Sunday was quite and interesting, slightly stressful but overall, enjoyable day.
Thanks to Nicky (Sheriff) from Petrojam, we were informed that a gym was arranging a hike from Red light district to Newcastle in the Blue mountain range.
We should have left the gym in Barbican at 7 am, but when I got there at 6.30 am to register, I was the first so I headed off to join Charles (Ayatollah) with whom I was travelling. He and I share this thing in common where we hate hanging around to wait for people who have no respect for time, so accompanied by Theresa Nicole (Lawrence) and Lisa, we drove up to Red light district and parked. On checking by phone we realised that the rest of the crew were at least an hour late, so we started walking, having gotten instructions on the trail from Sheriff.
Problem is, after asking directions and finding out that the shortcut would be from Cotton, when we got there we saw no significant trrail so continued on the main road until we saw a farmer tending his goats. His name was John. He told us that the best short cut was at a section called Two passes and after some encouragement he agreed to accompany us to the turnoff. He was a very nice gentleman who told us he farmed coffee, cassava, bananas etc and took them to the Cross Road's Market on a Saturday.
He took us to the turn off and accompanied us up the path for a while before leaving us upon our own.
Well I am here to tell you that there was a close mutiny as we ascended the steep, slippery path with nothing to hold on to but sharp, tall, grass, at times even having to crawl on hands and knees. Everyone of us except Charles wanted to go back down and continue on the main road, (The total distance on the road from Red light district to Newcasretle is 6 miles). Anyway, the Ayatollah kept insisting that we continue and suddenly we arrived at the top of the hill and saw buildings in front to of us. Those were the living quarters of the soldiers at Newcastle. The uphill journey was hard but it took us only about 45 minutes to get there as opposed to probably 2 hours if we had continued on the main road!
The soldiers were as surprised to see us as we them. After messing around them for a while and taking photos at Newcastle we called others with the main group and ascertained that they were still more than an hour behind us. So we made our way slowly to Middleton, taking a bathroom stop at a guest house and taking photos. Charles even found a cold waterfall along the road to mess around with.
We stopped at a small shop at Middleton for refreshments and directions then continued a slow trek downhill to through the pleasant, picturesque countryside to our destination.
Raf Jam is actually an oasis in the hills. It is a tastefully set out guest house in the valley and owned by Sharon who looks 14 but who says she is 31 years old.
A river runs through the property and although it looks harmless, it's actually six feet deep in sections. Well after sticking my finger in the water, it was the first river I had intention of jumping into, for years.
After about half hour we were joined by others including Michael and Howie who were not at all deterred by the freezing water.
The last hikers trickled in at minutes to twelve after which a fairly nice lunch was served. After lunch we left but it had been a really nice outing all around, even though Lisa did end up with some welts on her arm as a result of having been cut by the tall grass we had encountered at the first section of the short cut.
Such hazards do occur when we hike in the hills but are soon forgotten when the real fun begins.
Thanks to Nicky (Sheriff) from Petrojam, we were informed that a gym was arranging a hike from Red light district to Newcastle in the Blue mountain range.
We should have left the gym in Barbican at 7 am, but when I got there at 6.30 am to register, I was the first so I headed off to join Charles (Ayatollah) with whom I was travelling. He and I share this thing in common where we hate hanging around to wait for people who have no respect for time, so accompanied by Theresa Nicole (Lawrence) and Lisa, we drove up to Red light district and parked. On checking by phone we realised that the rest of the crew were at least an hour late, so we started walking, having gotten instructions on the trail from Sheriff.
Problem is, after asking directions and finding out that the shortcut would be from Cotton, when we got there we saw no significant trrail so continued on the main road until we saw a farmer tending his goats. His name was John. He told us that the best short cut was at a section called Two passes and after some encouragement he agreed to accompany us to the turnoff. He was a very nice gentleman who told us he farmed coffee, cassava, bananas etc and took them to the Cross Road's Market on a Saturday.
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| Our guide John with the first group minus Lisa, the photographer. |
Well I am here to tell you that there was a close mutiny as we ascended the steep, slippery path with nothing to hold on to but sharp, tall, grass, at times even having to crawl on hands and knees. Everyone of us except Charles wanted to go back down and continue on the main road, (The total distance on the road from Red light district to Newcasretle is 6 miles). Anyway, the Ayatollah kept insisting that we continue and suddenly we arrived at the top of the hill and saw buildings in front to of us. Those were the living quarters of the soldiers at Newcastle. The uphill journey was hard but it took us only about 45 minutes to get there as opposed to probably 2 hours if we had continued on the main road!
We stopped at a small shop at Middleton for refreshments and directions then continued a slow trek downhill to through the pleasant, picturesque countryside to our destination.
A river runs through the property and although it looks harmless, it's actually six feet deep in sections. Well after sticking my finger in the water, it was the first river I had intention of jumping into, for years.
After about half hour we were joined by others including Michael and Howie who were not at all deterred by the freezing water.
The last hikers trickled in at minutes to twelve after which a fairly nice lunch was served. After lunch we left but it had been a really nice outing all around, even though Lisa did end up with some welts on her arm as a result of having been cut by the tall grass we had encountered at the first section of the short cut.
Such hazards do occur when we hike in the hills but are soon forgotten when the real fun begins.
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