Braco Yahooligan 2000 Trip Report - Tazmanian Devils

April 24 to approximately May 10, 2000

Written by:  Sherri - "La Presidenta"

 

This ended up being a long, rambling report of what occurred during the time that Scott and I were at Braco with the Yahooligans.  Scott and I arrived somewhere in the middle of the Yahooligan trip, but closer to the beginning than the end.  So, I reported on all of the happenings that I know and can remember from the dates that we were there (April 27 to May 5) and maybe someone else can pick up the slack for us.  This was also from my/our perspective, so if anyone has a correction or anything to add, let me know and we'll change it.

 

Our first encounter with any of the Yahooligans was with Ray and Erica in the LA airport.  Scott and I had been up since 5:30 am and it was around 11:00 p.m. when we finally spotted and were spotted by Ray and Erica.  I didn't even recognize Erica from her photo, so it's no wonder I didn't see her at first.  Ray was hiding under a Panama Jack hat, so I didn't recognize him at first, either.  I was also so tired at that time, that I wasn't trying to look at anyone too hard for fear that they might look back at me and expect me to have some energy to have a conversation.  Ray and Erica boarded the Air Jamaica plane and were seated somewhere near the back (where they were able to lay down for most of the trip).  Scott and I were seated near the front of the plane where we were unable to sleep for most of the trip due to the small amount of legroom and cramped seating.  We did have a nice meal and the reggae music on the headphones was a nice touch.

 

Once we landed in Montego Bay, we had no problems with customs or immigration.  We caught up with Ray and Erica in the bus loading area after making a bathroom stop.  We were loaded into a small minivan that seated six with Ray and Erica and another couple traveling to Grand Lido Braco.  The trip was certainly not your average Sunday afternoon drive, but it was kind of exciting and interesting.  We had a brief slow down when we came across a fruit/vegetable cart accident.  Other than that, the ride was just fine.  As we entered Grand Lido Braco, there were a lot of speed bumps and the driver mentioned that they call speed bumps "sleeping policemen".  Just a little trivia for the day.

 

Our arrival seemed a little unorganized, since we were not offered any drinks until the very end and no cool washcloth for our faces.  This seemed to be due to our early arrival (about 8:30 am, I think) and Collette was the only person working the desk at the time.  She handled our check-in efficiently between answering other guest's questions and answering all of the phones.  She told us that our rooms were not ready, so maybe we'd care to have some breakfast at Victoria's Market?  Sounded good to us, so Ray and Erica and Scott and I wandered off to try the breakfast buffet at Victoria's Market.

 

After breakfast, we split up from Ray and Erica who were told that their room was ready.  Scott and I were shown to our room shortly after that.  We were upgraded to a one-bedroom suite on the A/N side.  What a beautiful room and what a gorgeous place!!  We shucked our clothes, and it took us about five seconds to be comfortable walking around nude.  We lathered up with sunscreen and hit the A/N bar where we met Wilfredo (a Cuban immigrant) - not too friendly at first, but he lightened up through the trip.  Scott and I decided the first thing we wanted to do was float in the ocean while sipping our drinks - a dirty banana for me and a Red Stripe for Scott. 

 

After doing that for awhile (the breeze that morning was making it a little chilly to be in the ocean), we decided to try the A/N pool.  What an incredible place!!  They were just setting up for the Thursday A/N luncheon (don't miss it - it's fantastic!!), and as we were standing at the A/N bar, someone came up behind us and said "Are you Yahooligans?"  We had been identified by our Tazmanian Devil tattoos on our butts.  I don't remember who it was now, but I believe it was Gene.  We met most of the Yahooligans the same way - the tattoos were very helpful.  We introduced ourselves and after getting our drinks, ran into Ray and Erica again.  Probably the most uncomfortable meeting for us was this one since we had met each other clothed to begin with and now we were nude - oh, well.  Took Scott and I about another three seconds to get over that and on with the party!!

 

As the day progressed (at a very slo-o-o-w pace, fortunately), we met some of the other Yahooligans that were already at the resort.  By the end of the day, we were floating in the pool talking with Gene and Sonja, Mike and Sally, Kevin and Kathy, Ray and Erica, Steve and Jane and David and Deanna.  This was a great evening and Kevin decided that we needed champagne to celebrate our first day together as a group.  Let's just start out by saying that Kevin had a little trouble getting the cork to "pop"!  J  Kevin's own wife dubbed him "plop-plop, fizz-fizz" and Deanna called him the "little popper". 

