Jim & Line - April, 2010
Line's thoughts
Why do we keep going to Hedo 2?
This past April, we went to Hedonism 2 for the 10th time. Before leaving, we often wondered if we were getting tired of going to the same place, same spot on the beach, same time starting to drink, same food for 7 or 10 days, basically same old same old.
We arrived on March 31, 2010 middle of the week. The resort was fairly quiet. As soon as we got out of the shuttle bus, we were greeted by Cecil and the staff at the reception was friendly and glad to see us back.
We met newbies or virgins on the shuttle bus. We took them under our wings for 5 days and by the time they left they had a great time.
As we were sitting in the water, talking to other people, the question was asked by a newbie: ‘Why do you keep coming back to the same resort?’
That was a good question.
We don’t come to Hedo because of the rooms which are acceptable but this is no 5 stars resort.
We don’t come to Hedo because of the food. The food is good but there is no really wow factor.
We don’t come to Hedo because of the room service. It is non-existent.
We come to Hedo because the staff recognize us and makes us feel welcome back home.
Cecil greeted us with a big smile; Charlie remembered Line as the Canadian girl that loved the mangos; Yolandi remembered Jim because he kept teasing her; Augustus was in fine shape on the beach; It was nice to see him. He took Line’s beach bag and put it on Jim’s shoulder. Delroy was at his best mixing drinks; Paulette had her usual smile on her face; the maids always did a super job in our room; Michael, the duty manager, greeted us with a strong hand shake; Ray, Norman, Patrick and many other staff in the dining room, stopped by to welcome us home; Garfield, the tennis pro still being persistant for Line to go play a game of tennis; Desmond, the rock painter.
We come to the Hedo because of the patrons and its natural surroundings.
-Sitting in the water, a woman from Minnesota told me the challenges that she had faced in her life. She told me that at one point in her life, she chose to become part of the solution instead of the problem. she was able to enjoy life now and her grandchildren.
-People inquiring about Jim’s health and seeing that he was doing good put a smile on their face and on ours.
-Seeing people from all around the continent and Europe that we have not seen in 2, 3 years or even longer and still recognizing them.
-Talking about politics, comparing political systems in North America and realizing that both countries have their own problems
-talking with people that we would normally not talk to if we were in a different environment because of their status or the way they would be dressed
-Remembering the faces but not the names
-Feeding the fish that come to greet us the Jamaican way and eating the bread that is presented to them
-Listening to the tree frogs when darkness settles in
-The book lady that sits in the same chair and reads 5 books in 5 days
-The silly games that people play
-My husband caressing my breasts in the pool while we keep sipping on a drink
-Watching a pelican doing the worst belly flop in the world to catch a fish
-Watching the sting rays scan the bottom of the sea right in front of our eyes
We always leave the resort, feeling rejuvenated, having learned a new lesson about life, about ourselves. That is why we keep going back to Hedo to create more memories and that is why we shed a few tears because it is so hard to leave those friends behind hoping that next year we will see them again…
Jim's
Thoughts
The trip itself was really a non event - everything went smoothly - 2 hours and 15 mins from the time the plane landed until the van landed at Hedo. Did notice a few subtle changes in the layout of the resort but couldn't have been much since I can't even remember them now. No rain until day 8 for about 2 hours then day nine for a half hour. We were very disappointed in the "Grand Buffet" on Fridays - was not anything out of the ordinary but they made up for it on Monday night's Beach Party. Met some real good people for the first time and re-met some who we meet every year at the same time. Like Line mentioned, we know why we keep going back and no we are not tired of the place. We fell in love again and actually did some things we never did before in the past 9 trips. We even stayed up long enough to go to the hot tub one night and even found the magical hidden hot tub after all these years - right outside our window. We now have more memories to think of and more pictures to look at. Here's hoping that we can meet up with our new friends from North Dakota again - had a great time with them. Till next Aprils adventure we wait patiently .............