Dwayne Clark and the Boys
We met this irie man, probably in his late twenties, the first night of our trip in 2014. This series has recounted most memories from this particular ‘14 trip, which included, obviously myself, but also my son and his buddy – Scuba Steve – if you haven’t been following the faces of Jamaica series until now. The reason being, too, is that when traveling with two "young bloods," I often find myself always on the move; constantly doing things; a giddy up and go type of deal.
Dwayne and the Boys
The boys immediately hit it off with Dwayne. Chatting and talking, smiling; laughing; and joking, and getting the inside scoop on what happens on the “seven-mile strip.” The first night, after they got done walking up the beach, having a red stripe at a restaurant called, 'Alfred’s on the Beach,' he told the boys to meet him at his glass bottom boat around 7:30 am, sharp.
He didn’t actually own the boat, but he was the boat owner’s apprentice if you will. He would do any maintenance work, reel in clientele for glass bottom boat tours at the coral reefs and snorkeling expeditions, dive for conch shells, anything that was needed and requested per captain’s orders.
A long first day, called for a good night’s sleep. Up and at ‘em early, and the boys were off. They were excited for what their day had in store with their new “friend.” Everyone is a friend in Jamaica (the air quotes were just for adding some "zest" to the story).
They headed across the main drag (Norman Manley Blvd.) toward the beach-side. Dwayne was there waiting for them.
Peering across Norman Manley Blvd. toward the Rondel Village
"First things first," he said.
And then without hesitation he jumped in the Caribbean Ocean and started swimming. The boys were a little confused, but they figured that was probably their queue to start swimming, too. They jumped in and started making their way toward Dwayne who had virtually made his way out to the glass bottom boat already.
Every night he would dock the boat a few hundred yards out and swim in to shore. He docked it so far so no one would mess with the boat at night.
Dwayne's glass bottom boat docked outside the Rondel Village 200 or so yards out
When they made their way back in the boat to land, he had them start stretching and loosening up as if they were going to be helping lift heavy objects, something that is out of me repertoire range these days. They stretched for about 10 minutes and then he said,
"OK - you ready now?"
"Ready for wha..."
The boys couldn't even get their last word in and Dwayne took off running down the beach.
He turned back over his shoulder as he was running and yelled,
"For our morning workout."
The boys took off to catch up, and once they did, they all 3 jogged gracefully down the 7-mile strip. They went about a mile or so up to the Margaritaville, and back. It was a good warmup, but they were far from being done. The boys said Dwayne had given them tips about how to strengthen their legs. He says he usually runs up on his toes to significantly work his calve muscles as he runs, and this showed. Dwayne's calves were like rocks, even when he was just standing there talking to you. You couldn't help but notice them.
Next, he had the boys doing push-ups and pull-ups. They would alternate. One would be pushing and the other pulling. He found them an old bench and a palm tree - that's all he needed to give them a full body workout.
When the workout was done, after about 30 minutes or so, the boys looked like they had just ran a marathon or something. Huffing and puffing, sweat dripping from the bridges of their noses, and their hearts beating out of their naked chests.
"OK- now go eat some good food. Protein for the muscles to grow."
A Jamaican Breakfast
Dwayne's trainees flexin'
We got to know Dwayne on a personal level. He loved his country, he loved his people, and he loved things like Mixed Martial Arts (MMA); free diving; and dancing (with tourists).
We took Dwayne out to eat with us a couple of times to our favorite spot - Coletta's.
Dwayne at Coletta's for dinner
He took us out on his glass bottom boat where we snorkeled at the coral reefs.
We took him out and we watched live reggae music at the Bourban Beach Cafe and sipped some ice cold red stripes.
He free dove 40 feet down in the ocean and came up with a beautiful conch shell for my boy.
It seemed like whenever we would give, Dwayne would always reciprocate. A great human and a man with great heart - the Jamaican way.
It was just easy to tell.
Dwayne showed us his place of stay at the "Roots Bamboo." He rents a one bedroom here, and many times out of the week he would bring his "touristo lovers" back with him for a good night. Dwayne was into the "Big Beautiful Women." We will leave it at that.
Dwayne's humble adobe
Whenever we would go out and we didn't have plans previously made with Dwayne, guess who we would see. You guessed it - Dwayne.
And what would be be doing?
Dancing with a woman, and always a tourist woman.
Dwayne was and still is - a good friend. We hope to see Dwayne the next time we visit Negril. We are not sure if he will be here or not as he often talked about his family that lived in the "country." Nonetheless, we hope to soon our friend - seeen rasta.
Seen Rasta: Dwayne walked by a group of rasta men and showed his respects to them by saying the phrase "seeeen rasta." If I had to guess, he was simply stating the fact that he saw them and was showing them his respects by acknowledging - seeeeen rasta.
