Caribbean Pick #1: Jamaica

swept away

What has made Rhodes Resort at Rhodes Hall Plantation in Green Island, Jamaica a cut above the rest:

- Homey

There's no standard front desk for formal check in where you have to sign a load of papers until someone gives you a hotel door access card. They simply lead you to your cabin, tell you essential details about the resort, and leave a mobile phone that you may use without additional cost during your stay.

from the inside looking out

wake up to experience the trees and the breeze

- Secluded

My best friend and I felt that we had the whole resort only to ourselves. They have their own beach with healthy coral reef for us to keep snorkeling.

The property is about an hour from Sangster International Airport, Montego Bay. You drive around the mountains and pass a few towns.

the infinity pool

- Natural

Peacocks, native chickens, and guinea fowl are all around the resort. There's one very special peacock that bows his head down whenever he sees a person. He expects everyone to pet his colorful feathers. I decided to call him "Sir Lancelot." What a regal peacock!

camouflaged

Bay View Restaurant also grows its own peppers, tomatoes, and a few other vegetables. I like how they pick a scotch bonnet from their garden for cooking scrumptious meals. I really love spicy food.

the view from the restaurant boosts your appetite

- Amiable

Dem people, yaman, mi get fi realize!

Thanks to Marcelle, Wayne, and Bayview Restaurant. Everything was done according to schedule. I only booked the airport-resort transfer, and vice versa less than 36 hours before arrival. Their recommendations also worked perfectly. More jerked chicken and tropical slush, please!

http://www.rhodesresort.com/

the setting of the sun make you look forward to another day

What helped complete the visit:

- JetBlue Airways

on-time flights and spacious legroom

- Priceline

reasonable deals and reliable reservation

My best friend and I are certainly visiting other Caribbean islands next time. 

Let's go out and experience the real wonders of our beautiful planet.

 

won't go home without a few of these

Meandering Through the Sierra

Pushkin, Wordsworth, Keats, Dumas, and Thoreau are a few of the literary stalwarts during the Romantic Era. They weren't born in my generation but while exploring Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park, I experienced what stirred the motif of their craft. Rene Descartes puts it in a nutshell, "Traveling is almost like talking with men of three other centuries."

wildflowers in Zumwalt Meadow towards the end of summer

It's somehow good to know that there are parts of the US where cell phone coverage and Wi-Fi are out of reach. At night the starlit sky becomes our roof and the river our lullaby. When the sun rises we see the valley carved by titanic glaciers and infinite water. The more I see, the more I wanna explore.   

one afternoon in Kings Canyon on a ranger guided tour

 

The Avenue of the Giants showed us a different world in March last year as we stared in awe of the coast redwoods that rise up to 367 ft. This time the sequoias displayed their splendor, living up to 3500 years.

the General Sherman Tree shows you how a mouse feels when it sees a person

My best friend and I loved camping in Cedar Grove where we've come across with glacially sculpted valleys, dense meadows, clear skies, and happy people.

keeping warm

Just when you think that you have seen enough of the West, you suddenly wake up finding and redefining more of its beauty.

no need to use the rain fly this time