Bottom line...We had a great time. It was by no means a perfect trip or a perfect resort. In fact, it probably met very few of our expectations, but somehow this trip would have to rate among the top 10 we have taken. Unfortunately, we didn't get very involved with the WWW group. After the welcoming party, we were feeling a little persona non grata. As "rookies", we felt there would be more of an outreach to include us in the group, but when that didn't materialize, we were uncertain of how to get involved. We tried going up to the nude pool area that next day, but after seeing the mass of humanity collected around and in the pool, we knew we probably weren't WWW material. It was too much, too soon and we had no clue how to react.
Looking back, we've decided OUR expectations were too high. We probably should have just jumped in, but our comfort level just wasn't there to allow us to do that. Our discomfort was ours alone. NO ONE from the WWW group contributed to that in any way. All our discomfort was self imposed. Our bad :).
When we made the chickens**t decision not to join the mass of naked humanity in the pool area, we fated ourselves to become "beach people". We split our time between the prude & nude beach during the day and saved the nude pool for the late evenings. This seemed to be more our speed (or lack of) and we quickly found our niche.
Here are some random thoughts & a few things we did and didn't do:
THE RESORT
Rooms - A little run down Service - Poor Beach - Good Grounds - Perfect Food - Yuck Aura/Feel - Sublime/Irie Staff - Too visible Weather - No problem Security - Good Disco - Refreshing Veronica's - Boring Pastafari's - Very nice Gift Shops - Too pricey Aviary - Set them free! Spa/Recreation areas - The staff seemed to enjoy them
THINGS WE DID
Walked the beach past the resorts & public beach - very cool Took a catamaran to the Pickled Parrot with the Swept Away people - Steve jumped the cliffs - Lots
of fun with Rasta Ralfie, Sally & SA people Did the parasail thing - Heart stopping Took the shuttle to town - Went to the craft market and shopped at the Hi-Lo (3 large cokes for $1.57) Went to Ricks - Steve jumped & we watched the sunset, but the visibility was poor Snorkled Hoarded towels Ate way too many grill burgers Comptemplated our toes alot
THINGS WE MISSED
Our best friends & travel companions who were supposed to come with us Island picnic Trapeze PJ Party Banana Boat
MISCELLANEOUS
Worst - Road from MoBay to Hedo Steve getting stung by sea urchin No Dr. Peppers or Cokes
Best - Walking the beach Parasailing The people we met
Unusual - The "lifestyle" couple we met The imported strippers A certain proposition I received
In summation, it's hard to say why we had as much fun as we did. The negatives probably outweighed the the positives, but there was just something about Hedo that was very intoxicating. "No problem" become more than just words. It's as if those 2 words are at the heart of Hedo. Yeah, the food was bad, the service was lousy, the fellowship wasn't what we had hoped for and our expectations weren't exactly met, but so what? "No problem" And, it REALLY WASN'T! At Hedo, problems (real or imagined) seem to disappear like bikini tops.
Personally, I will always have Hedo, Negril & Jamaica in my heart. I will always remember the WWW group I really never really met or got to know. And though, I'll probably never go back, I'll miss you all! That may sound strange, but it feels very true. Call it Hedo Logic, because I have no other explanation for it.
Thanks Denny for letting us experience the WWW world.
Love to all,