We have a cycling club called "Fun and Thrills" and it is our aim to tour the entire Caribbean on bicycle, starting with Jamaica (where we all live) and which we have been touring at random for about two years.
On Ash Wednesday, February 25th , 2009, we rode from Port Antonio in Portland, (eastern Jamaica) to Mill Bank in the Blue and John Crow mountain range. This is an approximately 17.5 mile journey into the hinterland on extremely bad roads, but the scenery in this section of the "Rio Grande Valley" is so awesome and the climate so pleasant and refreshing, that one hardly noticed the roads.
To get to Mill Bank, you pass though qauint towns and villages such as Fellowship, Ginger House and Comfort Castle. Mill Bank is the last district in the Portland section of the Blue and John Crown Mountain range before you cross over into the Parish of St. Thomas.
These communities are populated by persons loosely called "Moore Town Maroons". Their ancestors were runaway slaves from the plantations. They had been forcibly removed from their native lands and brought to Jamaica by Spanish slave traders in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The term Maroon is derived from the Spanish word cimarrón which means wild. It was therefore used to brand those slaves who fled the plantations in the early 1600s and established their own settlements.
By the early eighteenth century, the Maroon communities controlled most of the eastern part of the island. They formed well organized and efficient underground military units. After decades of warfare, the British finally gave up the idea of ever catching and enslaving them and they yielded to their demands for recognition of their autonomy by signing a treaty with the Maroons in 1739.
Hailing from West and Central African regions with diverse languages and cultural practices, the Maroons practiced their own religious ceremonies that incorporated various spiritual traditions. These expressions and practices, which were then named Kromanti Play, continue to represent the very foundation of Maroon identity. During the ceremonies, dances, songs and specific drumming styles are performed to invoke ancestral spirits. These ceremonies also feature a language of African derivation, likewise named Kromanti, and rare medicinal preparations. As part of their heritage, the inhabitants of the maroon villages possess a unique system of communally-held treaty lands, a local council which uses their own political structure and the use of the abeng, a side-blown horn of which serves as a means of long-distance communication.
The maroon council draws representatives from each village and they have their own legal enforcement system for every infringement except murder. Incidentally, their villages boast extremely low crime rates.
Over the years, thousands of maroons have left their communities and have become integrated in the rest of the society. Most of those who remain are involved in farming and small enterprises.
Mill Bank is reputed to have the 2nd highest rainfall in the world and we were not disappointed as we were soaked about 4 times but got dry very quickly. The food was excellent and the scenery lush and breath taking. The Rio Grande river is huge and impressive, offering dozens of tranquil swimming areas and numerous waterfalls.It was great fun as we stayed together as a group, stopping to rest or just drink in the scenery.
See some of the great pictures we took at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=92523&id=763366822.
On Ash Wednesday, February 25th , 2009, we rode from Port Antonio in Portland, (eastern Jamaica) to Mill Bank in the Blue and John Crow mountain range. This is an approximately 17.5 mile journey into the hinterland on extremely bad roads, but the scenery in this section of the "Rio Grande Valley" is so awesome and the climate so pleasant and refreshing, that one hardly noticed the roads.
To get to Mill Bank, you pass though qauint towns and villages such as Fellowship, Ginger House and Comfort Castle. Mill Bank is the last district in the Portland section of the Blue and John Crown Mountain range before you cross over into the Parish of St. Thomas.
These communities are populated by persons loosely called "Moore Town Maroons". Their ancestors were runaway slaves from the plantations. They had been forcibly removed from their native lands and brought to Jamaica by Spanish slave traders in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The term Maroon is derived from the Spanish word cimarrón which means wild. It was therefore used to brand those slaves who fled the plantations in the early 1600s and established their own settlements.
By the early eighteenth century, the Maroon communities controlled most of the eastern part of the island. They formed well organized and efficient underground military units. After decades of warfare, the British finally gave up the idea of ever catching and enslaving them and they yielded to their demands for recognition of their autonomy by signing a treaty with the Maroons in 1739.
Hailing from West and Central African regions with diverse languages and cultural practices, the Maroons practiced their own religious ceremonies that incorporated various spiritual traditions. These expressions and practices, which were then named Kromanti Play, continue to represent the very foundation of Maroon identity. During the ceremonies, dances, songs and specific drumming styles are performed to invoke ancestral spirits. These ceremonies also feature a language of African derivation, likewise named Kromanti, and rare medicinal preparations. As part of their heritage, the inhabitants of the maroon villages possess a unique system of communally-held treaty lands, a local council which uses their own political structure and the use of the abeng, a side-blown horn of which serves as a means of long-distance communication.
The maroon council draws representatives from each village and they have their own legal enforcement system for every infringement except murder. Incidentally, their villages boast extremely low crime rates.
Over the years, thousands of maroons have left their communities and have become integrated in the rest of the society. Most of those who remain are involved in farming and small enterprises.
Mill Bank is reputed to have the 2nd highest rainfall in the world and we were not disappointed as we were soaked about 4 times but got dry very quickly. The food was excellent and the scenery lush and breath taking. The Rio Grande river is huge and impressive, offering dozens of tranquil swimming areas and numerous waterfalls.It was great fun as we stayed together as a group, stopping to rest or just drink in the scenery.
See some of the great pictures we took at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=92523&id=763366822.
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