Characters & Stories

Heidi, Casey and Bev (our lovely cook)
Bev cooked everyday for us - we had the best homemade Jamaican food for our entire stay.

Fiona (Bev's daughter), Heidi and Bev.

Fiona helped Bev out cooking and around the villa.

Until we finally caught this critter in action we had thought all the trails in the sand were left by Jamaican snakes!!!
It was only a little hermit crab :)

La Casa Duna - view from the hill behind the house

We went out exploring and caught our last Jamaican sunset
We loved this place!

*~ The skirt and shirt - blowing to reggae music on the line ~*
(Wish Joe and Pam were here to boogy down with us!)

This tree - produced Akee - pictured above
When the red pod is closed the goods inside are poisonous
once open like seen above the yellow substance - Akee - is edible
Bev cooked this up for us 2 or 3 times for breakfast
She mixed it with salt fish (cod) and served it up - DELICIOUS
(It looked like and had a similare texture to scrambled eggs)

Jerk sausage pizza - sooooo yummy

Richard at motor and Len seated... leaving the Pelican bar

Soaking up some sun at the Pelican Bar
(BTW - I didn't see one pelican at this bar...
except the dead one hanging in a net above the bar...)
Besides that - a very cool place... the Salty Dawg better watch out!

Sunny Island - 18 miles out in the middle of the ocean

dolphins swam near our boat for a short while as we headed to Sunny Island

Casey to the left, Everett at the motor and Len on the right.
Len was spearing lobsters for lunch - Casey and I were snorkeling... looking for lobsters.

The water was shallow along this reef surrounding the tiny Sunny Island - Len walking toward the boat with a bag of lobster he speared.

Some of the first lobster Len speared - by end of hunt he had speared 17

Jelly Fish - we were told "Do Not Touch that!"
Beautiful - creepy - little evil thing :)

Casey and Len discussing where to dive and look for hiding lobsters

After snorkeling we went ashore... this coral shelter was already built on Sunny Island which is a small strip of sand and broken coral 18 miles from our villa

Heart

Len building a fire to cook the lobster

The pot full of fresh lobster - lunch!

Sour oranges and lobsters - we had a wonderful beach break and lunch before heading back.

This is the day we got the most sun - despite SPF 50 (per my father's advice :) )

Gone Fishing!

Fishing early... 7am departure - no later!
LOL - in Jamaica that means - 8-9ish
Richard at motor and a local fishing expert (Ashley) offers his guiding.

Casey - happy to have a rod and reel in hand!

We had an itch to rig up Roger's lure and catch some FISH.
In fact... of the only 3 fish caught on this outing - 2 were caught on the rigs Roger sent to Casey!
Thanks Roger !!!

Bonita's on the left - King Fish on the right

am just modeling here... although I fished... did not catch a thing

King Fish - lure Roger sent :)

Exploring Treasure Beach

Local's playing dominoes at the South Pole (store/bar/hang out)
This game was hillarious to watch - each time a player played a domino they would slam the domino on the table making all the other domino's jump and sometimes flip over... it was a fast moving game!

These are the lobster and fish traps they built. This one is brand new - and was dropped in the sea the next day to soak for a week before they would check it again fish and lobster.

While walking the beach - a local fishing boat returned with a haul of fish.
Villagers crowded around the truck to see the catch and select a few fish to take home with them.
I am holding a Parrot Fish.

boats

lobsters from a trap

This young man was hand line fishing for Tarpon from the beach... his bait was dangling from the end of his line. He said they catch Tarpon just off shore - it would have been cool to see him pull one in!

one of three tubs of fish hauled in by the fisherman
*~ quite a variety here ~*

Grouper - the largest fish in their haul that day
(we had grouper for dinner one night - it was absolutely delicious... and by far our favorite fish we tried while in Jamaica)

just life on the beach

Black River called and we answered...

Len and Casey heading down to the beach to hop in Richards boat.

Len loading boat, Richard at motor.
We are headed to the Black River to look for crocodiles and to eat some fresh crab!

Headed out from shore - La Casa Duna - our pad in the background.

Richard (standing), Len (seated) - in the far background... the famous Pelican Bar.
The Pelican Bar... it's a shack/bar/shack/bar/ definitely... SHACK...
in the middle of the ocean on a sand bar :)

Pelican Bar... (not really a shack!!!)
Coolest place near Treasure Beach to sip a Red Stripe... if they hadn't run out!

Black River welcomed us with this crocodile cooling itself

This fatty-pa-tatty was standing it's ground... wish we had a live chicken to throw it!
(apparently that's what the guides toss out to the crocs for a show - ack)

Our turn around point on the Black River ride was near a small dock and road that led to a village called Vineyard. We met this young boy (12) here... he jumped into the river from atop this tree... that was so inspiring to us that Casey dove in and I climbed in too!
(no crocodiles near... otherwise we would have been the chickens :))

Casey... I mean Tarzan!
You should have heard his - ahhhh-aaaaaa-AHHHH call...
SEXY!

Ruby and her daughter were at the river doing laundry. I decided to wash my shirt and was laughed at and told - "no mon, you cannot manage this!"
(It did not help that I was trying to slap my shirt against the rocks)
What followed was a 10 minute demonstration from Ruby on how to properly wash a white shirt in the Black River with soap and fabric softener too.
I loved this woman - she knew her stuff!

On a stop back out the River - we stopped at Sister Lou's for a crab snack.

These crabs were small and their meat was served cut up in the shell of it's back.
Delicious ~*

Sister Lou's
This stop allowed us to watch some local kids hand line fishing (not very successfully), eat crab, enjoy a frosty Red Stripe and chat with some other locals!

Internet. - What's that?

The internet service in Treasure Beach has not proven patient enough for our blog time and photo transfers.

We will try completing the blog in a few days... or as we find a patient connection!

It is beautiful in Treasure Beach - We feel locked in time, somewhere between black & white television and the invention of cell phones. Birds sing as if their paradise had never encountered Hurricane Ivan and local goats roam the roads with little care or worry.

Local vibes wash over us like a cool wind under this Caribbean heat... we can only cast curious wonder at this little village and how much they have right under their feet... and how little it really takes to be happy.

We fall asleep each night to the sounds of waves rolling across the beach and coral below our villa. In the distance far from ear shot - leaves rustle, goats find a patch of earth to retire, locals rest a real rest and birds scurry for a cool branch. Night does not travel fast here......... it is another time on the clock... one that no one keeps track of...

more photos to come :)

Travel to and arrival at Treasure Beach

We left Negril Sunday for Treasure Beach - which is the south part of the Island.
The drive was about 2 hours.
This is a picture of one of the many street vendors along the way... doing what Jamaicans do best - just hang :)

Arrival at La Casa Duna

La Casa Duna - we had this swanky place all to ourselves!

This is the view from our front veranda.
This is where we spent most of our time - the view is incredible!