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Jamaica inside and outside the rope You can have two sorts of holiday experience on this island: in the all-inclusive, and in the world just beyond it. Jim Keeble samples both
Keeble, Jim. The Daily Telegraph [London (UK)] 21 Feb 2004: 07.

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On the other hand, it is the birthplace of the Caribbean all- inclusive resort. Sandals opened here in 1981. These days, increasing numbers of visitors to Jamaica seem to take the allinclusive option, worried that the island outside the protective compound might be too difficult (even dangerous). Sandals does encourage guests to get out and see things - namely, other Sandals resorts. There are free shuttle buses to the five other outposts. We take a five-minute ride along the coast to Sandals Royal Caribbean. The resort is surrounded by "Armor metal fencing" - two lots of barbed wire - and patrolled by uniformed guards. I begin to wonder whether all this security is to keep criminals out, or to scare tourists into not wanting to venture into the real Jamaica. To its credit, Sandals also employs locals - and, in its capitalist way, believes the best way to help Jamaica's economy is to encourage guests to spend money on tours. The resorts support more than 200 community projects in the Caribbean and 30 students who have passed their common entrance exam. Mind you, Sandals is in turn supported by more than 500,000 paying customers a year.

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Curtis is trying to sell me Bob Marley's head. It's a very attractive head, complete with dreadlocks and jaunty smile, but unfortunately for Curtis, I'm not interested ina wooden carving of Jamaica's most famous son. "You should give a little to Jamaica, mon," Curtis admonishes me gently. Inmany ways, he's right. So far I have given very little to Jamaica, other than the$240 ( pounds 130) a night I am paying to Sandals - the all-inclusive resortwhere I am staying with my wife, Jessica. Theonly aspect of theisland we have seen until now is thebeach bar populated by drunk Americans, and a breakfast that resembles an all-you-can-eat Las Vegas buffet. Curtis and his rickety canoe, moored just theother side of therope dividing theSandals private beach from therest of the Caribbean, offer a completely different impression of theisland -

proud of its heritage, a little makeshift and cheerfully irreverent. Jamaica, it seems, is full of such paradoxes. On theone hand, it is the Caribbean's most fascinating island, with lofty topography, lush terrain, rum shops, coffee plantations, English colonial history, an epic musical pedigree, Rastafarianism and some of themost diverse flora and fauna in theworld. On theother hand, it is thebirthplace of the Caribbean all- inclusive resort. Sandals opened here in1981. These days, increasing numbers of visitors to Jamaica seem to take the allinclusiveoption, worried that theisland outside theprotective compound might be too difficult (even dangerous). I was keen to see where thetruth lay. Which experience of Jamaica would be more enjoyable - inside or outside therope? Sandals Montego Bay is thecompany's flagship resort, thefirst hotel bought by thecompany's founder, Gordon "Butch" Stewart, in1981 (there are now 11 all-inclusiveSandals in the Caribbean, plus five Beaches resortsfor families). TheMontego Bay option seems highly practical for a 10.15pm arrival time - it's only 10 minutes from Sangster International Airport. Thereason, you quickly realise, is that thehotel is located alongside theairport fence. The booking agent had warned us there would be "some aircraft noise" - but we are still a little shocked, on our arrival, to hear thedeafening roar of planes arriving and departing. Checking inproves interesting. "You need to attend orientation tomorrow morning!" says Ryan, with all theintensity and seriousness of a cult leader. Cowed, we hurry to our Deluxe room (thecheapest class of accommodation). It's a comfortable, American-style room with a giant bed, air conditioning and American television. We hang up thedoor sign reading "Please do not disturb, we're resting after an ultra-fun day!" Thenext morning we attend theVegas-style breakfast, with large Americans from the southern states sporting tattoos and Alabama sweatshirts. Thefood is good and thestaff unremittingly friendly, exclaiming "No problem, mon!" with an alarming regularity that seems theequivalent of McDonald's "Have a nice day!" It's no surprise that Sandals is so US-centric (allpayments for "extras" are calculated inUS dollars). Miami is just an hour's flight away and 72 per cent of tourists to Jamaica are American. At Sandals, many appear to belong to US law enforcement agencies, sporting conspicuous crew-cuts. Some have T-shirts emblazoned with "Army". To our relief, we are excused "orientation" because we are here for only three days. We wander around on our own. The resort, built infaux-Colonial style, is quite pretty. Thevillas at theeastern end have their own little beaches and swimming pools. In themain building is a "Hall of Fame" - repeat visitors who have stayed at thehotel enough times to merit their mugshots on thewall. Tom and Pat Warren from Florida take pride of place, having visited 89 times. Some tourists come for theactivities - water sports, including scubadiving, are part of the package. Theothers appear to be here for thebooze (there are daily beer-drinking contests and unlimited cocktails). After breakfast, thedivers head seaward while therest head to the bar. Jessica and I are drinking by 10.30am.

