Welcome to Negril, Jamaica

Negril is an absolutely fascinating city that is located at the very western end of Jamaica. Perhaps it is best known for the longest strip of pure natural beach in the world, which is seven miles long. But in Negril you will also find a secluded pristine beach that is hidden in a little bay, cliffs, caves, Bloody Bay, Booby Cay, among other great things and places in see. Of course, there are many hotels, villas, cottages, guest houses, restaurants, bars, and party spots in Negril. We counted four clothing optional (nude) beaches in Negril: RIU, Couples, Grand Lido Negril (the perfect resort), and Hedonism II. If you’ve never been to Negril, you’ve been denying yourself one of life’s greatest pleasures. Put it on the agenda to visit. If you’ve been to Negril then you know not to keep Negril waiting.

Here is a photographic tour of Negril. It was a cloudy, windy day and the sea was very upset. But Seymour and Andy were kind enough to take our crew in their glass bottom boat to capture the entire Negril shoreline. Big up Seymour and Andy!

This is Negril from East to West.

It starts at this secluded beach, in a little hidden bay. We named this beach Rude Beach. Oh, if only this beach could talk.

Then Bloody Bay, where you can find two RIU Hotels, a Couples Hotel, Grand Lido Negril (the perfect resort), and two or three public beaches. We stopped at one of the RIU hotels and caught some of the water aerobics action.

This RIU Hotel is non-stop party action

Water aerobics RIU Hotel

RIU Hotel # 2 Bloody Bay

Couples Hotel Bloody Bay, Negril

Grand Lido Negril (the perfect resort), Bloody Bay, Negril

Then there is Point Village and Hedonism II (look for separate feature on Hedo II)

Point Village

Hedonism II (nudism, exhibitionism, and non-stop fun)

Then Sandals Negril, where the seven-mile beach and the action begin.

Sandals Negril (Negril's seven-mile beach begins here)

Along the seven-mile beach are hotels, guest houses, houses, bars, restaurants, villas, party spots, among other things. Of course, we shot photographs of people, jetskiiers, boats and other things along the way, to keep things exciting.

Sandals Negril

Beaches Negril

The Issa Family (Superclubs) owns this beautiful beach house.

Couples Swept Away

For Real Hotel

Legends

Bourbon Beach (Great Jerk Chicken and awesome party spot)

Errol's Sunset Cafe

Big Up Rastafari (flag)

The seven-mile beach ends right here in downtown Negril.

Downtown Negril leads into the cliffs and caves of West End Negril. Along the Cliffs and Caves of West End Negril are the Blue Cave Castle Hotel, Rockhouse Resort and Restaurant, Banana Resort, Negril Escape, and the world famous Rick’s Café (look for separate feature on Rick’s Café). The show ends at the lighthouse.

Church in Downtown Negril

Blue Cave Castle Hotel

Samsara Hotel

Rockhouse Hotel

Negril Escape (party spot)

Banana Shout Resort

Rick's Cafe (the world-famous Rick's Cafe)

The Caves (hotel) - Chris Blackwell owns this hotel

Negril Lighthouse

This is Negril from West to East

So you just saw the layout of Negril from East to West. Now here it is in reverse order, from West to East.

This time around the photographs show parts of the cliffs and caves, all of the seven mile beach, and ends at Grand Lido Negril (the perfect resort), in Bloody Bay. There are also photographs of Seymour and Andy, our great boat crew, and, of course, their beautiful glass bottom boat, Reality.

Kids having fun in Negril

Seymour & Andy, an their glass bottom boat, Reality.

Special thanks to Seymour, Andy, Conrad and the rest of the Water Sports Team at Grand Lido Negril (the perfect resort).

There is absolutely no place in the world like Negril, Jamaica.

Negril (East to West) Photo Gallery
Negril (West to East) Photo Gallery

Every country is great, especially Jamaica.

Bonita Jamaica
Beautiful Place. Amazing People.

See you in Jamaica.

