Negril revisited

As a child, I visited Negril in Westmoreland, Jamaica many times with my parents, brother and cousins, as it has the most beautiful white sand beaches and cool, clear, warm water and on the west end, people were having fun jumping off various rocks into the clear blue waters. 

You see, where we lived in the neighboring parish of St. Elizabeth, had nothing comparable.

At that time, Negril was a little sleepy fishing village.

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Somehow in the 1960's, rich hippies from the nearby USA, heard about it and propelled by the thought of being able to freely enjoy some top quality ganja (marijuana) while lounging on the beach or jumping off 40 foot high cliffs into the clear water below, started to visit. 

The  Negril lighthouse

People from all over the world are still enjoying themselves, jumping off the high cliffs into the clear blue waters today.

Then they were accommodated in nothing but thatch huts, offered by extremely hospitable people.

  The existence of this new hot spot near the USA spread rapidly  and soon people from all over the world started to find their way to the exotic village. 

That was the genesis of tourism in this most prized section of Jamaica and today, almost all the land on the 7 mile section of the beach is lined with bars, hotels, restaurants while the cliff side is abuzz, offering everything including high end accommodation, non-stop music, partying and fun for people of all ages.

The late great Peter Tosh who also hailed from Westmoreland, strongly advocated for the legaling of marijuana and numerous paintings of him with his mantra " Legalize It" are prominent on the wall at Ricks Cafe.

I had not visited the cliff side for more than a decade and was really impressed with what it had become.

Ricks Cafe which established itself    

beside the jumping spot 50 years ago, has been expanding  exponentially too.

 That's the party center of the West end.

Boats bring visitors from the beaches to the cliff side to jump off the rocks.

They come from land and sea to party.

Negril is definitely now on top of its game and I loved the vibes.🥳

Tenerife, Canary islands

I love Tenerife (not the weather in March though😡 58° to 70° when we were there). It is the highest island of all those in the Atlantic and is the largest of the Canary islands.

This island has so many unique features that it's easy to see why some seven million tourists flock to this tiny island every year.

For example, while this tiny island of only 2000 square kilometers ( just over 700 square miles) and while it snows in the mountains, it is a major producer of tropical plants like bananas, avocado and citrus on the plains!

At the Alua hotel 

The place is absolutely pristine with narrow but scenic undulating roads, numerous beaches, (with both black and white sands) lots of shopping and  of course attractive hotels and apartments everywhere.

Another huge hotel

Most of the tourists come from Europe and we were told by our knowledgeable taxi driver Alexandro, that the Germans love Tenerife so much that they have their own enclave where ever the postman is German!😊

The original inhabitants were Berbers from the Sahara , but were subjected and exterminated by the Spanish after almost a century of resistance.

The area where the most bloody battle occured which caused the original population to surrender is the town known as Mensenay Meceyes which means "Kill some!"

We did a wonderful tour of the island in just one day.

When I say we, I mean my travel companions Sonja, Camille, Michelle and Kadi who joined us a day late.

Our first stop was at a national park called Icod de los Vinos where you find the oldest El Drago plant in the world. It's 800 years old and is a member of the onion plant! You calculate its age by the number of branches.

The 800 year old El Drago plant

 
This is near old Tenerife and a section where the very wealthy citizens once lived. Among that set were the ancestors of the south American liberator, Simon Bolivar. A bust of his is in the square.

Gara Chico island

This is the oldest monastery in the Canaries. 11 closeted nuns live here. There are no windows, no tv, no entertainment and they never go outside.

The oldest nun is 75 years and she hasn't been outside in 50 years😩!

 I have never been able to figure out religious zealots. Smh .

Cyclists love these undulating roads.

The waves in the old section get so large at times that sea water floods buildings across the road.

The most fascinating place I have ever visited is a remote village called Masca which is nestled in the Teno Mountains.

 The 20 km road to get there was only built in the 70's and that alone is a feat in itself. For it is narrow, hilly, winding and full of traffic as it is so scenic that people flock the area which has less than 300 permanent residents.

But despite the traffic and the hairpin curves, we never saw a vehicle with any dents.

Then it was on to Mt. Teide, their most famous volcano. ( Incidentally there are 303 active volcanos but only a handful are still active. Lao the island has small tremors almost every day. 

The last big earthquake was in the 80' but no one was killed.)

Mt. Teide

Mount Teide is the major volcano. It is over 12000 ft high, the highest point above sea level in the islands of the Atlantic and the highest volcano in the world, when measured from the ocean floor.

This is still an active volcano, having erupted last in 1909.

The volcano and it's environs are a national park of almost 50000 acres and was named a UNESCO heritage site and is the most visited natural wonder in Spain.

That's not fog but the clouds!

Section of old Tenerife 

In the Mt. Tiede national Park.

Time to prepare for our departure from Tenerife.

Our group at our first dinner on board 

Party time😊

This tenor closed out the night's entertainment.

We departed from the port of Tenerife at about 9pm.

More anon.