NEGRIL, JAMAICA — He looked 10 days older than dirt. Bamboo thin, he barely cast a shadow in the waning Caribbean sun as it slowly descended below the horizon, thrusting fingerlike ribbons of light into the low-lying patchwork clouds.

KINGSTON - Soft strains of reggae guitar floated over the small, gravel-strewn courtyard in Jamaica’s capital. If I had been anywhere else on the island, I would have smiled and kept walking, but I was in Trench Town, in the same “government yard” that Bob Marley referenced in his song, “No Woman, No Cry,” so I immediately headed over to the musician.

KINGSTON - Jamaica has pretty much been the Caribbean Island destination for lo these many years. It always ranks among the top 10 honeymoon vacations, and is usually on some travel magazine’s “Top 10” something list. Ever wonder why?