"Mmmm, rum for breakfast," murmurs my wife, not unhappily. After two Viagras (rum, pineapple juice, more rum) I'm feeling woozy and order a Coke. "A Coke?" stammers the barman, as if I've just offered to kill his grandmother. I have another Viagra. In themiddle of theday, everyone sleeps on thebeach: "thelongest private white-sand beach inJamaica". Theadvertising makes it sound like an isolated paradise but inreality it is average - well-kempt, packed with sun-loungers - with jet planes roaring overhead every hour. At 4pm, therum-migrants return to thebar and young Americans play drinking games. Voices boom "Drink! Drink! Drink!" It's about as Caribbeanas figure-skating and I feel as if I am attending a US college spring break. Chants of "USA! USA!" echo from thebeach- volleyball court until dusk. That evening, we meet Carl Holness and Sally Fairish from Stoke- on-Trent. Carl has family inJamaica and has been coming to theisland since he was eight. I ask why he chose Sandals for this visit. "You feel secure. It's easy." I wonder how he feels about thecontrast between thehotel and theJamaica beyond thegate. "You do feel a little disconnected," he concedes. "I suppose it is a bit of a compound." He describes going to see his family in thehills, where insome settlements children have never seen a white person. "They run after Sally shouting `Whitey!"' he says. Over pasta, Carl explains his reservations further: "The all- inclusiveis good for thetourist but maybe not for locals. When I was a kid, there were places along theroadside selling stuff. You don't see them any more. This island has barely enough food to feed itself. I look at the chicken breasts we get here, four times thesize of theones my family eats. It must be imported from America." Sandals really isn't conducive to seeing much of theisland. After all, thewhole point of the allinclusive, fenced-in resortis that you seldom feel like leaving your never-ending supply of rum and oversized chicken breasts. But after two days in thehotel, we are feeling a little stir-crazy. Sandals does encourage guests to get out and see things - namely, other Sandals resorts. There are free shuttle buses to thefive other outposts. We take a five-minute ride along the coast to Sandals Royal Caribbean. The resortis surrounded by "Armor metal fencing" - two lots of barbed wire - and patrolled by uniformed guards. I begin to wonder whether allthis security is to keep criminals out, or to scare tourists into not wanting to venture into thereal Jamaica. We decide to try theRoyal Caribbean's most upmarket restaurant, theRegency. It has a rule requiring guests to wear "dress shoes" for dinner. I am inflip-flops. Themaitre d' doesn't grasp theirony of a resortcalled Sandals requiring dress shoes. After a brief altercation, we head back to our own hotel where we find that, despite there being empty tables, we can't eat at Cucina Romana (theItalian restaurant) or Tokyo Joe's (theJapanese restaurant) because we haven't booked. "Thewhole point of paying all-inclusiveprices is that everything is included!" I remonstrate. Jessica leads me swiftly away.

It is with a certain relief that we leave Sandals, heading for our next hotel - Jake's Place. We travel up and over tropical mountains. There is no sighting of a white face for two hours, as children inpristine school uniforms run alongside thecar and reggae blares from roadside bars and jerk- chicken stalls. We pass theTriumphant Basic School, Fresh Touch Seafood, Belmont's Top Tasty Pastry. There are countless churches, schools and bars - the cornerstones of any civilised society. It's different, it's vibrant, it's non-white. This is the Jamaica from which theSandals barbed wire "protects" its holidaymakers. Jake's Place is a 29-room hotel, centred on a small cove in theisolated coastal community of Treasure Beach. Six candlelit tables overlook thesea. Thedinner prices are inJamaican dollars. There is no barbed wire, no barriers. Locals wander inthrough thedining hall to the beachside bar. Nobody locks their room door. Thefear that seems to underlie theSandals concept is entirely absent. Jake's is wonderfully eclectic. Some rooms are built intraditional Jamaican style, with balconies and corrugated roofs. Others are less Caribbean; ours is a beautiful one-bedroom Moroccan- style house. Thebed looks out on thesea. Idyllic is too weak a word for it. Perfect gets close. Jake's is theantithesis of theSandals compound, perhaps because it was once a family home, bought by Sally Henzell, an Anglo- Jamaican artist, and developed gradually into this rambling property. Such exclusivity and style attracts celebrities (Alex Haley wrote Roots here; Jade Jagger and Kate Moss are frequent visitors) but it's eminently affordable. The cheapest room starts at $75 ( pounds 40) with sea views going for $150 a night. Dinner is $10 (roughly a fiver). It costs $240 per person per day at Sandals. We are woken at 7am, not by low-flying aircraft but Caribbeanwaves. I walk down to the beach and watch dolphins playing offshore. A fisherman tells me: "If dey swim out to sea, it's good weather. If dey inshore, it's bad." Fortunately, they are heading out to sea. Thehotel owner, Jason Henzell, who lives on theproperty, diplomatically agrees that there are different ways to experience Jamaica. "There's thetourist and there's thetraveller. There's a break, and there's an experience." Sandals offers Tex-Mex, "European Patisserie" and sushi. Jake's has Jamaican food - akee, saltfish, jerk pork and callaloo. Unlike the all-inclusive resorts, theonly commodity this hotel imports is thewine. "We're blessed," says Jason, "because we are ina fishing and farming community - thebreadbasket of Jamaica. Why wouldn't we use that?" He is fervent about putting as much money as he can back into thecommunity. He has set up a charity, Breds - short for brethren, a common greeting among local fishermen - to fund local projects. Drivers and fishermen who run tours for guests don't pay Jake's a commission: they simply donate $1 per trip to Breds. Similarly, local hotels donate $1 for each room rented. Breds has funded theconstruction of 30 homes, new school wings and computer blocks, and purchased GPS receivers and radios for fishermen. As Jason points out: "Ina Third World country, 95 per cent of people are looking at theshort term. We like to think about thefuture."

