Hedo III trip review, Aug. 17-24, 2001
This was my second trip to Hedo III, and the first one where I went with a group of people (Cock-Tails '01). Needless to say, this one was even more fun than the one before... Going with a group makes for a much nicer experience, and everyone in Cock-Tails were great.
Getting to Jamaica was relatively uneventful... this time, instead of 12 hours we were only one hour late (a plane broke in Atlanta, and we had to pick people up there on our way from Chicago). Bus ride was fine as well, with no crazy drivers or ganja stops.
Check-in was fine as well, and the room (400 building) was ready right away. I headed to the Quad bar to check if Reneilla is still there (she is, and here Hummingbirds are still great). Chatted with her for a while, and then headed to the nude side to meet the rest of the group. After meeting our fearless leaders right away, I got the Cock-Tails tattoo and settled in for a week of fun.
August, obviously, is not the busiest season, and the resort was not as packed as it was last December. As a positive side-effect, I do not think I saw a single working girl this time (ran into quite a few last year), although people asked me a couple of times if I wanted any. They did not press the issue when I refused, though, so no problem. Bartenders and Entertainment Coordinators still remembered me (well, I figured that bartenders would, what with my capacity for vodka shots, but I was surprised about EC's :-)
Weather was OK most of the time. It rained a couple of times, and we got free day vouchers for Sunday, which, ironically, had no sun whatsoever. Food was the same as before - quite decent, although certainly not 5-star kind. Pastafari was nice, and Munahana (otherwise, pretty standard place, in a Benihana style, except for rather pathetic selection of sushi) surprised me by using normal soupspoons. Every other Japanese restaurant that I know of uses those clunky plastic things… They even had sake.
Activities very pretty much the same as last year, and this time I even participated in a few contests (still did not get enough Hedo Bucks to get myself anything, though). Not the toga night, however. Let's just say that "Animal House" was NOT a part of my formative years. It would take them filming a sequel to "Caligula" to get me into a bed sheet... Contests on the nude side were interesting to say the least. There are some new EC's (Dangerous is a great guy, and Kitten is cute... but then so are the other ones :-) if you still have any energy left for other activities after a long night (I usually got to the room around 3 or 4 in the morning) you will sure be entertained. Can't say that I cared that much for the disco, though... they still were playing the very same songs they did last time. In the end I felt that if I hear "Wasn't me" one more time, I'd become homicidal (nothing that a shot of vodka would not take care of, however).
People were very nice, too. I have read some trip reports telling about people throwing fits over someone looking at somebody wrong, but nothing like that happened this time (or at least I did not see it). Everyone was very nice, even when we did some naked water slide runs. Scarlet Fever were there at the same time (nice people, but we creamed them in volleyball :-) and everyone had a great time. One older couple certainly did put everyone, even people 1/3 their age to shame...
The only problem was... a week flew by in a moment. Air Jamaica now runs check-in right at the resort, so after getting my boarding pass at noon and dropping off my bag (packed into one backpack this time) at the front desk, I had another three hours to spend at the pool. Perfect time to fit in a few more cocktails...
Ride back resembled the infamous bus ride from hell much more closely, with the driver doing passes around those huge British Leyland trucks in a bus that I would not even attempt in my smaller (and faster) car...
I figured that if I have to leave I could at least do it in style, so I paid extra (very little, really) for a first class seat on the way back. Figured, if I am going home, might as well do it with some orange-chocolate cake and nice aged sherry...
After some customary gate switching (first class lounge is quite good at Sangster, so I missed most of it anyway) we departed on time and got to Chicago right on schedule. With first class being first off the plane, I was through the Immigration (this time, they did not even ask me what part of Mexico Jamaica is in) and customs in less than 10 minutes.
This is not the place to go to if you want to get some rest and relaxation, but for an active vacation, I cannot think of a better place.
Even though it might have been even more fun to go to Hedo III at a time when it is a little more packed, this trip was a total blast. I will be going back, and with a voucher, it might even be sooner than I though...
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Best regards, -Boris