Anyone used A-Z Jamaica Planners Recently?

[snedecor]

We loved our trip to Mayfield Falls and Dr.s Cave Beach with A-Z Jamaica Planners from Montego Bay in 2009.

 

We want to go again, but we haven't heard much from people who have used them.

 

Are they still in business? Are they still good? Anyone used them recently and what was your experience?

 

Thanks!

[Nanatravel]

I tried to find them and the owner a while back. I never received any response. I recall Georgina had been fired and charged with a serious crime against the company.

[snedecor]

We found their website and used it to request information about their tours. Belinda emailed us using the same email address she used last time and updated the tour information. We reserved our spots for Mayfield Falls and Bird Sanctuary for $85/person and were sent an invoice. Our driver would be Mark, same as in 2008.

 

We arrived and told the handlers outside we were looking for A-Z and they called them on their cell phone. Mark's father came in with the van and picked us up. We were the only ones on the tour in a 9 passenger van. It seems like they are not doing a good job of advertising and getting their name out there.

 

We went up the terrible, windy, potholed, narrow, mountain road to Mayfield falls. It was as wonderful as we remembered it from last time, but the hills we had to climb to get to it seemed to be higher than I remember them (lol). The guide offered to take our 35mm camera and take pictures of us with it! He was a competent guide and cameraman, and for that earned a tip larger than the price of admission to the park.

 

One diappointment was that the price of the excursion was said to include the entrance fees of the parks, but when we got there, Mark said that since we hadn't paid him yet, we had to pay our own entrance fees. Not a problem, since we brought cash to pay him, but a little disconcerting. A-Z pre-paid the entrance fees last time we went with them.

 

After the falls, we went back down the terrible, etc. mountain roads to town, and back up some not so terrible mountain roads to the hummingbird sanctuary. It was a wonderful experience to take a small bottle of sugar water, hold it above your waist, and have beautiful long-tailed hummingbirds come, perch on your outstretched finger, feed on the bottle of sugar water, then look over at you, blink, and fly away! This happened over and over again, and we were able to get many pictures, some pretty closeup.

 

The entry fee was $20, a little steep, but not too many places have hummingbirds that will come up to you and demand to be fed. They also had lots of other birds, but they were only interested in the feeding stations, not in interaction with humans. The grounds were lush and full of tropical plants.

 

After this we went to a local hangout for some jerk chicken and pork. I don't think it was as good as the Pork Pit, which we went to last time, but for some reason, Mark did not want to go there... The food was good and plentiful, though.

 

We did not choose to go shopping afterwards, but decided to go back to the cruise terminal, where we were dropped off, and paid the balance of our excursion fee and tipped Mark.

 

Overall, a good private excursion. Mark guided us well, and kept us safe, told us about Jamaican culture, customs, his Christian faith, we even sang a few hymns together!