Brief trip to Jamaica -- I got a wild hair in early January and decided to head down to Jamaica for several days. Most people go to Jamaica to relax and be pampered at the all-inclusive resorts, but I wanted to check out the scene and take in a little of the local culture. I've always liked reggae music, so at the top of my agenda was a visit to the Bob Marley Museum to pay homage to the principle father of reggae. Also, as a vegetarian, I wanted to check out some of the Rastafarian Ital cooking (unprocessed and without salt), of which I particularly enjoyed the ackee (which has a taste and texture similar to scrambled eggs) and some of their bean and pea stews.
I flew into Montego Bay, stayed there a couple nights, and took local transport to the resort town of Ocho Rios, where I saw Dunn's River Falls and the Shaw Park Botanical Gardens, and to the gritty capital city of Kingston. Jamaica is indeed a tropical paradise, but not without some of the world's ugliest urban seediness and decay.
One tourist I met had been robbed twice in one week, including once at knife point! Jamaica's reputation for crime gives one pause, and the drivers are among the world's most terrifying, but aside from those things, I found the people whom I met to be relaxingly pleasant and refreshingly straight talking. Tourists are under high-pressure harassment to buy things though, and prices are such that I think there are better options for budget travelers headed to the Caribbean -- i.e. the Dominican Republic or Trinidad.
Visit to Arizona -- This year's trip to Arizona, as in year's past, was designed primarily for relaxation, and that's just what I did, spending most of the week with my mother and Ben at their winter home near Superstition Mountain in Apache Junction. I did, however, take a day to check out Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in Southwestern Arizona, which has probably the most beautiful desert vegetation I've seen anywhere in the world, and is just about the only place you will find the rare organ pipe cactus. I also spent an afternoon visiting my cousin Dave Oman in Tucson Arizona, who took the time to show me the new home he is building, which has great views of the nearby mountains.
Out-of-Town Guests -- I've enjoyed visits recently by friends from Boston, Michael Milendorf, his brother Max and Max's girlfriend Olga, and by my cousin Jesse Oman, who drove from Chicago to check out the Washington sights with his girlfriend Chelsea and two college friends.
Why don't you come too?
COMING UP NEXT QUARTER:
Trips to Europe (Eurailing around the south) and to Minnesota.
Check in and let me know what's up with you. You can contact me by clicking on this E-mail address: mail@deanoman.com.
Review previous newsletters:
Fall
99 -- Dean's News Vol 3, No. 2, 12/01/99 -- The Middle East and Minnesota
Summer
99 -- Dean's News Vol 3, No. 1, 09/01/99 -- Minnesota
Spring
99 -- Dean's News Vol 2, No. 4, 06/01/99 -- Pacific Northwest
Winter
99 -- Dean's News Vol. 2, No. 3, 03/01/99 -- Haiti and the Dominican Republic
Fall
98 -- Dean's News Vol. 2, No. 2, 12/01/98 -- Germany, Poland and Czech
Republic
Summer
98 -- Dean's News Vol. 2, No. 1, 09/01/98 -- A summer romance
Spring
98 -- Dean's News Vol. 1, No. 4, 06/01/98 -- New York City and Minnesota
trips
Winter
98 -- Dean's News Vol. 1, No. 3, 03/01/98 -- Arizona and Colorado trip
Fall
97 -- Dean's News Vol. 1, No. 2, 12/01/97 -- Venezuela and Trinidad
Summer
97 -- Dean's News Vol. 1, No. 1, 09/01/97 -- Toronto and Niagara Falls
Best wishes to all,
Deano