Klao Bell Lewis, Contributor
Aistis Zabarauskas in the Blue Mountains.
When bride-to-be Rita Stanelyte sent me her travel itinerary in January - I was amazed at all the ground she and her partner Aistis Zabarauskas intended to cover on their 17-day honeymoon. And there were no 'all inclusives' on the list.
She explained their travel plans this way: "Our main aim is to travel mostly all around the island, but also to relax and enjoy each other. We plan to go everywhere by buses, or by taxis. We would like to see local life with local people and to taste the real Jamaica, not the one that is available for 'all-inclusive' tourists. After all, we are not tourists, we are travellers."
They began making plans from as early as November 2006 and bought their tickets in December '06. Using 'Lonely Planet' as a guide, they identified sights and suitable lodging and made bookings far in advance. Planning their trip was simplified by the Internet and the vision of small hotels and bed and breakfast owners who maintain websites, active email addresses and respond quickly to queries.
Rita and Aistis got married in Vilnius, Lithuania on Saturday, May 19 in a fun-filled wedding which included civil registration, church service, picnic in the park, then partying at a pub. Next day, they flew to London, where they connected on Virgin Atlantic to Montego Bay, arriving here on May 21.
They stayed for two days at the Knightwick Bed and Breakfast. On their first day, they spent the whole day "in the beautiful Caribbean Sea", went wandering around downtown MoBay (Montego Bay) and explored the Hip Strip. Next they were off to Negril and Bar-B-Barn Hotel for another two days and went white water rafting on the Great River
When asked if they had gone cliff jumping, Aistis chuckled "We were having so much fun, we forgot to do the cliff jumping."
After Negril, they headed to Treasure Beach, St. Elizabeth, for what was supposed to be three nights, but fell in love with the 'village' and spent five nights instead. They stayed at the Nuestra Casa Bed and Breakfast and were able to visit, Holland Bamboo, Santa Cruz mountains, Lover's Leap, YS Falls and catch the Calabash Literary Arts Festival. (Rita is now a fan of Jamaican novelist Colin Channer.) The couple also did the Black River safari, not with the usual tour, but with a local fisherman and his family who also took them out to the Pelican Bar.
Continuing with their mode of travelling the way the locals do, they rode to Kingston via Mandeville on route buses. They mused about the loading style of bus conductors who waited up to two hours for space in the bus to be filled before starting the journey.
From left: Aistis, Rita and Klao at the home of their Kingston hosts. - Contributed photos
In Kingston, they were guests in the charming Mona home of Professors Rupert and Maureen Warner Lewis. From there, they were able to plan and embark on a trip to Blue Mountain Peak. This was made possible by the excellent responsiveness of the Jamaica Conservation and Development Trust (JCDT) which advised them of several options of getting to the peak.
They decided on Sun Venture Tours, which arranged a trip for them within two hours, complete with a professional guide; lodgings at Wildflower Lodge and transportation to and from Kingston. At the Blue Mountains, they encountered wild boars, a thunderstorm and an amazing moonlit night which illuminated their path so well, they did not need flashlights.
Back on the plain, they visited Devon House, the Bob Marley Museum and the plazas on Constant Spring Road. They also spent time in New Kingston, dining at the Redbones Blues Café and Cuddy'z Sports Bar and Restaurant and partying at the Asylum Nightclub. The next day they went on a taxi tour of downtown Kingston and found it unsatisfactory, they decided instead to do a walkabout so that they could see more.
They were then able to visit the Marcus Garvey Liberty Hall multimedia museum, the Ward Theatre, St. William Grant Park, the shops and institutions on King Street, the Money Museum at the Bank of Jamaica and the National Art Gallery where they bought prints of vibrant market scenes by artist Milton Messam.
Not quite done with Kingston, they also saw the sights of Port Royal, followed by a Lime Cay excursion and ended that day with a romantic dinner on the deck of the seaside restaurant at Morgan's Harbour Hotel. Morgan's Harbour and Treasure Beach were two of Rita's favourite places on the trip. While Aistis said it was impossible to identify a favourite because "each place has its own pleasant element",
They returned to Montego Bay on the Knutsford Express on June 5th and flew to London the next day.
Rita and Aistis chose Jamaica after considering more than a dozen destinations, including Hawaii and Madagascar getting to Jamaica from Vilnius is at least 13 hours by plane, the island is not too far from the Lithuanian psyche. Their national flag bears the red, green and gold that we identify as a Rastafarian signature. Also, a popular song by Lithuanian artiste Vytautas Kernagis bears the line, "I will never return to Jamaica for I have never been there" presents Jamaica as a place of longing and mystique and tells of the singer meeting a brown-eyed girl in Montego Bay.
Unfortunately, Rita's report on Montego Bay will be that "it is not all that great compared to everything else that can be seen in Jamaica".
She also pointed out: "When we asked advice from other Lithuanians who had been to Jamaica, they said we would have been bored spending two weeks for a honeymoon. But I see now that because they stayed at resorts, they found it boring. For us, there was excitement and variety all the way."
