The White Sand Beach at Morant Point Lighthouse

Lovely White Sand beach near the Morant Point lighthouse

St. Thomas, is not known for white sands beaches, but we have finally found two. These are located just west of the Morant Point Lighthouse which is the most easterly point in Jamaica.

Although some us us have ridden to the lighthouse before, because these beaches are off the beaten path, we had not noticed them before.

We were only introduced to them by Michael Chuck who is an avid bird shooter which takes him into all sorts of hidden crevices in Jamaica.

On Labour Day 2015 when we rode there,  the sea was really rough though. The sand there however is beautifully sparkling and powdery. I understand that there are two hotels being planned for this area but have not heard who the investors are yet.

We had previously frequented the Old Piera area which is also in St.Thomas and has

some really nice beaches. The routine involves driving to Bowden Wharf where they have a oyster growing project right at the entrance.

The wharf itself is now under the control of the army, however they have always been kind enough to allow us to park there and ride north to explore.

The ride from the wharf  is really pleasant, safe and refreshing as we mostly stay on the  unpaved intervals between the cane fields associated with the Duckenfield Sugar factory. So there are no vehicles racing around as when we have to travel on on  the regular roads.

Breezy Tower 

We ride past Breezy Tower in Old Piera which appears to have been some form of storage tower from the olden days when St. Thomas was booming with sugar cane plantations. Unfortunately, no one I have ever asked about this structure knows for sure what it is and why it is there.

It was near there that I stopped to buy water on this trip and met Odane  who lives in Kingston but was in Rocky Point for the weekend. He was picking  hog plums and when I begged him some, he cheerfully obliged. Boy there is something about us Jamaicans when we go to the country. It is as if we immediately wash off  some of the standoffish and selfishness and become so nice and generous!

The nearby beach at Rocky Point also has a wonderful beach and we used to go there quite a bit, although the sand flies there can get quite fierce. However, the sea  there is much calmer than the one near the lighthouse and you can safely walk far out  as it is extremely shallow like at Negril.


 On Labour Day 2015 when we returned to the area, we discovered that one of the signs to the Lighthouse had an interesting twist to it, probably German, as written on the arrow was a big LYTEHOUS! Despitethe spelling however, all else remained the same.

Photos by Omar Downie.

Island Gully Falls

Well it will certainly go down as one of the most interesting marriage rituals I have ever seen. For while we Island Gully Falls on Sunday 28th June 2015, a groom fully decked out in his wedding suit and led by a most competent guide, walked slowly

were at

down the falls  then jumped into the deep, beautiful blue 

pool below. 

Next came his new bride,  also fully  decked out in her lovely white lace wedding dress and she jumped in after him.  The maid of honour and best man then followed in single file. Someone laughingly commented that it was clear that if you couldn't swim, you could not be a part of that bridal party!

The ritual was intriguing and certainly got our attention. The couple were east Indians who live in Virginia, USA and had traveled down to Jamaica for the important event which the bride laughingly told me was her best wedding yet.

The tour guides there are superb swimmers and divers

We had been  at the falls as our riding group had decided to spend the day there. Three courageous riders, Johann, Omar and a new lady named Ann  rode all the way from Kingston, a distance of some 58 miles I hear. Most others rode from Agualta Vale and a few others mounted at Port Maria.

I decided to hike on this trip for when I went to scout out the property with Chuck, Simpson and Ayatollah, I had seen far too many hills to ride over.

We started walking from Prospect in St. Mary and as usual, we initally walked in the wrong direction for about a mile before a local man we met disabused us, so we had to trek back.

It was in Prospect though that I  met the only nice policeman that I can recall ever meeting in my life. His name was Sergeant Hanna and he was in charge of the Prospect Police station. Three of us wanted to use the bathroom facilities and from we walked into the station we were met by his most welcoming  and accommodating smile.

 And would you believe the bathroom had a fresh smell and was spotless too. Really a great experience for me in at a police station!

One of the "Blue Holes" below the Island gully Falls

When we left the police station, we started walking in the wrong direction and only realised this when we met a young man walking in the opposite direction  and prevailed on him to confirm our path. This added an extra mile to our trek which Chuck said was a distance of 6 kms, turned out to be 6 miles  instead. I was disgusted to see that the residents in  the area were using the entire stretch along the river bank as their dumping ground for all the garbage in the area. It is really disgraceful and the St. Mary parish council needs to become more environmentally proactive.

We stopped at Wata World which was not yet open but the very pleasant man in charge of security, cheerfully allowed us to enter and use the bathroom facilities and buy some water. This is a new attraction on the White River where they have water slides etc and the entrance free is Ja$1200. Wata World is on St. Mary side of the river but once you take the bridge going west, you arrive in St. Ann and it is that parish that Island Gully Falls is in as the White River separates both parishes.

