the jamaico-honduran express
or how i learned to stop worrying and love the beach

With the economy squarely in the toilet and the heady days of the dotcom boom fading from our memories, Paul and I decided that we needed to revive that spirit of decadence and excess for one last hurrah before moving on to leaner and more practical times. What better occasion for it than the coming of the New Year?

The Caribbean seemed like a prime candidate for mid-winter decadence, so we searched high and low for a place that set the right tone. We eventually discovered the castle, which was immediately recognized as just what the doctor ordered. Subsequently, we rounded up a group of sixteen revelers and made the necessary arrangements.

Having learned from the Fiji adventure two years prior, the plan was to spend a week all together and let everyone work out their own plans for pre- and post-castle antics. Claudia and I made plans to travel to Honduras afterwards and a few others plotted lengthy tours of the Caribbean.

When the fated day arrived, we all convened at the Kingston airport and our adventures began...

Episode index
The eagle has landed
Welcoming the new year
Castle capers
Lunch with Shaggy
Sweet farewell
Hello Honduras
Horsing around
Loopy lepidoptera
A moment with the Mayans
Anthony's is the key
Dancing with the dolphins
Roaming 'round Roatan

©2002 michael bayne  <mdb@samskivert.com>