocean where the water is shallower and light reflects off the sand and coral.
After watching the end of Game of Thrones via inflight service we landed at Montego Bay around noon local and waited for the service team to line up our gate. The rush of warm (32C?) and humid air as we left the plane announced to us that we had arrived. Getting through immigration and customs took awhile but the lines moved along and we hit no significant glitches. Our bags were at the carousel when we got there and after a quick repack of some of our carry-on we made our way to the main airport concourse where we found the Sandals hosts.
Although we weren’t there long, the Sandals company does a nice job of providing a reception area where you can sit and have a drink before your Red Cap porter takes your bags to the first available resort shuttle. The shuttles are minivans and comfortable which is good as the trip is a bit of an adventure.
It doesn’t take long to make the flip to right side drives and British rules of the road, but the driver interaction takes some decoding, the roads are often pretty rough, and the signage seems to be more of a guideline than instructions. We passed through many small towns on our way to Negril, most of which look just like the National Geographic and tv specials have made them out. In rural areas you might almost mistake the landscape for southwestern Ontario with horses and cows in the fields, with only the stray chickens and goats wandering next to the road giving the lie.
We arrived at Sandals Negril after about an hour and a half on the road, and we greeted be Kadeem, who gave us cold cloths, got us through our registration (which it appears you can also do online), and escorted us to our room. We’re in a “Caribbean Oceanview Luxury Room” which is quite nice – lots of space, king size bed, rainfall shower, etc. We unpacked our bags and then headed out to see our resort.
By this time we were both feeling pretty sleep deprived so our trek was less of an explore and more about getting our bearings. We found the main dining area (very important!) and the beach very quickly, and got a sense of where many of the main restaurants are. The beaches have lots of comfy spots to bask, there are drinks available everywhere, and pelicans constantly fly up and down the shoreline. Egrets scavenge near the outdoor eating establishments!
There’s also a fairly elaborate wedding enterprise set up on one end of the resort. Interestingly you need at least 24 hours advance notice before anyone will conduct a wedding, Did I mention that drinks are available everywhere?
At 4:30pm most of the restaurants are not yet open for dinner so we found a “bistro” where we were able to get nachos and fruit and cottage cheese. We sat near the beach and absorbed that we were finally here! We walked through the lobby again and picked up a strawberry dacquiri and a beer and sat on a swinging couch for awhile before the trip fatigue finally took us over. By 6:30pm were both out for the night.
