23.08.07
CARIBBEAN SINTING!!

Well it’s been a while since I’ve blogged, which seems to be the entry to all my blogs now. Maybe we can just establish that they may be written 3-monthly or so. This blog is well warranted though. It is the ‘Memoirs of my Caribbean Vacation’, and trust me there were no Geishas here.

Barbados
So we arrive in Barbados quite excited about the days to come and how interesting and fun they could be. We arrive at our resort in Rockley, which reminded me of ‘The Point Village’ for all those who have been there…u know dat kinda kitchenette vibe, pull out bed. It actually was quite nice. Got to link up wid ma good friend Janella who carried me out to “Threesome Wednesdays”. Quite glad I went now in retrospect cause it was the only partying I did on the trip. Bajans turn like we now, and party on a Wednesday night (reh to the Wednesday Quadites)…Granted most people looked like the age where they didn’t have work the next morning and it was summer.

So interesting things were that the women were nice but not as nice as Jamaican girls. The next interesting thing is what my fren refers to as WUK UP. The Bajans have dat down pat. For the girls fine, but for the men, I could only describe it as a type of gyration that if Jamaican men were to do it, you know dat a boom-bye-bye woulda come to dem. And strangely it didn’t make a lot of dem look ‘off’. It was quite an interesting phenomenon to me. I actually sampled a Bajan wine myself from a quite talented lady, and I must say it was good, and quite different from mi Jamaican wine…but definitely comparable (maybe at points better…point where I dodge bottles)

My dad’s friends took good care of us and made dinner for us and carried for lunch and stuff. They really added that nice personal element to our trip…thanks a mil!

Apart from that, Tropical Storm Dean dat punk, became a Cat 2 hurricane and passed north of us in Barbados, so dat meant wind and rain and no more partying for my other nights, which sucked. In the end Dean did treat BIM good, and suddenly it’s time to go to Grenada.


Grenada
So we went the Grenada Grande Resort. Quite a Grande you know what. In all honesty the staff was nice, but Grenada is just a real quiet country. Shops closing at 1pm on a Saturday…like what the hell?! Yu ever see anything like dat yet. Worse pon a Sunday the place jus lock down! We drove around the entire island on Sunday and not even a pan chicken man yu could fine on the roadside. Like c’mon, does anyone buy food on the road here? All we could find was roast corn…and we meant roasted without the husk, so u can just imagine how dat look when some of the kernels bun up. Anyways, we went to Concorde falls, which was real cold and nice.

The drive was a welcome distraction as our country was being pummeled by Cat 4 Hurricane Dean. Luckily for us, or I should say God-blessed, the eye passed jus south of us, but our country still sustained significant damage and at least 4 deaths.

Linked wid some a ma dad’s friends and they picked us up and treated us nice as usual…looks like pops gots friends in different area codes, jus like I got…(pause for comic relief to all Ludacris fans). So Grenada’s most eventful thing was the all island drive and the falls and of course the friends. Oh how could I not mention that beautiful white sand Grand Anse beach…dat really mek it, an nobody doan harass yu or nuttin. Do u believe I had to pay for internet too. Like it’s 2007, c’mon, include Wi-Fi. And this blog would not be complete without talking about the restaurant at the hotel. So we like waited 10 mins for the food, and then they put us at this table beside another table that had like 3 generations of fly families on it, with cousins, aunts, uncles and all. The service sucked and guess what they only had eggs and bacon…hmmm, why be in the Caribbean then…and this hotel is about to become a Crowne Plaza. So it’s off to St. Vincent.