Red Stripe Beer

Red Stripe Beer is originally a product of Desnoes & Geddes Company Ltd, one of the world's finest breweries. Let's make one thing clear, this beer was made popular by Jamaica's reggae and dancehall scene (Jamaica's poor), and has grown to become a globally recognized brand, under majority ownership by Guiness, PLC, a UK company. Of course, there's also Red Stripe Light, the light beer (softer) version.

Overseas it's called the 'hooray beer'. In Jamaica the slogan is 'Don't just live. Live red'. Bim!

Red Stripe Beer Photo Gallery
Photographs best viewed as a slideshow.

Note: New photographs are constantly being added to this photo collection (group) so keep checking back for updates.

Beach and beer in Jamaica.

Bonita Jamaica
Beautiful Place. Amazing People.

See you in Jamaica.

Grown in Jamaica

Most of our fruits, vegetables, and ground provisions in Jamaica are as good as organic gets. So rich and so very tasteful. Hmmm, got to love it. Yum Yum!


Photograph by Remlin

Grown in Jamaica Photo Gallery
Photographs best viewed as a slideshow.

Note: New photographs are constantly being added to this photo collection (group) so keep checking back for updates.

Every country is great, especially Jamaica.

Bonita Jamaica
Beautiful Place. Amazing People.

See you in Jamaica.

Marijuana Jamaica

This little plant here is one controversial plant that highlights just how foolish humankind can be. How can you seriously try to eradicate or prevent a plant from growing? Who gave you those powers? We love all plants here in Jamaica. Yup! Some call it herb. Some call it weed. Some call it ganja. Some call it so many other names. But whatever you call it, understand that this powerful plant will outlive us all. Oh by the way, possessing and using this plant, and even growing it, is illegal in Jamaica. This plant really must have done something serious to someone of great influence. So many people incarcerated (most of them ghetto youths) all over the world because of this plant. We say free them all and rethink government policy worldwide about this powerful plant. And don't be intimidated by people who are busy growing this plant while they are telling us not to grow it. All God's plants must be protected. Bim!

Marijuana Jamaica Photo Gallery
Photographs best viewed as a slideshow.

Note: New photographs are constantly being added to this photo collection (group) so keep checking back for updates.

Every country is great, especially Jamaica.

Bonita Jamaica
Beautiful Place. Amazing People.

See you in Jamaica.

Green Jamaica

How green is Jamaica? Greeeeener than you think. Yup, Jamaica is not just sand and surf. We are a country of very rich vegetation that stays rich from just-the-right-amount of rainfall. The greenery of Jamaica is a very significant part of its pure natural beauty. We are organic and eco-friendly. Welcome to the green.



Green Jamaica Photo Gallery
Photographs best viewed as a slideshow.

Note: New photographs are constantly being added to this photo collection (group) so keep checking back for updates.

Every country is great, especially Jamaica.

Bonita Jamaica
Beautiful Place. Amazing People.

See you in Jamaica.

A Message from Bonita Jamaica

Dear Jamaicans and friends of Jamaica,

Just a quick note to invite you to join the Bonita Jamaica movement, in a bid to help to bring Jamaica to the world, as we invite the world to visit Jamaica and share our beautiful sunshine, beaches, heritage, and culture. All Jamaicans and friends of Jamaica can play a role. It starts by sending an email to all the people in your contact list, telling them about Bonita Jamaica and doJAMAICA. For those who do not know, Bonita Jamaica is focused on showcasing the beauty and greatness of Jamaica for the world to see, while doJAMAICA is focused on showing the world some of the tourist resorts and tourist attractions that are in Jamaica. This is what we call reality marketing and, of course, we are doing it with the help of dancehall reggae beats, genres that originated in Jamaica that people all over the world have been relying on to spice up their parties. Special thanks to Google for giving us this awesome blog, to Flickr (a Yahoo! company) for hosting our great photographs of everything Jamaica, and to you for sharing your photographs and for taking the time to visit the sites.

