So this morning we are doing the radio thing as normal...sitting in our broadcast tent, down by the beach, sunny & hot, buffet just steps away, Sandals staff bringing us chilled water, looking over the crisp freshly groomed beach into the blue waters of the Caribbean and watching cruise ships come to port! Now when you see them, they don't appear to be big, nor far away because there is no reference point. Then you zoom in on the camera and start counting the decks and realise these things are like 20 stories tall or more!!
Ooooo, also this morning a dream came true as the grounds people were cleaning up and had a big barrel of coconuts. Now my goal was to have a drink from a coconut before we head home and this was my chance. The guy grabs a machete and starts whacking away at it, millimeters from his fingers. Anyway, happy ending we all got our fresh coconut!
Ocho Rios, which is only 2k down the road, was the site of the final stand for the British to boot out the Spanish after Columbus hit these shores in 1494. Normally this quaint little town is around 8,000. When the cruise ships come in, over 12,000 people walk the plank and descend upon the eager locals selling their wares! I bet you know what I'm talking about here, but have you ever bought anything on vacation thinking it was fantastic, gotta have that, boy wont that look great! Then you get home unpack, take that thing out look at it and go "what the heck did we buy that for?"
Jamaica isn't all that big really. Only 235 miles long and only 80 miles across. Now keep in mind much of that is extremely dense jungle and how one would navigate through that is any one's guess! It has a long and sorted history as well as being one of the main pirate hang-outs. Seemed back then, the Spaniards and even the English often turned a blind eye to buying stole good, only if they were stolen from someone else! Names that have visited here you may have heard of include Christopher Columbus
Captain Morgan
(Ya the guy on TV commercials selling rum by putting one leg in the air)
Fletcher Christian and his Famous/infamous Captain Bligh. Ya that's the guy from the Mutiny on the Bounty.
Now movies have taken great licence in this matter. He was not even a captain at the time, just a lieutenant and once of few officers even on the ship. Records show he was not a tyrant, but rather lenient and caring for the men.
Fletcher Christian led the mutiny and returned to Tahiti, where by all accounts he was murdered by bandits. His descendants still live there today. Captain Blight died highly decorated in London and is buried there and survived by direct descendants to this day!
History lesson over! It is fascinating though.
Last night we went to the new amphitheatre and took in a fabulous Reggae show with Peter Lloyd, a respected artist here in Jamaica. His whole show was the entire history of what we now know of as Reggae. As he explained, he would sing songs from that era and believe it or not, I bet you would know everyone of them!
He wrapped up the show explaining his early life in gangs and selling drugs and winding up in prison because his father would not tell the police he knew him (because he was so disappointed in his son and wanted him to know what his life will be like if he keeps on the path) He pays tribute to his family, and mother in particular by singing, what most here agree is thee greatest reggae song ever recorded - Bob Marley's No Woman No Cry. He did and incredibly moving rendition!!
We managed to see our winners, Christine and Loran for a brief period as they were on there way Zip Lining and tubing down a river! They said that tomorrow they are horseback riding along the ocean! We even managed to track them down this evening to come have dinner with us at one of the fine Italian Restaurants here at Sandals! Here we found out Loran's real name is Patrick but you can also spell it Lorne... and Christine's is really Christina! MMM secrets!!! It was after a fine meal that the desert menu came and low and behold, there were canolli's on tap. Now I watch Cake Boss and they always talk about them so Trevor, Loran, the Sheriff and I all decided to try one - Fabulous!!!
We talked about what fun we've been having like me having to go to the front desk and tell them to come to our room since we have a very squeaky bed...or when Trevor went to the spa, came out to shower off all that oil, stood up and almost pierced his skull with a coat hook...or was it Chelsea heading off to the broadcast site this morning and slipping down several stairs. Ahhh the good times!
Most of us today just sat around the pool or on the dock tanning and just chillin. We all seemed to need a bit of an afternoon nap as well and no doubt will need one tomorrow as well.
After dinner we made the mistake of turning the direction of the bar as we heard music playing. Oh god, karaoke! Should have known better. By the time we got inside, wouldn't you know it we hear over the speakers "please welcome the Sheriff to the stage" and sure enough Alan hops up grabs the mike and start to sing, perhaps the hardest song to sing karaoke LA Woman by the Doors. Despite the fact he had a few too many fruity cocktails at supper, I have to say he was pretty smoking on stage and got a rousing applause!
We all stayed till they booted us out and headed back to our Villas by bus, where we all hit the sack hoping to get a good 5 hours sleep before our next broadcast tomorrow - or should I say today! This work thing is hell
Garth
No comments:
Post a Comment