 

Kevin was claiming that he was going to sail the cork over the little island in the pool into the hot tub.  After much struggling and laughter, the cork did not sail anywhere, but with a deflated little fizz, ended up in Kevin's hand.  There were many more bottles of champagne that Kevin attempted to pop the cork into the air that were unsuccessful.  In his defense, he did make several fly, but most ended up in his hand or right next to him in the pool.  At one point, Steve threw the cork into the air and yelled, "pop!" to help Kevin out.  This just made for some funny experiences with the champagne and fond memories.  The Yahooligans did try to outdo the record number of champagne bottles drank while there.  A total of eleven were emptied one day during a volleyball game.  I was unable to assist since I had partaken of the better part of three bottles the prior evening by myself (ugh!).  But I was able to shuttle champagne to the group in the pool from the A/N clubhouse.

 

This was the day that Jim and Dayle showed up at Braco.  I wasn't around for their arrival because I was taking a nap to alleviate some of my champagne hangover.  They were playing pool volleyball, however, with most of the other Yahooligans when I ventured from the room.  Both Jim and Dayle, along with most of the Yahooligans, were good volleyball players.  The pool volleyball games were fun and numerous.  Kathy would mesmerize the other team (and sometimes her own teammates) with her "Chesty" serve.  The rest of the Yahooligans played their hearts out.  A lot of the early games were made up of mostly Yahooligans with some other guests joining in.  Word of caution - the bottom of the pool and the walkways around the resort will tear your feet up.  Wear sandals at all times and maybe even water shoes if you play a lot of volleyball.  Several days into our trip, a new beach volleyball net was installed to replace the old one.  We started to make use of the new beach volleyball net and had a great time.  The sand isn't very deep there though, so be careful if you think you are going to dive.

 

Besides wearing the Tazmanian Devil tattoos, David, Deanna and Scott and I brought other Tazmanian "stuff" to highlight the group and trip.  Scott and I brought a Taz "bop" bag that I tried to float in the pool - but with the wind, he was at the other end within less than a minute.  We also brought a stuffed Taz that "talked Taz" when you squeezed him.  I had a Taz crazy straw and David had decorated his insulated mug with Taz stickers.  David had a great hat that said "Yahoo" and had a little Taz on the back.  David also brought a ball with Taz on it that we were able to get some good pictures with.  We might have gone a little overboard, but it was fun!J

 

Most of the days run together when I try to remember what we did each day.  I do remember that we played a lot of volleyball and most evenings, we would gather as a group for dinner or the scheduled activity for the evening.  The first Thursday we were there, we attended the PJ party.  The music was good and we had a great time dancing.  Most of the PJ outfits were fairly tame except for maybe Deanna and David (see pictures).  Gene and Sonja wore great tuxedo outfits and Mike was a winner in the sexiest male wearing a "Mr. Happy" g-string.  Scott and I went to bed early since by then we had been up for about 36 hours.  Others in the group partied until about 3:00 am in the hot tub.  We partied in the pool/hut tub the following night with still more of the Yahooligans after the Street Dance.

 

The Street Dance was a blast!!  We had great food and conversation before the dancing got started and then when the dancing finally kicked in - we didn't stop dancing for about two and a half hours!!  We were all soaked after dancing for so long, so we went to the pool to cool off and have some drinks (some of us had more than others, unfortunately).  We had a great time talking with Steve and Jane (from England) and getting them to tell us different words and phrases for everyday things.  Our favorite seemed to be "front-bottom".  You figure it out! J

 

After those first couple of nights, we seemed to get into a better pattern to be more in sinc with the rest of the group - you know, corresonding our hangovers on the same days.  This made it easier to plan an evening together instead of having several couples go to bed early due to going to bed late the previous night.  We all tried to get out to the western most point of the A/N beach for the sunset each evening where we ended up taking some pictures almost every night.  Gene managed to leave all of his clothes AND his digital camera (a nice one) on the beach after one such sunset.  Sonja just sighed the next day and said, "He leaves his stuff everywhere!"  Fortunately, Gene retrieved his camera and clothes.

 

Scott and I did not participate in the body painting contest, since neither one of us is any kind of an artist, but Ray and Erica did and ended up tying for a prize.  Ray painted a very convincing blue with yellow polka dot bikini on Erica.  We kept telling her that it looked like a real bathing suit from far away - that is until she lifted her arms and we realized that Ray had missed some skin when applying her new suit.  It looked great though and she had tied with another lady that had large yellow flowers with vines and a honeybee painted all over her person.  It was actually very nicely done.  Some of the men that were "painted" were a little scary!! J

 

Most days, Ray and Erica would participate in Mighty Mike's power walk class.  It's almost a three-mile loop that takes you around the resort and across the whole length of the beach (killer workout) in less than a half-hour.  They set a really good pace for the rest of the group to follow.  David, Scott and I did the class one day and got a great workout.  Most days, you would find several Yahooligans working out in the gym.  It seemed that most of the Yahooligans were physically fit and tried to stay in shape while at Braco.  A couple of the women in the group did Mighty Mike's water aerobics class on the A/N side, but I didn't hear anyone that was too thrilled with it (other than the men, maybe).  I think most of the people in the group needed a little more vigorous workout.

