We stayed on the west coast of Jamaica in the Negril area, at the beautiful Riu Negril on Bloody Bay - where the beach is only 3 miles long, but a very beautiful 3 miles. We also had a chance to tour the Riu Palace Tropical Bay. The Negril area is well known for its beaches and 7-mile beach in particular. One day we took a taxi to Negril and walked almost the whole 7-mile beach where you walk past many larger resorts, smaller private resorts and of course the local beach vendors. They love to get your attention and want you to barter with them. I'm not very good at that and always said I had to ask Poppie (my name for Raymond in Jamaica). He told them he would only give a certain dollar amount – sometimes it worked and I got what I wanted and sometimes it did not. Then I had to walk away but no worries because we'd see another vendor a bit further down the beach – here we go again. There were lots of little bars to stop at and I mean little – just a roof and some planks for sitting on. The one thing that stands out so much is the friendliness of the people – no matter if they are working or just sitting around they always have a friendly smile and will stop and talk to you. The water is a beautiful turquoise and the bottom so clear you can stand up to your neck and see your toes as plain as plain can be.

One highlight for us was a day tour to the Black River. On a boat ride part of that tour we saw 10 crocodiles. Some were sunning themselves while some came closer to the boat when the tour guide called out to them. He would call “gup, gup, gup” and they would hear him and start swimming to the boat while he tossed out pieces of chicken for a treat. He even had names for them. I asked him if he was calling – “fresh tourists, fresh tourists” to them – we all laughed. After the boat ride we enjoyed a wonderful dinner and then went on to the next stop – YS Falls. There is a beautiful park area there and tiered falls – very beautiful and a must see. We were told we could go swimming but were cautioned by some that the water was freezing cold. So, expecting to be chilled we jumped in but it was about the same temperature as our Manitoba water in summer so we found it quite refreshing. We would highly recommend whole day tour of YS Falls as there are wonderful picnic grounds and you can go zip lining as well as do some of the other activities they have there or you can just relax in the beautiful surrounding. We were only there for 1 hour, which wasn't long enough.

I think Raymond’s highlight was the tour of the Appleton Rum Factory – another must see and yes, you do get to taste about 15 different kinds of rum – very interesting tour. We managed to get through or rather Raymond managed to get through all 15 kinds of rum – maybe some of them twice as I didn’t always like my sample. Needless to say it was a quiet bus ride back to our resort.

The next day we took a Dune Buggy tour – it was very good although we both thought it would be a little bit more adventurous. We enjoyed it anyway but maybe next time take a different tour. There were other attractions – horseback riding, ATV and Zip lining.

We wanted to relax on our get away so only did a few excursions. The rest of the time was spent on the beach, in the pool or walking the beach and of course eating. The restaurants were fabulous – we only tried the Steakhouse and Luigi’s as there was a wedding booked in the Gourmet Restaurant. The buffet was very, very good and you did not lack for anything – we mostly ate in the buffet.

The entertainment was fabulous; we even went up on stage and participated in the Ideal Couple game – didn’t win the trophy but won a T-shirt, a shot glass and a small bottle of Appleton Rum. It was fun and something we don’t usually participate in. We even got to see Michael Jackson – well, okay not the real Michael Jackson but a very good show none the less.

All in all the 7 days went too fast and we came home to a bit of snow – but we will go back for sure because “Once you go – you know”.

Sunset from Jamaica - Riu Palace Tropical Bay April 2011

Looking down our beach

Getting hair braided on the beach

Rosie making my bracelet on the beach in Bloody Bay

Starfish in my hand