To its credit, Sandals also employs locals - and, inits capitalist way, believes thebest way to help Jamaica's economy is to encourage guests to spend money on tours. The resorts support more than 200 community projects in the Caribbeanand 30 students who have passed their common entrance exam. Mind you, Sandals is inturn supported by more than 500,000 paying customers a year. Over thenext three days at Jake's, we are given a crash course inJamaican culture. I drink export Guinness with Dougie and Michael, who talk about a wealthy Jamaican who retired from England to a huge house he'd built at Treasure Beach, only to die two days before moving in. "Them English can't stand theheat when they come back," says Michael, sipping warm stout. One staff member, Susannah, tells of her young nephew who emigrated to Boston with his mother. He stepped outside for thefirst time and started to cry. "Mama, who turned on the A/C?" (air conditioning). Another hotel worker, Jennifer, says her dream is to earn enough to send her eldest son to university. It costs pounds 1,000 a year. Hotel staff earn roughly pounds 50 a week, a decent Jamaica wage. We spend our last morning with Ted Parchment, a former fisherman who takes us up the coast, accompanied by schools of dolphins. Our destination is theBlack River, where a 400year-old mangrove forest displays roots like curtains. We see several crocodiles, including a 9ft giant who eyes us with motionless disdain. Ted's boat is called Da Evil Ting - it's themost nefarious encounter we have inour time beyond theSandals compound. Back at Jake's we have a final swim, trying to delay our departure. Althea Grant, a solicitor from north London, laughs at us. "I know how you feel. Theonly way you'll get me to leave here is if you hire someone to kill me!" Of Jamaica's many faces, I know which one I want to see again. Jamaica basics Jim Keeble travelled with Trips Worldwide (0117 311 4400, www.tripsworldwide.co.uk). A two-week itinerary including economy flights with Air Jamaica, one week at Jake's Place and one week at Port Antonio, plus private transfers, starts at pounds 1,629 per person based on two sharing. Air Jamaica (020 8570 7999, www.airjamaica.com) operates 11 flights a week from theUK with return fares from Heathrow to Montego Bay starting at pounds 483 with taxes. Jake's Place (001 876 965 3000, email Jakes@cwjamaica.com). Rooms start at $75 ( pounds 40) per night, plus 10 per cent service charge. Breds - TheTreasure Beach Foundation, Calabash Bay PA, St Elizabeth, Jamaica (001 876 965 3000, www.breds.org; email info@breds.org). Sandals (0800 742 742, www.sandals.co.uk) offers seven nights at Montego Bay from pounds 1,199 per person, all-inclusive. Theprice includes return flights. For a free guide to the Caribbean, contact the CaribbeanTourism Organisation (020 7222 4335, www.caribbean.co.uk).

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People Title Keeble, Jim Jamaica inside and outside the rope You can have two sorts of holiday experience on this island: in the all-inclusive, and in the world just beyond it. Jim Keeble samples both Keeble, Jim The Daily Telegraph 07 0 2004 Feb 21, 2004 2004 Travel; Caribbean Daily Telegraph London (UK) United Kingdom General Interest Periodicals--Great Britain Newspapers English NEWSPAPER 317806637 http://search.proquest.com/docview/317806637?accountid=12441 Copyright Daily Telegraph Feb 21, 2004 2011-09-13 UK Newsstand << Link to document in ProQuest

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