Understand this. When Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., visited Jamaica with his wife Coretta Scott King in 1965, he was amazed at how Jamaicans live in love and harmony. What was most shocking to Dr. King is that there are no minorities in Jamaica. Instead, what he saw was one big happy family of Jamaicans. He was amazed at how happy we were, even though we were a poor country and people. Dr. King was so impressed by our Jamaican society that he went back and told his congregation at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, that he would like for America to one day have a similar system like Jamaica, in terms of race relations and in terms of how Americans coexist. Every Jamaican should be proud and humbled by this. RIP Dr. King.

Of course, Jamaica is not perfect. The world knows that we wrestle here in Jamaica with a very serious crime problem. Steps are being taken to improve the crime situation. We will get it right over time. We are also not very kind to homosexuals, but we are slowly becoming a more tolerant society and, hopefully, we will be able to repeal the British colonial-era laws against homosexuality that were left on our books and grow to become a more united country. Every Jamaican should be free to live in Jamaica and enjoy Jamaica in freedom.

Please join our Bonita Jamaica groups on Flickr and share positive stories about great achievements of Jamaica and Jamaicans with us (at BonitaJamaica@gmail.com). Also, could someone please start a Jamaica Sports Achievement blog? The world desperately needs one. We can’t capture all the sports stories here. That requires a very special blog.

Let us continue to be proactive as a country and as a people. Please don’t look to the global media to cast Jamaica in a positive light. They somehow think their stories are better when they show Jamaica to be a country of violent people who live in mud huts and tend to goats. Still, we continue to do very well wherever we go in the world. So the world has been seeing that the joke is on them (media clowns).

Big up all Jamaicans and all friends of Jamaica. Straight!

Every country is great, especially Jamaica.

Bonita Jamaica
Beautiful Place. Amazing People.

See you in Jamaica.

Mystic Mountain - Jamaica's Newest Tourist Attraction

Jamaica’s newest tourist attraction, Mystic Mountain (Rain Forest Bobsled Jamaica at Mystic Mountain), Ocho Rios, Jamaica, was opened on Saturday July 19, 2008. This new attraction comes to Jamaica courtesy of Rain Forest Aerial Tram, a nature-loving company that already operates four similar outfits in Costa Rica, St. Lucia, and Dominica (two in Costa Rica and one each in St. Lucia and Dominica). So Jamaica now has the 5^th such world-class operation in the world.

Here are the attractions that they offer, taken directly from their website: Attractions

Bobsled Jamaica

Photograph by Dameon Brackett

The park’s signature attraction, Rainforest Bobsled Jamaica, features a 1000m long gravity-drive through the rainforest on custom designed, high-tech sleds. Accessible via the Sky Lift Explorer, the Bobsled is a thrilling ride through dense tropical landscapes and coastal features on sleds that evoke Jamaica’s Olympic team.

Rainforest Sky Explorer

Photograph by Dameon Brackett

Positioned prominently at the park’s entrance is the Rainforest Sky Lift Explorer, a state-of-the-art chairlift that sends you soaring above the treetops up 700 feet to the top of Mystic Mountain. The descent carries you through the heart of the canopy, giving you firsthand glimpses of the wonders of the tropical seaside rainforest the Peak of Mystic Mountain.

Visitors will find the educational Pavilion; an engaging and educational encounter celebrating Jamaica’s rich history, the environment, the country’s colorful heritage and culture, Jamaican maritime prominence, and the long and decorated athletic tradition of the Jamaican people.

Tranopy
This three in one package offers: the Rainforest Sky Lift Explorer, Rainforest Bobsled Jamaica, and the popular Zip Line. Once the Sky Explorer carries you above the trees to the peak, both the Bobsled and Zip line will send you speeding through the heart of the forest. For fun, safe adventure, this comprehensive package is the best way to experience all of Mystic Mountain Jamaica’s Rainforest wonders.

All tours can be offered in combination with Dunn’s River Falls.

