Rockhouse, Negril

The last few days of my trip sort of blended together so I thought I'd just put together one all-encompassing post about my stay in Negril.

It was tough to leave Jake’s, if only for the amazing food. It’s a very special place and I do hope that I make it back there again someday. The bar has been set quite high, and because of that I am hoping that Negril doesn’t disappoint. O’Neill picks me up at noon for our two hour journey. We once again pass by the Black River but this time I get to see a whole new stretch of coastline as we continue north to Negril. The drive is a careful one – dodging potholes (and goats) the entire way, but I am excited to finally arrive at Rockhouse. I bid O’Neill farewell and after a quick and friendly check-in, Scarlett helps pull my very heavy suitcase to my room and shows me around the facilities. My room is fairly basic but has a beautiful big bed with mosquito netting - which I've come to realize is definitely not just for aesthetic reasons, though it does look pretty. It also has a day-bed, a strong air-conditioning unit (yay!) and, the best part, an outdoor shower.

The entire resort is lovely as the hotel perches on a volcanic rock cliff that overlooks beautiful reefs and grottoes. Despite the rocks, the hotel is quite lush and private. Shady paths wind through the facility filled with tropical trees, plants and flowers. The pool sits atop the rock and overlooks the sea and is the perfect place to catch a sunset (or happy hour). The restaurant and bar also overlooks the water and at night is lit with torches.

My experience at the hotel is relaxed and quiet. The hotel is mostly filled with couples who stay in the beautiful and private cabana-style rooms but there are a few large groups of people enjoying themselves by the pool. I met a really lovely group of two families traveling together from Brooklyn, NY - Cassandra, Abdul, Belinda, Sonya and Willow. They were nice enough to invite me to join them for a dinner at Sips n Bites - a local roadside Jamaican restaurant - where I had a great time trying to convince them to visit Toronto. I promised I would visit Brooklyn too - if only to check out Abdul (a chef) and Cassandra's restaurant: A Bistro.

Some highlights from my stay?

I took a morning outdoor yoga class with Fanette ($15) and was the only person to show up, so it was a private class. It was incredible and certainly was a great way to start my day. I definitely recommend this for any yoga fans visiting the hotel.

Secondly - I love breakfast and the Rockhouse does breakfast right: poached eggs, callaloo, roasted tomato and (the best part) jerk sausage. One morning I am happily surprised to have some breadfruit on my plate too - which was delicious!

Happy Hour is happy indeed - with 2 for 1 drinks between 5 and 6 pm.

Snorkeling (with my new underwater camera) was so easy. Equipment can be rented at the pool bar ($5 / day) and you can simply take any of the ladders down from the rocks and snorkel right beside the hotel.

It was sad to leave. I even tried to change my flight at the last minute, but no dice. So I reluctantly got in the van (Kenny's Tours transfer $80) back to the airport. It started to pour rain en route so that definitely made it easier to leave. I will definitely be back to Jamaica soon though...next time, it's Goldeneye!

Super Cool

I'm not really one for taking tours but I couldn't leave Treasure Beach without a visit to one particular local attraction: The Pelican Bar.

The Pelican Bar could quite possibly be the coolest place I have ever been. Set about a kilometre at sea on a sand bar, Pelican Bar is a shack on stilts made up of driftwood that serves cold drinks and fresh seafood. The staff at Jake's makes arrangements for a local - Captain Dennis - to shuttle me in his boat ($75) for a beer and a tour of the coastline. I am told to meet Dennis "down the beach and past the tree". Sure enough, I find him there wearing a shirt that says "Captain Dennis".

My ride is fittingly called "Super Cool". Dennis is a fantastic guy who points out all the highlights as we pass the pristine, untouched coastline and even spots (to my huge delight) a playful dolphin who follows us for almost the entire 25 minute boat ride to the bar.

The bar is even cooler than expected and is a real marvel of engineering. Apparently, it even remained untouched  by the last hurricane while nearby coastal homes were destroyed. The boys are just setting up shop when we arrive but the beer is cold and that is all that matters. The inside is decorated with flags from all over the world and there are two from Canada. I purchase a heart-shaped wooden sculpture from Andrae who carves his name in the back. I have a second beer, a good chat with Dennis and a married couple from Chicago, a quick dip in the warm, shallow waters and then we are back in the boat. Super Cool! While we don't see any more dolphins, we see plenty of swooping pelicans and a huge jumping tarpon. I bid Dennis farewell with a big hug and thank him for an awesome day and then hit Jack Sprat's for lunch.

