Jamaica Villas - The Pelican Bar in Westmoreland

 

The Pelican Bar complete with Honeymoon suite

 

 

Mac and Doris waiting for a cab?

 

 

"Of course, the kitchen has been modernised..."

 

 

"Theres a draught coming from somewhere?"



We have all traveled the world in some form or another and we have witnessed everything from the ridiculous to the sublime, or at least we often think we have.  I personally have found myself in such squalid places as a public toilet in Kenya way back in the early 80’s where you needed a strong stomach to go within 50 yards of the place and just a few blocks further on, the Sunflower Disco where local businessmen turned up in dinner jackets and suites and tourists such as myself had shorts and flip-flops on watching naked Limbo dancers wriggle under a flaming bar just a few inches from the floor. A sight that has lived long in the memory, I can tell you.

No doubt you have your own wonderful and weird experiences to relate and I would be glad to hear from you if you can beat my Limbo dancers but there is one such place that defies logic and that one place is a pile of sticks, planks, palm leaves and nails that passes for the most important tourist attraction in the whole of the Caribbean islands. The Pelican Bar!

The Pelican Bar is a ramshackle hovel that sits on wooden stilts about a mile offshore on a sandbank and was the brainchild of a local fisherman by the name of Floyd Forbes who thought this platform in the middle of the Caribbean Sea might be the ideal place for himself and other fishermen friends to hang out after a hard day’s work.  It developed from that to becoming the biggest local attraction on the south side of the island of Jamaica and in no time the tourists were flocking to this complete wreck of a bar that sits out in Parottee Bay just down from Port Charles in the parish of Westmoreland.

The original Pelican Bar was washed away in a hurricane some years back and such was the impact on the local economy that local businesspeople clubbed together to enable Forbes to rebuild the Pelican bar and produce the finest concoction of planks, nails, poles and driftwood anywhere in the Caribbean.

To get to the Pelican Bar from Negril (For those staying at Villas Sur Mer) you drive down the coast on the A2 until you get to just past Crawford and then it’s through Black River and then you are there. In all it takes you about 1 hour 30 minutes by car and is roughly 83Km but worth every inch of the journey.

If you are staying with Villas Sur Mer or Luxury Arrivals Jamaica Villas then I’m sure the staff will be delighted to point you in the right direction.  So, if you do go for a Jamaica villa vacation in Negril with Sur Mer or along the coast with Luxury Arrivals and you do visit the delightful Pelican Bar, just remember who told you about it and send me your photos and comments and I will add them to this blog for other weary travelers to enjoy.

Jamaica Vacation Villlas links:
http://www.villassurmer.com/  Negril Villas Jamaica
http://www.luxuryarrivals.com/  Jamaica Villas

The best places in Jamaica

                                             



Lisa, the lady wot runs  a certain Luxury Villas in Jamaica company, has sent me some great photographs of someone really enjoying themselves and living “la vida loca” or to be more accurate, it’s photographs of Lisa really enjoying herself in Jamaica and sending me the evidence so I can grind my teeth in envy.

Now, there are places off the beaten track that are “must visit” sites, be they some historic building, some site of cultural significance, a great view or, in Lisa’s case, some great bars and restaurants along the sun kissed sandy beaches of Jamaica.

One such place I have already mentioned in another post is the Pelican bar at St. Elizabeth. This Pelican Bar looks like it’s been built by a Flamingo that was crap at DIY or was working without a plan. The whole thing is a pile of sticks that are nailed, screwed, glued or bolted together but it is THE in place to be.

The food is amazing, the company ambient, the decor no-existent, unless you consider a load of knackered signs grouped together to be worthy of the term “art” oh no, Mr. Floyd Forbes, a local fisherman concocted the idea of a bar on stilts, where he and his mates could hang out and it seems to have taken on a life of its own.

It is a real cool place to go. So, go there.

The other photographs sent by Lisa are of Jack Sprat’s place and as you can see from the photos I put together to form the video, the food looks sublime and I bet it tastes even better than it looks. There are also a few photos of some really yummy looking shrimps from Middle Quarters and more pics of Jakes place.

If any of you have ever been to these places, I’d love to see your photographs, so, get sending them to me robbie@myluxuryvillas.com

http://www.jamaicantreasures.com
Email lisa@jamaicantreasures.com
Have you been to Jamaica or do you live on Jamaica? Add a comment about your favourite place

The Best Bar in Jamaica

Lisa: Nose to the grindstone at the Pelican Bar

OK, I’m not one to grumble and moan, even when someone is having a much better time of it than I am. Oh no. But, there are limits.

I am sat wearing my wifes dressing gown (no! It was just the nearest thing and I was in a hurry…er..) and typing to a friend on Skype  who we are meeting later today for lunch, prior to watching Liverpool FC and Manchester City FC kick the snot out of each other in the premier league when “Ping!” I get a tap from Lisa, the lady who runs a world famous villa rentals company, you may have heard of it (unless you live in a cave) Jamaican Treasures, I may have mentioned this once or twice on this Blog.

Hard at it, another poor soul scratching a living.

Anyway, Lisa is in Jamaica just now and having a hell of a time, working apparently, or so she tells me. Lisa sent me some photographs of a truly amazing bar, I’ve seen nothing like it and I have seen some bars in my time (Ghana, Senegal, Belize, Germany, Cyprus, Barrow-in-Furness to mention a few places) it’s made out of sticks and palm leaves? Like the type of place one of the little Piggies would have built to keep the Wolf away.

I have decided that words alone could not describe this amazing stilt pub. It is Robinson Crusoe meets James Bond and from what Lisa tells me, the food is fantastic.

Take a look at this great Blog

http://www.jamaicantreasures.com
Email lisa@jamaicantreasures.com
Have you been to Jamaica or do you live on Jamaica? Add a comment about your favourite place