License to chill - Take it easy at Goldeneye, Ian Fleming`s Jamaica estate

``Relax, man,'' said Ramsey, giving me the first ingredient of ``The Commander's'' secret recipe for a happy life. ``Drink water with your rum, eat a little red meat but more fish, swim, fish and keep the drinking, the cigarettes and the women in moderation (and at a long distance from your wife).''

Ramsey Dacosta, now 66, used to be the houseboy for the British author Ian Fleming at his Jamaican home, ``Goldeneye.'' It was here in this seaside retreat that Fleming completed 13 of his James Bond books, beginning with ``Casino Royale'' in 1952 - reports the Boston Herald (USA).

The writer bought the northshore property in ``the beautiful banana port of Orcabessa'' (as he described the area in ``Live and Let Die'') for $7,712 in 1946. That same year, playwright Noel Coward rented the property for two months.

Fleming originally had been sent to Jamaica by British naval intelligence to stop U-boat sinkings in the Caribbean. He named Goldeneye, a property that was once a racecourse for donkeys, after a British Admiralty plan to defend Gibraltar.

Fleming spent 18 winters at Goldeneye, writing four hours a day. In a newspaper interview, he described his writing style as ``fast and with application.'' The writer died in 1964 at the age of 56.

At the front gate today there is still a sign reading ``For Sale or Rent,'' left there for nostalgia's sake. The 15-acre estate, which includes private beaches and coves, remained vacant until 1976, when London-born Chris Blackwell, founder of Island Records, bought it from the Fleming estate (Bob Marley once considered buying the property too, according to Blackwell).

Today, Goldeneye is an ultraluxurious all-inclusive resort, one of four properties Blackwell operates in Jamaica.

Fleming's old house, the Ian Fleming House as it's called today, is a three-bedroom villa. His former bedroom still has the red bullwood desk on which he wrote with the jalousies shut to keep out the sun (there is a typewriter, but the original was sold in 1995). The bathtub is in a secluded garden location outside.

Adjacent to the Fleming house is a large media room with a big video screen and little library that has a DVD collection (James Bond titles included).

The rest of the property consists of just four one- to three-bedroom villas with glassless windows to let in the breeze and the sound of the pounding surf.

Nothing much has changed since Fleming's time. It is, however, a little disconcerting when checking in to Goldeneye to be told Domino, as in ``Thunderball,'' is waiting for you. The villas are all named after famous Bond heroines, with the exception, strangely, of Pussy Galore (of ``Goldfinger'' fame).

Back in his day, Fleming entertained all the usual suspects at Goldeneye. Former CIA chief Allen Dulles was a guest (although President Kennedy was said to be a great fan of Fleming's writing, he never visited).

Fleming described Truman Capote as a ``most incongruous playmate'' when he spent some time here.

According to Dacosta, Fleming had a sense of humor and used to get a horse's carcass put in the lagoon so that when showing around his guests he could point to the circling fins of the sharks the carcass would attract and tell them that was the guests' special swimming area.

On my visit, a couple from Pennsylvania wanted to throw me in the sea. Keen on conservation, they said they believed the number of travel writers should be reduced, because we are ruining a lot of wonderful places by writing about them. They didn't want me to write about Goldeneye. ``It's too nice,'' they said. ``It's real Jamaica. And that's rare.''

This island nation has been used for many Bond movies, and there are plenty of locations to please the Bondophile.

Laughing Waters is where Ursula Andress (Honey Rider in ``Dr. No'') came out of the sea in a skimpy white bikini.

The swamps around Falmouth were Dr. No's home in ``Dr. No.'' The crew's hotel for that movie, Sans Souci, is where Bond (whom Fleming described as ``a healthy, violent, non-cerebral man in his mid-30s with few perceptible virtues except patriotism and courage'') seduced Miss Taro (Zena Marshall).

Charles Swaby's Falmouth Swamp Safari was where Sir Roger Moore hurdled the alligators in ``Live and Let Die.''

But most people who visit Goldeneye spend the majority of their time on-property.

They check out the pool, three beaches and private coral reef, which inspired much of ``Thunderball.'' Deep sea fishing excursions are available.

And you can take a tour with Dacosta, around the gardens full of African tulips, yellow hibiscus, giant bunyan trees and what seems like every tropical fruit and nut tree imaginable.

Meals and drinks are included in the resort's rates; the Jamaican cuisine is served in the gazebo overlooking the lagoon or in your own private villa.

Another obligatory activity is to sit in the sunken garden listening to Ramsey talk about the local birds and ``The Commander.'' Canned Fleming over a special Goldeneye rum punch is perfect.

Under the almond tree you learn that Fleming went to Eton and Sandhurst (the British West Point); had a brother (Peter) who was a travel writer; and was a great antiquarian book collector - he got the name James Bond from ``Birds of the West Indies,'' written by one James Bond.

At Goldeneye, you can't help but feel one with your surroundings and lucky, or as Fleming wrote, ``since the main ingredient of living is to be alive this is surely a worthwhile prospect.''

Getting there: Goldeneye is a 20-minute drive from Ocho Rios. The closest international airport is two hours away in Montego Bay, or you can fly from Montego Bay on Air Jamaica Express to Boscobel Aerodome, 10 minutes from the resort.

Staying there: Winter rates at the all-inclusive resort are from $895 per night for two. Fleming's house, which sleeps six, goes for $3,600 per night. Special honeymoon packages are available. For reservations, call 800-OUTPOST or go to www.islandoutpost.com.

Thanks to `JP` for the alert.

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