2001 Braco Ya-Hooligan Group Trip May 4-12

     My mind is finally starting to come out of the fog and only a few remnants remain of the  temporary Taz tatoo located on my right upper butt cheek. It is Wednesday night and we just returned this past Saturday from the vacation of a lifetime at Grand Lido Braco as one of  37 couples who made up this years Braco Ya-Hooligan group! This was our second annual trip having grown from 15 couples the year before.  This year’s trip was at least as wonderful as last years! Going to Braco as part of a group makes a great vacation even better!  

     My goal was to maximize the time at the resort so we flew from Jacksonville FL to spend Thursday night in Atlanta so we could take the 7:10am Air Jamaica flight into MBJ.  Arriving into MBJ at 8:30am was worth the extra effort as we had the entire first day to start eating, drinking and partying naked. Let me say that the Ya-Hooligans are not a lifestyle group and that partying naked does not imply any “funny business”.

         This was my first time flying Air Jamaica as I usually fly US Air or American out of Jacksonville. I was very impressed with the staff and the service.

     We arrived into MBJ at 8:30am and were the only flight there. It took 10 minutes to be standing at the Superclubs counter ready to get on the bus. The bus trip to Braco took longer than usual due to having to stop for gas then drinks and finally a stop at Trelawny to drop off some guests there. Next time we  sky dive in!  We arrived at Braco at about 10:10am, still pretty good overall time. I had forgotten how beautiful and spacious the property really is as we drove through the front gate and along the golf course towards the resort.

     Returning to Braco was like returning to paradise! The feeling I got one year ago when I first walked into the town square and gazed out towards the ocean was just as special and wonderful this year! It is like going back in time to a Jamaican seaside village! Like being in fantasyland! No worries, no cares! The real world no longer exists! This is what vacations are all about!

 Check in went smoothly and we were soon on our way to our home for the next nine days.

     We were very surprised and excited to find that our room on the Au-natural side was a one bedroom luxury suite located on the second floor of block “B”, right beside the bar. This room is huge! We could have had a party for all 37 couples inside of our room! A new touch that Braco has just started is that all the suites now have thick terry cloth robes and slippers along with upgraded toiletries. They plan on eventually having these in all the rooms and are planning to upgrade the textile rooms with new furniture and refrigerators. There are also scales in the room so you can track your weight gain for the week. The scales only go up to 300Lbs and being that I was starting at 165, I did not think they would be able to track my expected weight gain. After quickly unpacking we got naked and headed to the pool to meet the other Ya-Hooligans and to hang the official Ya-Hooligan banner across the A/N Pool Bridge.  I went to the A/N bar for my first Red Stripe and met Wayne, the new A/N bartender. It was disappointing to find out that Chester was no longer working on the A/N side but Wayne proved to be just as wonderful and could whip out dirty bananas at the speed of light. Try a “Waynes World” for a really great drink! Sadly, Chester quit working at Braco a few days after we arrived.

       The next nine days were a blur of eating, drinking, eating, socializing naked, and eating with the other 36 Ya-Hooligan couples(did I mention eating?).. Almost everywhere we went we saw Ya-Hooligans. Everyone was friendly and great to be with. It was truly amazing to have that many people from all over the United States with different backgrounds and ages(late 20’s to early 60’s) to all come together at Braco just as if we were  lifetime friends!

       One good thing about Braco is that it is large enough that even being part of a group of 37 couples, there is still plenty of space to be alone if you wish. People would hang together as a group part of the time and have private time alone other times. No matter what time of the day or night it was, there was always plenty of people to join for eating, drinking, running, working out, playing tennis, volleyball, golf, etc, if you wished. The hardest part was keeping everyone’s names straight which I never was able to fully accomplish.