Find out more about this awesome attraction: Mystic Mountain

Jamaica Observer Story: Mystic Mountain

Jamaica Gleaner Story: Mystic Mountain

Every country is great, especially Jamaica.

Bonita Jamaica
Beautiful Place. Amazing People.

See you in Jamaica.

Caribbean Fashion Week 2008

Caribbean Fashion Week is an annual event that is held in Kingston, Jamaica. Caribbean Fashion Week 2008 was from June 11-16, 2008. View photographs from this awesome event at Revenge Fashion Magazine. Photographs courtesy of Giovanni Powell, Oliver Morrison, and Tyronne Payton.

Caribbean Fashion Week 2008


Caribbean Fashion Week 2008


Caribbean Fashion Week 2008


Caribbean Fashion Week 2008 Photo Gallery - Version 1.0
Caribbean Fashion Week 2008 Photo Gallery - Version 2.0

Caribbean Fashion Week is presented to the world by Pulse Investments Ltd. For more information visit:

www.caribbeanfashionweek.com
www.pulseinvestmentsltd.com

We love Revenge Fashion Magazine.

Every country is great, especially Jamaica.

Bonita Jamaica
Beautiful Place. Amazing People.

See you in Jamaica.

Introducing the Jamaica, West Indies Flickr Group

Intoducing Jamaica, West Indies Flickr Group. This group hosts the largest Jamaica-focused photographs on the photo storage and sharing site Flickr, a Yahoo! company. Don't ever predict what you are going to see when you visit this group. The contributors to the group are made up of amateurs and professionals photographers, Jamaicans and non-Jamaicans. Anyone in the world can join this group, as a contributor, a spectator, or both.

Big up Barry Bar for starting this awesome group. Special thanks to all the group members and contributors. This group really shows off Jamaica, for the world to see.

Visit the Jamaica, West Indies Photo Collection daily to see great shots like these:

Welcome to Jamaica - Courtesy of Digicel Jamaica Billboard Ad


Tributary that leads to the Great River, St. James Jamaica


Appleton Jamaican Rum Billboard, Negril Jamaica


Police Cruiser Passing Through


Jamaica, West Indies Photo Collection

Every country is great, especially Jamaica.

Bonita Jamaica
Beautiful Place. Amazing People.

See you in Jamaica.

Treats, from Grand Lido Negril

Grand Lido Negril has perfected the art of delivering treats. Go there with high expectations and a big appetite. Both will be met, and much more. For more information on the perfect resort, Grand Lido, visit: www.grandlido.com

Ackee, Saltfish (Cod Fish), & Fried Dumplings


Orange Juice, by Tru-Juice, makers of the world's finest juices


Bully Beef (Corned Beef) Sandwich & Papaya Daiquiri


Coconut Cake


Rock Bun


For other great Jamaican and non-Jamaican treats visit:

Treats, from Grand Lido Photo Gallery

Every country is great, especially Jamaica.

Bonita Jamaica
Beautiful Place. Amazing People.

See you in Jamaica.

Chukka Caribbean Adventures ATV Tour – Sandy Bay, Hanover, Jamaica

Chukka Caribbean Adventures Sandy Bay, Hanover ATV Tour is awesome. Of course, the proof is in the photographs. Chukka Caribbean Adventures offer many other exciting tours. Check ‘em out. www.chukkacaribbean.com

Sandy Bay, Hanover, Jamaica ATV Tour Photo Gallery

Every country is great, especially Jamaica.

Bonita Jamaica
Beautiful Place. Amazing People.

See you in Jamaica.

Blue Cave Castle Hotel

Blue Cave Castle Hotel sits nicely on the cliffs of Negril, just up the road from Rick’s Café. It’s a one-of-a-kind hotel. For more information visit: www.bluecavecastle.com

Blue Cave Castle Hotel Photo Gallery

Every country is great, especially Jamaica.

Bonita Jamaica
Beautiful Place. Amazing People.