St. Vincent
Vincy, Vincy oh Vincy! We come to Vincy and stay at the Mariners Hotel, which was like a really nice, quaint place. I would recommend it to anyone looking for an inexpensive place to stay in St. Vincent. The part of Vincy you guys will love is the mini-bus ride. Vincy mini bus come in like fi wi own, but just as bad, or even worse. My friends from Vincy may disagree, but mi a tell yu seh it bad. And for all a you who tink mi neva tek no bus, mi did tek enough bus inna mi high school days fi know a good one from a bad one. What mek it worse is dat on our return trip to our hotel, one lickle dutty yardie Vincy gal waan tek mi on bout how mi…lickle me…a cause trouble pon di bus. Now my Jamaican friends, you all know me and my demeanor, now you believe seh I was causing trouble on any bus. The long and short was dat at the bus stop my dear friend needed to get out of the bus. We were on the back seat and I was obscuring her. This meant I needed to move, BUT the girl infront of me was on what I thought was the flip up seat. Little did I realize the said flip up seat was fixed to the side of the bus. In my ignorance I say “So the girl coulda get up”. And she (yaadie Vincy) then decides to cuss about me giving trouble in the bus. I then say, “So why yu complaining?”. She then starts to raise her voice at me. I then go “Shhhhhhh”. And her response, “Who yu a Shhhhhhh…yu doan know me!”. Is a sad ting I look so young and my parents were there, cah she doan know me,. I did waan tell her bout the colours of the rainbow, cah me did well RED, but I held my tongue and fortunately we were at our stop. No disrepec to a Vincy, but I’m a Jamaican and no gal inna Vincy bus going dis mi. Well she did and get weh, but is only due to the circumstances. I really had to cool down after that tho, and is a long time I never feel so violent and aggressive. And if yu ever see ar too. But God knows what’s good and he protects me everyday. Dat was a ‘Walk Away Moment’. Thank you Jesus!

So the next day was the Grenadines tour. This was awesome. We flew to Union Island and took a Catamaran to like 3 islands. All inclusive food and drinks, snorkeling…it did mek it! This was definitely one of the most eventful moments of the trip from a tourist activity point of view. The French restaurant on our compound was awesome as well. The food was great and we complimentary drinks for flattering the owner on their excellent service etc. And strangely it’s the next day and we’re off to St. Lucia.

St. Lucia
Land of the Pitons, St. Lucia Jazz Festival, a semi-active volcano, and the Dornelly’s Inn. Most of you probably haven’t heard about the last one. Well if ya didn’t know well you about to find out. LOL. The Dornelly’s Inn is where we would stay for 2 nights. Kinda far from the airport, but like 15-20 mins far, and up a little road that look like roun’ where my parents come from (aka BUSH). So we stumble upon a 3 story building with 2 tractors on property. The lovely reception area has areas with no ceiling, and the hotel pc uses dialup internet. I nah fight gainst or nuttin. Just that when you know what you going to get for yu money daz one ting, but when the money yu paying deserve more, den yu haffi criticize. I sound like such a snob in this part of the blog, but you had to see this place. We stayed in far superior hotels that cost like US$5 more, so u have to understand. Well more minibus to the city which like all Caribbean cities have a market and nuff activity.

Rented a car and drove around the beautiful island of St. Lucia. Now if anywhere comes close to or beats JA in parts where beauty is concerned, then it’s here.

Antigua
This blog had been on hold until today, October 23, cuz I jus hadn’t finished it. I had to stop cuz Antigua was just absolutely nice, and we only stayed there overnight so that we could get a flight the next day to our wonderful hurricane beaten JA. We stayed with one of my dad’s friends’ house. And what a house it was. It’s been a while since I’ve been in a house that is so pristine and so well laid out in terms of design and decoration. This house was absolutely amazing and was far better than any hotel. We had an excellent host who took us out to dinner and what can I say…Goes to show that some bonds and relationships are really life-long, and that in years to come you may go to the country of that person you were in university with, and they’ll actually put you up, kinda like how you joked about it greater than 20 years before. Life really is amazing!! The restaurant we went to was an old fort and the view was absolutely beautiful. Then the next day it was off to yaad.

BACK TO YAAD
And what can I say about yaad. Yow yaad yu look kinda pop-dungish, but it’s DAMN GOOD TO BE HOME.