 

I did get a massage on the beach, which was absolutely wonderful!!  Keep in mind that if you want to get the massage on the beach and not in the spa, you need to let the spa lady know that when you book the appointment.  Doreen did my massage and it was better than most that I've received in the states.  She used a combination of massage, reflexology and accupressure.  VERY, VERY nice!  Scott and I also took advantage of the complimentary manicure and pedicure and Scott really enjoyed his.  He had Gayle (spelling?) do his and she did a nice job.  I don’t remember the name of the lady that did mine, but I was not happy with my manicure and when she did my pedicure she actually hurt me several times.  She just wasn't paying attention to what she was doing and was talking with the other salon ladies while working.  I don't think I'll go back next time. 

 

She was also one of the only Jamaicans that made me feel as if she was mocking me in Jamaican patois.  I couldn't understand her, so I'm not sure, but that's how I felt.  I didn't appreciate that since I tried to be nothing but nice and respectful to everyone that I met.  I learned most of the workers by name and tried to learn a little something about them as well.  Many of the people that we met were very nice and I was surprised at how shy some of them could be.  The man who cleans the A/N beach every morning is an absolute sweetheart!  His name is Livingston - when you go, try to talk to him.  He is very interesting and was able to help us find some nice seashells.  He also mentioned that if you climb up on the rock that is just past the rope in the A/N lagoon, you can look back at the mountains and get a great view of them from there.  A prime picture opportunity - which we didn't take advantage of. L

 

The entertainment directors at the resort are great!  They work really hard to keep everyone busy and try to get everyone involved in one activity or another.  The Jamaican history class was fun and the mixology class "looked" interesting.  Chuck and Sheila participated, but I was not interested in getting sh*tfaced, so I didn't play.  At one point, however, Samuel did request more ladies to join the group so that we could demonstrate how to handle a "Screaming Orgasm" (a drink all you dirty minded people!).  Since I was trying to learn all of the worker's names, I stupidly asked what Samuel's name was as I bellied up to the bar - earning me a LARGE shot of rum.  I tried to decline since I hadn't even been playing the game - to no avail!  Boy, that was nasty!!!  The ladies at the A/N swim-up bar had to then (using no hands) show how to handle a Screaming Orgasm - being as creative as possible.  It was VERY interesting and I'm sure stimulating to some in the group! J 

 

The Yahooligans participated in many of the activities and took prizes home from most of them.  In the Best Tan contest, there were seven participants (four of whom were Yahooligans) and no one was able to determine best tan, so we all tied!  David, Scott, Lois and I participated.  If you go to Braco you need to realize that YOU are what makes the resort fun.  The atmosphere is great and one of the entertainment staff's sayings sums it up - "Nobody knows you and nobody cares!"  Take a chance and be a little daring.  Participate in the games - most are silly, but usually fun and you have the chance of winning one of the coveted SuperClubs T-shirts.  If you don't go with a group like the Yahooligans, you will have to make an effort to meet others since the resort is so large.  We did meet others outside of the Yahooligans that were fun like Jim and Maggie (the Canadians) and Al and Billie (Doug & Sidney's friends).

 

The newest (and in my opinion the most fun) event is the Tuesday night Toga Party.  Deanna and I went to the toga tying demonstration on the textile side since we had missed the demo on the A/N side.  Deanna was the model that Kaci (entertainment director) used to demonstrate.  You were able to pick up pieces of sheets in front of the disco around 10:30 p.m.  Chuck and Sheila just wore towels over from the A/N side and had the girls help them tie theirs on.  Deanna wore her toga in a very revealing manner - looked great!!  The disco was fairly full at about 11:00 p.m. with many people from the textile side and a large group of Yahooligans and others from the A/N side.  About a half-hour later the disco started to empty out and the Yahooligans took over!  The ladies of the group ended up wearing their toga tops backwards or not at all!  Some of the men were also "hanging out".  It was pretty funny when Patrick T. came back into the disco with his sheet just around his shoulders!!