See you in Jamaica.

The Perfect Rainbow(s)

First there was a heavy shower of rain and then a rainbow streak appeared. It later turned into the perfect rainbow. And if that wasn’t enough, it was later joined by another rainbow. Yup, there were two clearly defined rainbows sitting steadily over the perfect resort, Grand Lido Negril. Shot on June 24, 2008.

The Perfect Rainbow(s) Photo Gallery

For more information on the perfect resort, Grand Lido, visit: www.grandlido.com

Every country is great, especially Jamaica.

Bonita Jamaica
Beautiful Place. Amazing People.

See you in Jamaica.

Jamaica Sets Sights On Beijing To Be Best Olympics Ever

By Teswayne Harris

Now that the JAAA National Senior Trials in Kingston, Jamaica have ended after a number of scintillating performances and a few surprises over the three day event, Jamaica nation is aiming to set an unprecedented medal haul and have its best Olympic Games in Beijing, this summer.

Beijing will be the 15^th Olympics that Jamaica participates in. Jamaica earned 3 medals in its first Olympics in Helsinki, 1948, but only 5 at the last one in Athens, 2004.

Even though Jamaica has won a track and field medal in every Olympic Games, except for Melbourne in 1956 and Tokyo, in 1964, not much progress has been made in the medal count since then. Eight years ago, in Sydney, Jamaica had its highest medal tally: 7.

Nonetheless, the island-nation is looking to have a double digit medal haul at the 29^th Olympiad in Beijing, equaling or bettering the 10 earned at last year’s World Championships in Osaka, Japan. If each athlete performs to his/her ability and barring injuries, this quest should not be a difficult one.

Usain Bolt, who ran a cruising 100m in 9.85 at the Jamaica trials, should anchor the Jamaican medal count in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m. His friend and former world record holder 100m, Asafa Powell, should also be in the running to pick up medals in the 100m and the 4x100m.

With a 100m world record of 9.72 under his belt and a national best of 19.75 in the 200m (both in 2008), Bolt could be the first Jamaican to capture the sprint double at the Olympics. No Jamaican has ever won an Olympic gold in the 100m; Donald Quarrie won the 200m in Montreal, 1976.

Also, Jamaican decathlete Maurice Smith should continue his impressive form from last year’s World Championships to earn his first Olympic medal. He finished second to world favorite, Czech Roman Sebrle.

Veteran 400m hurdler Danny McFarlane will seek to regain the same form he used to win a silver medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Finishing in the top three will be a daunting challenge not only for McFarlane, but also for the men’s 4x400m relays team. Though not impossible, medaling here would be a hard-earned brawta for McFarlane and others.

On the women’s side, 100m world champion Veronica Campbell-Brown’s failure to secure an automatic entry in the women’s 100m came as a big surprise during last weekend’s trials. Her season best time of 10.88 was only good for 4^th place. Each nation can only send 3 participants for each event.

Campbell-Brown rebounded to capture the 200m in a personal best time and world leading time of 21.94; however, she is still hopeful that the JAAA can use its discretion and allow her to defend the world title she won in Osaka, Japan last year.

“I will definitely be running some good 100 meters leading into [the] Olympics,” the world champion added, “but if it remains as it is, I will just focus on defending my 200m title.”

According to JAAA rules, only the 1^st and 2^nd place finishers get an automatic bid, the third place is awarded at the governing body’s discretion, even though it is usually given to the 3^rd place finisher.

If Campbell-Brown doesn’t run the 100m, Jamaica is still expected to gain at least one medal in this race. Kerron Stewart won the Jamaica 100m trials in a world leading time 10.80; Shelly-Ann Fraser took 2^nd place in 10.85. This was the same time that American Muna Lee, one of the main competitors for the Jamaicans, ran to win the U.S trials.

