Once you've been lulled to sleep by the
shoosh of the Caribbean lapping against Jamaica's talc-soft
sands, you realize that heaven can wait.
Or maybe you're already there. Pink sunsets
unfurl like lazy yawns, while coconut palms rustle in velvet
breezes. The tang of jerk chicken mingles with heady jasmine,
and parrots chirp happily as waterfalls gush through a rain
forest crammed with banana trees and vibrant red, fuchsia, and
yellow blooms.It's easy to see why Christopher Columbus called
Jamaica "the fairest isle that eyes have seen." And
it's easy to understand why Sir Noël Coward was so laid-back on
this Caribbean island that he served the visiting Queen Mother
pea soup, allegedly from a can.
Jamaica — once populated by Arawak
Indians, later a British colony, and now an independent country
— certainly lives up to its singular motto: out of many, one
people. It's also a paradise built for two, from cozy bamboo
rafts that drift down the Rio Grande to extravagant all-couples
resorts that hug the coasts. So sway to a captivating reggae
beat with Woodstock wanna-bes. Sip high tea with the Polo and
Pappagallo set. Or stroll boldly bare-breasted along an endless
stretch of sand. As the locals say, "Irie."
Everything's alright.
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