Sandals Negril Jamaica, Day 4 2025

 Day 4 was Wednesday, Oct 15. 

The morning started with the same breakfast entertainment. This was not adding to the relaxed, upscale ambience we thought we'd have here. 

We finally got to take the garden tour. We'd tried one day but I think we slept in, the day before there was some rain, so we were excited to do it finally. One reason we chose  this resort is because of the mature landscaping. We looked at newer resorts and they felt so bare, too much concrete, not enough shade. The grounds were one of the things we really did enjoy here. 

The tour guide was the gardener, Simone. There was just us, and another lady who turned out to live about 30 minutes from us! 

I really liked these corkscrew plants! They're crotons, which you can have as indoor plants here. I have one, but it's not a corkscrew. The more sunlight they get, the more red they get.

This is a Peregrina, or Spicy Jatropha, according to Google. I wish I had taken notes, or filmed the guide. It was sometimes hard to understand--between the accent and the plant names I don't know, my memory was not working.

This is a Heliconia plant, commonly known as a false bird-of-paradise, or lobster claw. I don't know what makes it different from a real bird-of-paradise.

This is a caladium plant. They were quite large, and a great example of how you can fill a garden with non-flowering plants to fill spaces, and it not be boring.

This is a white wax begonia. While the flowers weren't much bigger than begonias at home, the leaves and plants were huge. 

This is a mulberry! You know the nursery rhyme/song, "Here we go Round the Mulberry Bush." It was cool to see. I believe this was between the water sports centre and the building towards the road.

This is a Monstera deliciosa, also known as Swiss Cheese Plant! There are several types of Monstera here. Another great filler plant!

This is a purple heart plant. The orange flowers behind it are lantana--a common summer annual here.

This is a Giant Taro, also known as Elephant Ear plant.

Madagascar periwinkle, also known as annual vinca. I believe this was next to the Sundowner restaurant.

This is Simone, the gardener that did the tour. I believe she said she's been working there for 7 years. At the end of the tour, she took us to the fish pond/gazebo behind the Paradise building. The property has a lot of almond trees, and she was able to crack one open so we could sample a raw almond. I had been wondering what the fruit was that was dropping from trees all along the beach. The trees are very different from the almond tree that we had in our backyard when I was young. Simone also sang us a song, 

After the tour, Rob went back to the room to recuperate from the heat.  It had been fine when we started the tour, but then the humidity and temperature went up significantly. I went back outside to take more photos. I really admired this tree. The one on the right is a Traveler's Palm, which is not a true palm, but related to the bird-of-paradise plant and bananas. It's located behind the Paradise building, in the "indent" (if you look at the map, you'll understand). It doesn't look all that impressive here, but it was huge.

This is a vine that reaches higher than the third floor of the Paradise building (back side). It was amazing. I believe she called it a "chicken leg" or "drumstick" vine. I can't find any info though. Most of what Google gives me is for a small water fine, or squash plants. This was neither. It was massive! It was cool to see the backside of the vine as we walk along the corridor. We were surprised though that there weren't birds nesting in it.

This is unfortunately, what I kept facing when I tried to take pictures! It's so humid that the camera fogs up when you go from inside to outside.

What I didn't realize about this tree is that the pink leaves are not the flower. Sort of like poinsettias. The flower is actually the yellow part!

I always thought the placement of this bush was odd. It was all alone, on the lawn in front of the Bamboo Grove building, near the wedding gazebo next to the beach. 

What did we do after this? I don't have many photos. I do have this one:

Using our complimentary bottle of red wine (anniversary gift) and juice from the mini bar, we made hotel room sangria. It was ....okay. I think it poured rain this afternoon. Perhaps this was the day we tried to do the water bikes but there was a few thunder rumbles in the mountains so the water staff said no.

Simone picked a few flowers for us during the tour. This is a swamp lily. Google's not being helpful, but I'm pretty sure that's what I found out.

This is a plumeria, also known as frangipani. They were quite common. I like how the petals overlap.

This is a hibiscus. I hadn't realized just how long the stamen (?) was. Look at the very end of it, it looks like a multi eyed snail LOL. 

This is me in my Vera dress, with hibiscus print. To read the saga of the dress, check out my blog. 

For dinner, we went to Barefoot by the Sea. The staff were wonderful!

This is the Blackened Blue Marlin. The menu says rice and broccoli. I asked for no rice, but I'm not sure what happened with the vegetables. I can't remember the appetizers we had. Probably the coconut shrimp.

I can't see what Rob has, I think it was the Seafood Your Way. 

Ackee and white chocolate cheesecake. It was nice. I loved the smaller size.

The Paradise building at night. I can't imagine what it was like before they put the roof over the balconies. It must have been so sunny in the afternoon, and terrible during the rain!

The evening entertainment was a white party on the beach. 

Here's that traveler's palm again. This is taken from the third floor corridor, so it gives a better idea of the size. 

It might seem crazy that I can't remember exactly what we did, or what we ate. Our goal for the trip was to rest, relax, reconnect. We find that on cruises we tend to be so busy, going to all the activities. Not this time. Also, I hadn't plan to take this long to blog the whole trip!! I've just been so busy.