Like the men’s team, the women’s 4x100m relay team has been tremendously improved with the return of in-form sprinter, Sherone Simpson. With 10.87 at the trials, Simpson has gotten close to her 2006 form when she was the world’s fastest woman. With Simpson, Campbell-Brown, Stewart and Fraser, Jamaica should repeat as 4x100m Olympic champions.

In the 200m, Campbell-Brown and Stewart are expected to stay in close medal contention with world champion Allyson Felix and her compatriot Tori Edwards.

Another surprise at the trials was the ascendancy of Rosemarie White in the 400m. White defeated Novelene Williams, the pre-trial favorite and last year’s World Championship bronze medalist, in the one-lap event to claim her first national title. White’s ascendancy will definitely boost Jamaica’s chances to at least retain the silver medal in the 4x400m relay won in Osaka last year.

Another athlete who should be considered in Jamaica’s medal tally is 100m hurdler Brigette Foster-Hylton who returned to form to beat Delloreen Ennis-London, the seasoned favorite and Osaka bronze medalist.

Beijing 2008 should not only be Usain Bolt’s and Veronica Campbell-Brown’s best Olympics, but Jamaica’s best, if all goes well.

Every country is great, especially Jamaica.

Bonita Jamaica
Beautiful Place. Amazing People.

See you in Jamaica.

A Little Bonita Jamaica Therapy

This is not just a hibiscus flower. This is great therapy. Make time for nature and for Bonita Jamaica.

Photographed on the banks of The Great River, in St. James, Jamaica. Big up all Jamaicans and all friends of Jamaica.

Every country is great, especially Jamaica.

Bonita Jamaica
Beautiful Place. Amazing People.

See you in Jamaica.

The Perfect Sunset

The sun rises in the east and sets perfectly in western Jamaica. You've never really seen the sun set until you see the sun setting with perfection in western Jamaica.

The Perfect Sunset Photo Gallery
Photographs best viewed as a slideshow.

Note: New photographs are constantly being added to this photo collection (group) so keep checking back for updates.

Bonita Jamaica
Beautiful Place. Amazing People.

See you in Jamaica.

Jamaican Wins Boston (USA) Community Design Competition

Congratulations to Jamaican Gregory Minott and his team members Troy DePeiza and Snehal Intwala. Keep 'teking it to dem'!

Jamaican Wins Boston Community Design Competition
Story from The Jamaica Observer

Jamaican Gregory Minott and team members Troy Depeiza and Snehal Intwala won the US$10,000 prize for Best Design for Building in the Dudley Square Community Charrette and Design Competition.

The Boston Society of Architects hosted the competition in association with the City of Boston, the Boston Redevelopment Authority, Common Boston and the Roxbury Masterplan Oversight Committee, as part of the public programming for the American Institute of Architects' 2008 National Convention in Boston.

The design competition focused on a parcel in Boston's Dudley Square neighbourhood that will become available with the removal of the two vacant buildings and the relocation of a police station. Prizes were awarded in four categories that Boston Mayor Tom Menino described as "the components at the heart of the city's strategy for the revitalisation of Dudley".

Teams drafted preliminary designs and then participated in a design workshop, in which they received advice and critiques from neighbourhood residents.

"(Their submission) was the most compelling in the sense that we could actually imagine it being built," said Kairos Shen, Boston's chief planner and a member of the jury that judged the 14 competition entries in a release to the media. "We all thought that, if you could do this, it would truly make the square a better place."

Minott's passion for making urban environments better places for people to live, work and play propelled him to enter the competition.

Born in Kingston, he lived in Mandeville and attended Belair High School, where he developed his love for art and architecture. He completed his bachelor's degree in architecture in 1997 from The Caribbean School of Architecture at the University of Technology (UTech).

He subsequently worked as an intern-architect for Lascelles Dixon and Associates in Kingston before going overseas to further his studies on a full scholarship at the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

There he received design awards for his projects, and completed a Masters of Architecture and Infrastructure Planning in 2002. He then worked for firms in Manhattan, New York, and New Jersey before moving to Boston in 2004, where he now works for Elkus-Manfredi Architects.

