Notes by Nectar

I came to Jamaica in July 2014 to visit my brother (S) and his family. I was in Kingston for most of the time, and also went on a yoga retreat near Ocho Rios for one week.

This year, I decided I’d stay a bit longer. I got in on a Tuesday afternoon (16th June) and was so impressed with the new automated immigration system! I placed my passport face down on the scanner (open to the page with my photo and details) and my details popped up on the screen in front of me. I had to confirm they were correct and then type in the address of where I’d be staying. The machine took a photo of me (not pretty after a 9-hour flight) and then printed off a slip of paper with my details on it. I took it to the immigration man who tore off his part of the slip and gave the other part back to me. I then went to the carousel to wait for my luggage. It was hot. And it was crowded. And the carousel hadn’t even started yet. What I noticed last year (and again this year) is that everyone waits as close as possible to the wall where the luggage comes out instead of spreading themselves around the carousel. I waited on the opposite side and had a bit of room to breathe for a while! My bags eventually showed up and I wheeled the trolley towards the ‘Nothing to declare’ area. Unfortunately the customs officer thought I did have something to declare and asked me to put my bags through the X-ray machine. And then they opened my trolley bag – for what, I have no idea. I was finally allowed to go and wheeled the trolley towards the exit. As I got there I was approached by a porter who said he’d help me. ‘No, thank you,’ I insisted – I’d managed this far on my own and I could see S waiting outside. Just as I got to the door, I was stopped by another man who pointed to a sign that said ‘NO TROLLEYS BEYOND THIS POINT’. How was I going to manage two suitcases, a trolley bag and my handbag without a trolley? The same porter was still hanging around, so he ended up helping me after all!

We got home at around 5pm and my nephew (Baby A) was about to have his dinner. I hadn’t seen him in a year and he’s toddling around now – and he’s such a doll! Of course he whined when I picked him up – it would take some time to get used to me and I’d brought lots of little toys and books to buy his affection with over the next few weeks.

We had an earlyish dinner and S went off to play poker while I unpacked and settled in.

I pottered around the house on Wednesday morning. I had some tea and breakfast and watched Baby A playing with his toys. S came to pick me up for lunch – we stopped at the pharmacy first (I’d fallen when I was in London and grazed my knee quite badly) and then went to Roe, a Japanese place at Sovereign North. We both had the sushi bento box which was really tasty and then he dropped me back home.

My sister-in-law (T) arrived that evening – she’d been to London and Venice for her cousin’s wedding (we’d also met the week before in London). She was exhausted (and so was I) so we all had an early dinner and called it a night.

On Thursday I decided to go to the office with S. I had a lot of work to catch up on and my plan was to go to the office a couple of days a week to get it all done and relax the rest of the time. Also, the office is air-conditioned whereas the living/dining rooms in the house are not – and even in the bedrooms, the fans are on in the day and air-conditioning at night. Even though the temperature in Kingston is about 32/33C it feels hotter than Dubai as it’s so humid (I sometimes feel like I’m even sweating in the shower) and we really take air-conditioning for granted living in Dubai… So, I went to the office and managed to get a bit done. We ordered chicken shawarmas for lunch – yummy! We left the office early as we were going to PriceSmart (the equivalent of Costco in the UK) to pick up food for our weekend in Port Antonio. On the way home, I spotted this house and found it amusing:

We went home, picked up my T and Baby A, and off we went. We picked up all kinds of things – wine, fruit, vegetables, bacon, salmon and some stuff for the house too. Fitting it all in the car was quite a challenge!

Once again, we had an early night as we had a long day the following day. We were all up early on Friday and eventually left the house after an early lunch. We got to Port Antonio at around 4pm and most of the drive was beautiful. I do get freaked out by the bends in the mountain roads and at how close the other cars drive! My uncle and aunt have a house (Nautilus Villa) in Port Antonio, near the Blue Lagoon (where the movie was filmed), so we stayed there for the weekend. It is gorgeous – the deck looks out on to the ocean and is built above the water so when you get in using the ladder you’re already in water that’s 10 feet deep (and so clear).

The entrance, dining room, one bedroom, kitchen and deck are all on the ground floor. On the first floor are two more bedrooms and a living room.

The beds must all be Super King size because at least four people could have slept comfortably in mine!

We unpacked and then had a drink on the deck. The sun was already starting to set and none of us felt like swimming right then – even though it was still hot. We’d asked for dinner to be served at 8pm, and just before I went up to my room to wash my hands. I realised I should have gone up earlier and closed the windows so that there wouldn’t be any mosquitoes (and who knows what else) buzzing around. As I opened my door, I was greeted with a blast of cold air. God bless the housekeeper – she’d already closed the windows and turned on the air-conditioning! I was so happy!

S, T and I had dinner on the deck. The cook had made salmon in an orange/mustard sauce with a mixed salad and sweet potato fries. Baby A and his nanny were already asleep. By 9pm I was tucked up in bed with my book.

On Saturday morning I was up so early. I was on the deck before the staff arrived at 8am and I think the butler was quite surprised to see me there! I had a cup of tea, enjoying the ocean breeze and my book.

We had breakfast at 9am – eggs Benedict, bacon and jerk sausage. We soaked up the sun a bit more and then when it was too hot to bear it any more, we got into the water.

We had some lunch at around 1pm (grilled lamb sliders and chicken wings) and then it was back into the water. It was so hot. At around 5pm, some of S’s friends stopped by with their families – there were six kids running around (not including Baby A – who was quite overwhelmed)! They only stayed an hour or so but it felt like it was much longer! After they left, we all showered and got ready for dinner (roast chicken and asparagus). We sat up on the balcony for a while and, once again, I was in bed soon after 9pm. I’d finished the book I was reading and started another one that night.

I love my life.

To read more about Jamaica, click here.