Jack Sprat's is a restaurant owned by Jake's that is located just down the beach (before the tree). It's a very cool place with fresh seafood and pizza - which is what they seem to be famous for. I order the jerk sausage pizza (a half pie) along with a cold bottle of coke ($10 total) and it is to die for. Sigh. Life is super cool.

I spent the rest of the afternoon sunning and swimming and enjoyed a late dinner at Jake's - jerk chicken with rice and peas and coconut ice-cream (by far the best of some really good homemade ice-cream this week). I had picked up a DVD copy of The Harder They Come at the Jack Sprat gift-shop and decided to give it a watch on my lap-top. The movie is closely tied to Jake's as it's founder - Perry Henzell - is the writer / director / producer of this cult favourite from 1973.

Sadly, my time at Jake's is coming to an end as I make my way to Negril. More from the Rockhouse tomorrow...

Thursday, right?

I'm starting to forget which day of the week it is. That's a good thing in my books.

Thursday was all about chilling in the sun and I was definitely up for the task. There were no clouds in the sky...and very little wind...so it was necessary to develop a bit of a routine that involved sun, pool, bar, suntan lotion, then repeat. The pool here is a lovely mosaic-tiled, free-form design filled with saltwater. This is terrific because it allows you float around with very little work involved. I tested out my brand new underwater camera. It's great for it's ability to let me chill about ruining my camera near / in water and sand, but the picture quality just doesn't even remotely measure up to my SLR. I knew it wouldn't, but I was still hoping for a little better. I may have to upgrade when I get home.

It was a quiet day. And an early night - but not before another delicious dinner at Jake's poolside restaurant under the pretty lights up in the trees. This time I kicked things off with some Rum Punch and an appetizer portion of guacamole followed by a vegetarian pasta and some watermelon-ginger sorbet.

More food travel tales tomorrow...whatever day that is...

Banana Pancakes

My room has no clock and no phone. Sadly, this did not prevent me from waking up way too early. It must have been around six-ish when the pink sun started to stream through my bamboo covered windows so I hung out under the mosquito netting and read my book for a long while, and then decided to head to the pool area for some breakfast.

I selected the banana pancakes from the daily menu on the chalkboard - a very wise decision since they were possibly the best pancakes I have ever had (next to my grandmothers, of course). I also had some much needed Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee and and a glass of fresh watermelon juice, all for under $10.

It was looking a bit gloomy but the sun started to peek through the clouds so I parked myself on the beach to catch some rays. I ended up sitting beside Mei-i, another solo traveler from NYC and we traded both travel tales and turns picking up rounds of cocktails from the poolside bar. Dougie - of Dougie's Bar - whipped us up some Passion fruit Margaritas and some of his famous Rum Punch before we moved onto the Red Stripes. It started to pour rain and thunder, so after a rainy swim in the pool we took shelter and ordered a bite of lunch. I ordered the traditional Pepperpot soup - a blended green soup made from callaloo, a vegetable popular to Jamaican cooking followed up with a warm apple and walnut cake that had a small and delicious scoop of grapenut ice-cream on top. Mei-i spent the afternoon taking a cooking class with the hotel's cook ($20) where she learned how to make (and got to eat) jerk shrimp. I spent it reading and writing on my terrace while listening to the thunder rumbling. As it was Mei-i's last evening (and her birthday), we decided to meet for drinks at Dougie's followed by dinner inside the hotel.

Over drinks we met some lovely new friends including a cool South African expat journalist from the Cayman Islands, who was traveling with her family. When we finally dragged ourselves away from Dougie's Rum Punch, we had yet another amazing meal. I had the Vegetable Rundown - a traditional coconut vegetable curry. Mei-i chose the lobster, which she knew was fresh because we saw the fisherman pull up in a boat to drop off a burlap sack of them that very morning. Everything was delicious. Sadly, we had no room for dessert.

It was thankfully much cooler than the night before, so I settled in with my almost completely devoured book (The African Safari Papers by Robert Sedlack) and fell asleep to the sound of the rain.

Jamaican me a very happy girl...

Some people just don't get it. I mention that I am going traveling again and they ask "why" instead of "where".

But that's fine by me. Everyone is different and I certainly don't expect that others find joy in the same things that make me happy. And I certainly don't write this blog to brag about how lucky I am (though I definitely feel very lucky) or to measure my choices against those of others. This blog is for me...and if you happen to like it, cool. If you don't, that's also cool, but you should stop reading now.

So, I am traveling again; and the answer is "Jamaica".

I left a hot and humid Toronto yesterday morning to begin my week long, solo vacation to Jamaica. My 4 hour direct flight with WestJet was moderately priced ($600 tax-in) and fairly uneventful. The WestJet crew made the trip quite fun with their comedy and singing...and even brought out free drinks for the adorable newlywed couple sitting next to me. I arrived at an equally hot and humid Montego Bay airport, found my bag (already waiting for me and pulled off the luggage carousel), located my driver and readied myself for the 2.5 hour drive to Treasure Beach.