Bonita Jamaica
Beautiful Place. Amazing People.

See you in Jamaica.

Usain Bolt - The New Fastest Man on Earth

AP Photo/Stephen Chernin

Jamaican Usain Bolt is the new fastest man on earth, with a time of 9.72 seconds in the 100 meter sprint at the Reebok Grand Prix athletics meet Saturday, May 31, 2008 at Icahn Stadium in New York.

Jamaican Asafa Powell is now the number two fastest man of world. So the two fastest men in the world are Jamaicans. Bim!

Jamaican Usain Bolt Breaks the 100m World Record

by Teswayne Harris

Before the start of Saturday’s Reebok Grand Prix, many people were asking, ‘Who is Usain Bolt?” but after smashing the 100 meters world record in 9.72 seconds, Jamaican Usain Bolt answered this question, claiming the title: the world’s fastest man.

Bolt, the youngster out of Trelawny, Jamaica and a graduate of William Knibb High school led from the start and ended the race with his closest rival, Tyson Gay, five meters away in his 6^th

professional 100m race.

Normally a 200 meters specialist , the Puma-endorsed athlete used his 6’5’ frame to stride and glide to victory in front of the frenzied and partisan Jamaican fans, visibly attired in black, green and gold in the sold-out crowd of more than 6,500 at the Icahn Stadium on Randall’s Island, NY.

Initially, the clock showed 9.71 and Bolt, obvious elated, kept on running until he was flocked by supporters and media officials. One of this biggest supporters was the Jamaican Minister of Sports and Culture, Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange who donned her Team Jamaica Bickle cap on Bolt’s head. Later on, Bolt proudly wrapped himself in a huge Jamaican flag.

It was unclear how Bolt would perform outside of Kingston where he has clocked his fastest times to date, 19.75 in the 200m, and more recently 9.76 at the Jamaica Invitational, the second fastest time in the history of the 100m dash. This was his first signal to the world that he could break the then world record of 9.74 set by his countryman Asafa Powell last September in Rieti, Italy.

Bolt, 21, did what Powell could not do at last year‘s World Championship: beat Gay. A defeated Gay was gracious in defeat, acknowledging that there was nothing he could do to stop the man who is known as “lightning Bolt”.

“We were on the same rhythm,” Gay added, “but his stride was covering more ground. He’s run 9.7 before [and] his body knows what it feels like.”

Now Gay will have to worry about two Jamaicans in the 100m at this year’s Olympics in Beijing. He faces Powell on July 25-26 at the London Grand Prix. This duel was billed as the world record holder v. the world champion, but Bolt’s record-breaking run has spoiled such matchup.

Bolt is well aware of Powell’s well documented failures to win a major title - World Championship or Olympic - despite holding the world record. He will aim to add at least one gold to the silver he collected at last year’s World Championship.

“The world record means nothing without gold medals in the World Championships or the Olympics,” he noted. “I don’t need to break the record now. It’s mine now.”

Deciding only to run the 100m as speed preparation for the 200m, Bolt is now the hands-on favorite for the 100m in Beijing. There is no doubt now that he will attempt to be the first Jamaican to capture the Olympic sprint double this summer.

With an outburst of laughter , he said, “I think I’ll be doubling.” After a false start, and a world record 9.72 seconds later, who wouldn’t be laughing.

Read even more all about it here: The Jamaica Observer

Bonita Jamaica
Beautiful Place. Amazing People.

See you in Jamaica.

Buju Banton Performs at Madison Square Gardens, NYC, USA

On Saturday May 10, 2008, legendary dancehall reggae artiste Buju Banton performed at Madison Square Gardens, New York City, USA. Here are some pix and a link to an audio video from his performance. Talk di tingz Gargamel!

Buju Banton Photo Gallery


Audio Video Clip of Buju Banton's Performance

Buju Banton's Wiki

Bonita Jamaica
Beautiful Place. Amazing People.

See you in Jamaica.