    Prior to the trip I had my worries that this large a group on the A/N side would put a strain on the food and bar service.  While we definitely kept them busy, the service was great with the A/N club house and pool bar staff to be commended! We ordered room service every morning and it always came with in 5 minutes of the specified time. After a light breakfast in the room I would head out for a morning run. I ran every day for the first 5 days before the excessive amounts of food and booze finally drained my motivation to be healthy for the remainder of the trip.  After the morning run it was time for breakfast in the main dining room. The food was fantastic! One omelet made to order all the way, 2 eggs Benedict, 2 bagel halves loaded with smoked salmon, cream cheese, tomato and capers, a plate of fresh papaya, mango, cantaloupe, and honeydew, and a few chocolate filled croissants started the day just beautifully! The beverage service at breakfast this year was fantastic! Every time a water or juice glass was almost empty someone would magically appear to refill it. After breakfast we would start the day on the beach. There were plenty of beach chairs and floats or cushions. I do not think they were ever all filled. Some of the palms on the beach have now grown large enough to provide additional shady spots. The A/N beach is big and beautiful! Soft sand and crystal clear water.  There are some small rocks in the water with some people wearing water shoes but I found that I did not need them. There are fewer rocks in the water in front of A/N building “A”. Cynthia the fruit lady came by most days to offer fresh fruit. Someone also came by everyday with popsicles! The coconut man would also bring over a cart of ice cold coconuts, chop them open with his machete to provide a very refreshing drink (made even better with a little rum added). Is this place sounding like heaven or what! With the 24-hour room service and free laundry/dry cleaning service what more could anyone want!

     After spending the morning on the beach we would go for lunch. Braco offers many great options. If we did not feel like putting on clothes we would go to the A/N club house or the A/N pool grill. The specialty here is lamb chops (MY favorite food in the whole world)! A few weeks prior to the trip I had a read a trip report that said the Lamb chops were too tough. It seems like Braco got in a bad batch and there were still a few remaining. About 1 in 4 lamb chops during the trip were tough. Fortunately 3 out of 4 were melt in you mouth delicious! I did mention to management about the lamb chops and they were supposed to look into it. Last year they ran out of lamb chops for two days during our trip (MAJOR tragedy) so this year I made a point to pre-notify the resort to stock at least twice the normal amount. I tried my best to eat every lamb chop on the resort but they were more than ready for me!  On Thursday there is a buffet lunch on the A/N side with grilled lamb chops and steaks and some awesome fish. The dessert table was very good also! Other than the A/N side for lunch, there is the Italian restaurant with great pizza and pasta, Nanny’s Jerk pit and the main dining room.  The food at Nanny’s was just a delicious and fiery as last year. An icy cold Red Stripe seems to blend perfectly with the jerk seasoning. I also ate at the main dining room twice for lunch and it was very good. They have a different food theme daily.

     After lunch we would spend the afternoon at the A/N pool playing drinking games and nude volleyball! At Sunset everyone would gather at the end of the beach to watch the sun sink into the ocean!

     For dinner the Japanese restaurant was the star this year! The dinner we had there was the best I have ever had at Japanese restaurant!  You get so much food you can barely move afterwards. The show put on by our chef was also very good. We also ate at the Sushi bar twice and this too was top notch. The sushi meal consists of 5 courses consisting of a tempura appetizer, soup, a ginger snow crab salad, a huge sushi course consisting of shrimp, tuna, smoked and raw salmon, snapper, California role and BBQ eel (very good). Finally a green tea and fruit ice cream that also was excellent.  

     The French restaurant was great although the creme brulee appeared to have sat a few minutes prior to being served so the caramelized top was already cool when it arrived.  A minor issue except that Braco’s creme brulee is almost orgasmic when served properly.  The service in the French restaurant was impeccable as usual. The wine list is slightly changed this year with some excellent reds and whites.

      Dinner in the main dining room was very good also. There were so many tempting entrees and appetizers that I usually ordered two of each.

Due to the rain, both street parties and the beach party were indoors. While the food was very good, the atmosphere inside just could not compare to the usual outside festivities.

Since lobster was out of season, giant prawns were served instead. These were excellent but extremely spicy. They were the kind of spicy that sneaks up on you and then sets your lips on fire. No amount of Redstripe could put out the fire. Eating bread seemed to help the most.

      The toga party is now on Saturday night. People we met who had been at the previous weeks toga party stated that it was pretty dead. Not this weeks! The Ya-Hooligans were out in full force for the party, meeting in the A/N club house and then parading together down the town square to the disco. There were plenty of great toga outfits and the Braco staff was enforcing the policy of only allowing persons with togas into the disco.  The toga party was great with the Ya-Hooligans eventually getting kicked out due letting a little too much hang out (Isn’t that what toga parties are all about??).  After some skinny-dipping and pictures in the town square fountain, everyone headed to the back the A/N side for a late night hot tub party.  Late night parties in the hot tub and A/N club house were a nightly affair although we will need another trip report from some of the more partying Ya-Hooligans to get the full details as this year I did most of my partying during the day. 