To find the falls, after leaving the JPS hydroelectric plant, you pass the two beautiful blue holes and head to Breadfruit Walk. It is wonderful to see how enterprising young people have now discovered this beautiful area and are now renting river shoes and life jackets as well as selling souvenirs, snacks and even "angel" muffins (made from ,ganja)

As my motto is "never pass up an AC vehicle when the sun gets hot,"  when Gail drove up in Simpson's car as I was getting really hot and tired, I jumped in, much to chagrin of my fellow hikers.

We had just barely arrived before Kim came barreling in closely followed by Howie and Bernadette. They had been among the group which  started riding in Agualta Vale.

Once we arrived, it was immediately into
the fabulously, clear, cool water in a pool below.

 That attraction which was developed by a wife and husband team named Hines, is really fabulous and in my book much better than Dunns River Falls.

The entrance fee is $500 but as we had a large group we got it for $250. And they prepared the most delicious breakfast for us and plenty to boot, as ace organiser Ayatollah was loudly inviting everyone to have seconds.

There was a sad aspect to this outing though as it is the last one for one of our dearest riders Pat,  as she is migrating to Sweden next month. I will certainly miss her as she is one of the most pleasant and cheerful persons I have ever met.

Apart from that it was a great day which went off without a hitch as we have now become accustomed to expect from our miserable but competent organiser extraordinaire Ayatollah aka. Charles Williams.

Photos compliments of Bernadette Frankson.

The CCam Race

Caribbean Coastal Area Management  Foundation (CCAM), one of the active environmental groups in Jamaica, had their second fund raising run yesterday. This was dubbed the a 7.5k Green run/walk to raise funds for protection of the Portland Bight which surely needs protection!

 For this year like the first event  last year, Fun and Thrills  was

You see many destroyed buildings like this in Portland Cottage and environs

asked to marshal. A number of our members volunteered through the prompting of our own Nicole Brown.. The good news is that unlike last year, there were far more participants than marshals. Also quite a few of our own members entered and ran or walked the  entire distance.

It appears they had close to a hundred participants this year and the route was also far more attractive, running from the Lionel Town Community Centre beside Bustamante High School  to Portland Cottage Community Centre,  across from the St. John's Anglican church.

Portland Cottage is in southern Clarendon  south of  Freetown. About five miles east you have the Portland Point Lighthouse and they also have a gun club and a small  marina in the vicinity of that light house. To the south east there is also another gun club at Jackson Bay.

The sea and road are almost the same elevation. This is "Salt Pond"

Portland Cottage is quite an unfortunate, for in 2004 Hurricane Ivan devastated the area killing 11 persons in the community of Village alone and in 2007, Hurricane Dean added to their sorrows and even now, they are barely recovering. For all over the place you see several buildings of various sizes and shapes which were destroyed and which people never bothered to try and rehabilitate.

The problem there is that it is extremely flat and the mangroves have been destroyed so as there is no longer any buffer, so every-time a hurricane hits the area, it does maximum damage.

 I suppose it is because this situation has existed for such a long time why the young people refer to that area as "Salt Pond", not even recognising that it is the actual sea, not a little pond, right beside their homes and communities. According to Michael Chuck who knows the area well, they even used to mine salt in that section but it has not been too viable.

The marshals on tour of Barmoth fishing beach

The channels beside  the strip leading to the sea had to be dredged after  Hurricane Dean.

Anyway, the CCam fund raising event was quite good  although it was almost an hour late in starting. I noticed too that like last year, there was no police presence and have to wonder why the Lionel town police had not offered any assistance in traffic control, although  this route was not as heavily  trafficked as the one they used from Vere to Lionel Town last year.

I had ridden down to the end alone before the race started and when they began, I started riding back. However I  had not even gone a mile before seeing the first place winner,  Fraser McCarthy of Portland Cottage, barreling down the road. The second place winner of the running segment never arrived until about  5 minutes after he did!! He seems to be the Bolt of 7k's!

Fun and Thrills entrants did quite well too although I don't really know how many got awards for performance, however I saw Bernadette and Lisa way up front.

Behind us are nice islands where we can swim and frolic, according to Chuck.

While the official part of the function was underway, Chuck took us on a tour of  Barmoth fishing beach  about a mile up the road, where he was warmly welcomed by the fishermen. This fishing beach has a long strip with channels at the sides going out to sea. I had  been told earlier that after hurricane Dean, that channel was nothing but mud and had to be dredged. Some fisher- folk lost boats  which had been anchored in there too.

According to Chuck, to the north, there are quite a few islands even larger than Lime Cay with good swimming areas.

By the time we returned, the official prize giving was over but I understand the results will be posted on CCam's facebook page.

We were happy to help Nicole with this project and get another opportunity to go out of town, exercise and enjoy ourselves although it was father's day and some of our
dedicated fathers had to return early to be lauded by their families.

Photos provided by David Jo