JAMAICA ME CRAZY

FINALLY...NORMAL? 

Given the arduous tasks and the precise adherence to COVID protocols that were required of us JUST to have permission to fly to this Caribbean island nation, is it any wonder that we ripped off our masks at the first opportunity when we finally arrived? After all, this was our first international trip since the “pandemic” hit the globe and despite being weary from all the precautions and fear-mongering we had endured we were still willing to abide by all rules in order to get to Jamaica, even taking the extra step of getting vaccinated. Interestingly a vaccination was not required by Jamaica or the United States to travel, just a negative COVID test.

Once there though, we were like guilt-ridden Catholic High School kids finally graduating and free or hyped-up Amish kids going wild on Rumspringa!

No sooner than we got our room keys the masks came off the swim suits donned and we were in the swim-up bar outside our room in the “French Village” section of the Sandals South Coast Resort in Whitehouse Jamaica, swaying to the reggae being played by the D.J. It felt normal...finally. Though the entire staff of Sandals wore masks, we (every guest) largely ignored the signs about wearing masks indoors, although many complied with requests to use hand sanitizer whenever asked.

BEACH DON’T BITCH

The mask wearing by the staff was a strange sight, but because we were basking on a two mile stretch of a white sandy private beach along a placid Caribbean Sea and plied with plenty of alcohol any lingering worry about COVID quickly dissipated and what seemed ludicrous at first soon became commonplace. Even our divemaster, Stringbean, wore a mask before gearing up and getting “wet”, quickly replacing it when we got back on board the dive boat. Did we care? No we did not.

Why, we even became appreciative of the staff’s adherence to the COVID protocols, as that meant our safety was important to them.

Jamaica heavily relies on tourism and in order to keep this major industry churning the government has devised the notion of “resilient corridors” along the north and south coasts. Basically, if you stay in your resort you don’t have to quarantine against the virus, although protocol-compliant businesses can take patrons on tours.

I had asked about seeing a live reggae band and was told that everything was closed down. All the bars in Negril were shuttered for now and so that opportunity will have to come sometime in the future for us. 

Every detail at Sandals though is tended to and staying on the resort was fine for us. We went on two-tank dives nearly every day. The dive sites were sometimes just a five-minute cruise out, so we were always back around 11:30 a.m. That left the rest of the day making the hard decision as to where to eat lunch and later where to lounge, at the pool or what section of beach and later where to eat dinner. You see it’s a full day!

Two days before our scheduled departure, Sandals requested we take a COVID test. One of the rooms on ground floor in the French Village served as the testing site. We walked in one way and after passing the rapid test (I tried to slip her a $20 so we’d fail and have to remain in Jamaica for a while longer, but they don’t accept tips at Sandals), we walked right out to the pool and got a refill on our drinks.

It may be Jamaica Me Crazy to do all this in order just to travel, but after a year of hiding it is worth it!

Thanks for reading!

Love to all

Janet and greg

©2021

By Greg Dunaj