    Sunday was the Ya-Hooligan team scavenger hunt. This turned out to be way more fun than I could have imagined. My favorite item on the list was the pants of a “textile person”. Our group brought a real live textile person over to the nude bar. They chose to remain wearing their pants but we still got the points. It came down to a live starfish to decide the winner of the hunt.

     Monday night was the nude beach bonfire. There was a sax player and also one of the guests played a guitar that they brought. It was a wonderful feeling standing naked around the fire with the moon in the background and cold bottles of champagne being passed around!

     The Ya-Hooligan golf tournament was held Tuesday morning. Rum punch was provided and there were lots of fun prizes for all kinds of crazy categories. The worse of a golfer you were, the more prizes you would win.

     Thursday we had the USA(Ya-Hooligans) vs Jamaica(water sports staff) volleyball tournament.  Unfortunately the volleyball court was removed form the A/N beach last year and never replaced so we played on the main beach. USA beat Jamaica 2 games to one. This was a ferocious match with much trash talking, all in good fun. Afterwards drinks were on us!

     Thursday evening was the repeat guest party. Since the majority of the Ya-Hooligans were repeat guests, the entire group was invited to the party.

 The Thursday night pajama party was my favorite party night of the week. We all met at the A/N clubhouse and then paraded into town in our “baring and daring” outfits. I brought back the “Rooster” g-string for the second straight year. The Disco was packed wall to wall! It was easy to tell who was a Ya-Hooligan by the outfits.

     Friday was our last full day at Braco and it really rained. It actually rained a little bit each day but I got more than enough sun and came back with a great all over tan. Friday though it really poured! This turned out to be a good thing though as we ended up having nude rain dance beside the A/N bar. With the music blaring and the drinks flowing we danced joyfully in the rain! Five of the ladies did a nude chorus line rain dance on the bridge! The visual to this is still in my mind! I am actually hoping that we have one day of rain for next year’s trip so we can repeat this event!

     If you fly Air Jamaica and have an afternoon flight, check in for the flight is now at Braco. Any bags that you are checking must be put outside of your door by 7:00am. At 8:00am one person gets to sleep in while the other brings all travel documents to the town courthouse to meet the AJ reps. I got there exactly at 8:00am and was the first in line. The reps did not show up until 8:20am but I was in and our in less than 5 minutes with boarding passes in hand. Our flight was at 4:00pm and we did not have to leave the resort until 2:00pm. I went and pigged out on one last huge breakfast and then headed to the4 A/N pool to make the most of the remaining hours.

     It was sad having to say goodbye to the departing Ya-Hooligans as some were leaving in the morning. “See You  Next Year” was the consoling theme!

    I decide to retry all of the wonderful drinks of the past week prior to departure! Dirty Banana, Hummingbird, Braco Lemonade, Wayne’s world, Rum Punch, Redstripe (IS IT TOO LATE TO ADD A FEW MORE DAYS?)!  We check out of the room at 12:00 and bring our carry-on luggage down to the pool. I am going to be naked until 1:59pm I tell my wife! Lunch consists of four orders of lamb chops (I sure am going to miss these things)!   Finally 1:59 arrives and I reluctantly put my clothes on and say our final good byes to the remaining Ya-Hooligans and the Braco activity staff (Gilbert/Alex, Carl and Diva were wonderful all week).  We head to the main lobby to board the bus. The bus is few minutes late so I quickly run to get a few more drinks for the ride to the airport.

We arrive at the airport with just enough time to buy  some duty free liquor and then board the plane.  

SUMMARY:   It is really difficult putting into words how wonderful this years Braco Ya-Hooligan trip really was. The combining of such a great group of people at what I consider to be the best All-inclusive resort anywhere created the perfect vacation!

The staff are all to be commended for going out of their way to provide great service and a truly caring attitude! Braco management continues to make improvements to make a great resort even better!

The dates for the 3rd annual Braco Ya-Hooligan trip are now set for April 17th-27th 2002.  Please e-mail jaxptrun@netscape.net for details.