 

A few of the crew (namely Scott, Sheila and Doug) were doing shooters at the bar.  A lone male came in and started dancing amongst us by himself.  Scott started shouting "Wally alert!  Wally alert!"  The guy just seemed weird!  Eventually we all tired out and decided to hit the hot tub.  Everyone was feeling pretty good (especially Scott, Chuck and Sheila) after a few drinks and when we got to the hot tub, Chuck decided to get in - still wearing his toga outfit.  Sheila said, "Chuck, you're f*cked up!"  Imagine this with a thick southern accent and the fact that the statement was ludicrous since Sheila was more or just as f*cked up as Chuck!!  This was one of my favorite memories…

 

The big hot tub was usually boiling during the day (very hot) but was tepid to cool in the evenings.  Deanna's theory was that this was to prevent the late night drunks from cooking themselves.  Seemed reasonable.  During one afternoon soak, we ordered a large amount of food from the A/N clubhouse - lamb chops, lamb chops and more lamb chops (for David), potato skins and nachos.  Deanna pulled a chicken bone out of the hot tub - gross!!  Someone said that maybe it was the little old man that we had seen in the hot tub earlier and that was all that was left of him!  J  The little hot tub did not see much Yahooligan action except for the first couple of days.  Deanna labeled it a "spermazoa" pool - kind of killed the mood, but cracked up Tyrone, the poolside artist and another Braco worker standing nearby.

 

On Thursday, May 4^th, sixteen of the Yahooligans went to the Japanese restaurant, Munahana for dinner.  We were only able to get sixteen of the group in even though we had twenty-two at the resort that day.  Our original plan of doing dinner on Tuesday, May 2^nd didn't work out since they couldn’t even fit four of our group in that day.  The Japanese restaurant was very good and we all enjoyed ourselves.  We also tried the French restaurant earlier in the week - the service was fabulous, but I wasn't all that excited about the food.  I'm pretty simple - the food was a little too rich and fancy for me.  I don't think Scott and I will do the French restaurant again, but probably will do the Japanese again.  Deanna and I had been dared to wear "slutwear" to the French restaurant - so we did!  Deanna wore a dress that Ray and Erica had labeled the "sleeve" and I wore a dress they called "the blue slut dress".  Deanna looked fantastic, I looked "slutty".  It was fun though, to see others reactions to our attire.  Had a tough time keeping the dresses from creeping up around our waists….

 

Met Joe and Teresa, Mark and Dawn, Bruce and Cynthia and Ben and Lois - recognized Joe from his Jimmy Buffet hat he warned us he'd be wearing.  Recognized Mark and Bruce from their photos.  I didn't even recognize Andreas and Diane when they showed up.  Looked different from the photo they had submitted.  I recognized Ben and Lois right away - probably because they had submitted a fairly recent photo.  I hope that we can spend more time with these and the other Yahooligans next year.  We left within a day or two of these couples showing up and didn't have a lot of time to get to know them.  Plan on seeing all of you next year (hopefully).

 

The thing that made our trip special was the group of people that we met through the Yahoo! Club website that Martha does such a nice job of managing.  Thanks to her for helping a great bunch of people to form budding and hopefully lasting friendships.  We are planning another Yahooligan trip for 2001 and David is working on getting group rates for us.  We will continue with the group profile - it came in very handy, and we have started a private club for Yahooligans at the Yahoo! Clubs (I am going to ditch the TalkCity site).  This will allow us to post pictures and other posts that we prefer to keep private.  Just a note to let everyone know - this is not a group of lifestylers or swingers!  All couples in this group were simply at Braco as Yahooligans so that they would already "know" someone when they arrived.  It made the trip much more enjoyable since we already knew something about each couple from the group profile.  The surprising thing was how well everyone got along and how easily the group "gelled" almost instantly.  We have high hopes that next years trip will be even better!

 

Some issues that have been posed on this website that I would like to address are the flavor of the ketchup - recommendations have been to bring your own.  Leave your ketchup at home!  The ketchup at Braco is fine.  The salt shakers do get gummed up from the humidity, but I just pulled out the bottom and sprinkled some in my hand - worked just fine.  The wine was ok.  Not spectacular, not bad - certainly not a reason to choose another resort as far as I'm concerned.  The Chilean Chardonnay was actually very good.  The service in most instances was impeccable to nonchalant (Nanny's second time around).  I really wasn't unhappy with the level of service since it was mostly very, very good.  Some of my favorite things were getting spritzed with rose water while laying out on the beach, having Cynthia bring fresh papaya, coconut and mangos to us, the Blue Mountain coffee (yum! And I'm not a coffee drinker!) and the continental breakfast from room service.

 

The service from the A/N clubhouse was one area that needed some re-vamping - but I think they were understaffed for most of the time.  One day we didn't even receive our room service and another day it was about an hour late.  My favorite time of day was sitting on our balcony looking at the ocean while drinking that wonderful Blue Mountain coffee and eating those fabulous pastries (the ones with powdered sugar and chocolate).  I enjoyed the lunches and dinners that we had at the A/N clubhouse - it was very peaceful there and the food was very good.  The local, wild kitties would come by and we would feed them little bits of our meals and they would beg to get more.  The resort is beautiful, the atmosphere is wonderful and the people were great!  I don't think we'll be looking for another place to vacation - we've found our "home".