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Guests' Letters
Len &
Joann Jagla
. . . Endless Summer,
March '03
Prem,
Sorry it has taken me so long to write but being back from vacation is never easy. I want to write to express my opinions on Custom Carribean Vacations, Endless Summer and the staff!
First, your web site did NOT lie.
Silver Sands and Endless Summer were everything that we
imagined after reading your web site. We definitely were
not disappointed one bit. We were met at the airport by
Trishana, her smiling face put us all at ease after a long
flight, arriving 2 house late. Malcolm, our driver was
superb...Trishana had cold drinks ready for us and Reggae
tunes in the bus! Marlene met us at the house and gave us
the tour, again, nice cold drinks in the fridge and rum
punch as well! Just as I had requested. Hint for
traveling: Save your immigration card, you need it on the
way home! Pack lightly, it's very hot and Marlene does your
laundry every day.
With
Una, the morning cook. See more photos at the
Jagla
Family Album.
The house is lovely and the staff terrific!!! Una, Bette
and Marlene are the best! Una cooked up a terrific
breakfast for 9 every morning, sandwiches every
afternoon...her meals just got better and better! Marlene
kept the laundry up (what a treat!) and managed to keep the
house clean even with 9 people in and out and all over the
place! Bette's dinner's were absolutely the best, we ate
like kings. The first day there we sat down with Una and
planned our menu for our dinners. She suggested most of the
dishes and we went along...we were able to try Jamaican
specialties like jerk pork, jerk chicken, curried chicken,
plantain, pumpkin soup, oxtail stew, fried Johnny cakes!
Bette's fried chicken is the best ever! We had lobster
purchased from the lobster man 2 nights, 12 lbs @ $5.00 per
pound. It was delightful! We had alot of food already
stocked for the first few days (which I suggest) then a
delivery was made later in t! he week.
I wanted to let you know our costs for food so that others can utilize it if necessary:
7 days of full breakfasts, including fresh fruit. (eggs, omelette s, banana pancakes, French toast, etc). Lunches which were chips and sandwiches and dinners which included 2 nights of lobster. Our total cost was $900.00 US dollars, that's $100.00 per person per week or about $14.25 per day per person. You certainly couldn't eat at a restaurant for that!
We also ate lunch out 1 day in Ocho Rios and 1 lunch at the Beach Grill.
We settled our grocery bill on Friday and paid with our credit card. I would suggest for anyone doing the same thing to pay with Jamaican dollars. The going exchange rate while we were there was $54 to $1 and the grocery store only gave me $49 on the conversion, it cost me $100 extra to use my credit card. In the future I will go to a bank or ATM get Jamaican dollars and pay that way, it's cheaper in the end.
We spent most of our days at Silver
Sands, only going on 1 tour to Dunns River Falls with
Trevor. We climbed the Falls (overrated) , went to the bank
in Ocho Rios, ate lunch at BIBIBIPS on Main Street ( a
definite stop for a good lunch) He was great, gave us a
great educational tour of the sights on the way. In
hindsight when we drove through Fern Gully I wished I had
stopped and gotten out to shop, after going through the
market at Dunn's River this looked like the best bet! We'll
do it next time. We didn't shop much in Ocho Rios, the day
was already long. A hint on the Falls....be sure there are
no Cruise ships in...we didn't check first and there were so
many people, it reminded us of Disney World.....The kids we
were with enjoyed it, I could have passed on the experience.
In the kitchen with
Una. See more photos at the Jagla
Family Album.
My highlight of the trip was going to Fisherman's Beach,
the craftsman there were so great, no hassle shopping
for sure, nothing like the markets in Ocho Rios or Dunns
River. I would recommend anyone at Silver Sands to go there.
The wood carvers are amazing...I picked up a beautiful cane
which I treasure. This was carved by Omar. We will be
sending him supplies that they need. Omar also carved a
lovely angel for a friend of mine, he did it in a day and it
is extremely lovely. I also have to mention Jennifer, the
goods she sells are just as good as those found in shops in
Ocho, T shirts, shot glasses, pencils, everything you
need....save your money to spend with Jennifer!!!!! We also
purchased some things from Kevin and others, just didn't get
their names. Don't leave without lunch at the bar...we had a
complete chicken dinner with rice & beans, fries and Red
Stripe...for not much money. The woman at the bar/restau!
rant was great!! I wish we had found it sooner so I could go
there every day. Just being there gave you a "no problem"
feeling.
I also have to mention the great security at Silver Sands. It was something I was worried about seeing that I had 2, 15 yr girls with us. They are outstanding...at times they walked with my girls to the beach and we always felt secure and safe.
Everyone at Silver Sands was awesome! Michael, the chef (we even got to see him Kariokee (Buffalo Soldier)), Roswell, the bartender,and the ladies at the grill. We can't wait to see them again!
All in all the trip was wonderful, Silver Sands is Paradise. Everyone I met had been going there for years. Hopefully we can too. I know that we will be back.
Please post this letter and let anyone know that they can E mail me jagla1@ameritech.net with questions. You run a good show at CCV and your Villa's are everything you say they are, and the staff more than you say! They are great! I can send photos for you to put on the web site. We'd love to see them in the guest album!
Thank you for helping us have the vacation of a lifetime!
Regards,
Len & Joann Jagla
Illinois, USA
jagla1@ameritech.net
See more photos at
Jagla
Family Album.
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