Jake's Hotel is located in the sleepy fishing village of Treasure Beach, a somewhat remote destination on the west coast just south of the Black River. I have long wanted to visit Jake's which is often raved about in travel magazines as the coolest hotel in the Caribbean. The hotel has arranged a driver for me ($120 one way), a cool young guy named O'Neill who keeps me entertained with reggae from his iPod and points all of the key sights along the route. The road is pretty bumpy and filled with potholes. It takes some great care to navigate safely so I would definitely not recommend renting your own vehicle to make this trek. We pass a few large trucks stuck on very steep hills. There are people selling fruit, plants and fresh fish on the roadside. It rains a bit which makes the roads a bit trickier, but the air cooler which feels good from my open window. It's a long drive but was so much nicer than sitting in some resort shuttle bus and seeing nothing along the route.

Jake's is incredible - and exactly what I was expecting. I was greeted by my first name and taken to my (upgraded!) room. My room - called Cowrie 2 - is an upper level, large one bedroom dwelling. The best part - the wrought iron spiral staircase that leads you up to the amazing balcony with a view of the sea, complete with a table and chairs plus two cozy muskoka chairs. Inside the big bedroom area there is a large white bed with that features a romantic looking mosquito netting. There is a fridge filled with cold water, candles, a stereo, books (good books even) and a personalized welcome note from the Jake's family. The bathroom is large with a huge mosaic tiled shower and a separate dressing area. All this for little old me? Wow. 

After a bit of a rest in my luxury digs, I decided to head to the pool area to read, sip a cold Red Stripe, watch an incredible sunset and grab some dinner (delicious pumpkin soup, jerk tenderloin and chocolate chip ice-cream for dessert). I'm not sure the night could have been any better. Well...it's always better to share it with someone else, but I guess that's what this blog is for.

Till tomorrow...

Eight is great...

I am all booked to take my eighth trip in the eighth month of this year. Pretty incredible to think I may actually meet my goal - without going broke, failing at my job or having my cat forget who I am.

I was originally planning to go away with a couple of my girlfriends who, as teachers, have the summer off. We took an amazing, fun trip together last summer...and were hoping to recreate the madness of our adventure, but plans changed and I decided I still wanted to beach it up on a solo trip. For years I have been hoping and wishing to visit a particular Jamaican hotel that gets such glowing reviews and now I'll actually have the chance!

Jake's - one of Chris Blackwell's Island Outpost hotel's - is located on the remote and tourist-free southwest coast of Jamaica. Check out the website to see exactly why I am so excited to visit. It looks like just my kind of place - off the beaten path, a chill vibe, good food and a beautiful view of the sea. I will be there for 4 nights before heading into Negril for a 3 night stay. There, I will be shacking up cliff-side at the incredible Rockhouse Hotel. Check out the link - it looks so incredible.

I cannot wait!

Paris Take Two...

I was starting to feel a bit crummy as we were leaving South Africa but by the time we made it to Paris I was sick. A sore throat in a heat wave is not pleasant to say the least but I decided to just ignore it. I was in Paris after all, and time was a-wasting.

We arrived way too early to check-in at our hotel so we stored our luggage, cleaned up and grabbed some breakfast on a terrasse nearby . For those who have never had breakfast in Paris, "petit-dejeuner" generally consists of a coffee beverage (cappuccino, americano etc), orange juice, a pastry (pain chocolat or fresh croissant) plus tartine (toasted baguette served with butter and jam). Yes, croissant and baguette. Delicious.

After breakfast we decided to kill some time chilling in the Luxembourg Gardens. The sun was shining so we found a shady spot to people watch and listen to a student band perform in a gazebo . I was so wrapped up in what a perfect day it was that I decided to call my mother to check in and say hello...forgetting that it was 5am in Toronto. Oops, sorry Mom.

We spent the afternoon in and around the Eiffel tower and lunched near the fashionable Champs Elysees. Then, after a bit of a power nap we ventured out to the Marais for dinner at a bistro - Cafe Moderne. Dinner was delicious (and our waiters were cute and attentive...and French!) and we decided to splurge and treat ourselves to a good bottle of champagne to celebrate an amazing journey across two continents. And despite the fact that I wasn't feeling well, we still mustered up enough energy to visit the Rue de Lappe in the Bastille (an entire street of bars) to have a mojito at La Havanita. Bravo Janine!

Just one night in Paris isn't nearly enough time but I have no doubt that I will find myself there again very soon. Fingers crossed.