Milk River Trek

Milk River Bath as most of you would probably know, is named after the river there which provides important irrigation for the Clarendon  plains where you find mostly cane and livestock farming.

 However, the river itself is infested with crocodiles and on our way we saw some fishermen with a small canoe and when asked what they were fishing for they laughingly said "crocodiles and fish."

 However, the bath does not get its highly radioactive water from the river, but from springs under the property itself.  And radioactive it is and warm too at a consistent 90 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit throughout the year. It is also said to have high levels of magnesium, calcium, sulphate and natural chloride which is said to help alleviate pains associated with  rheumatism, arthritis, sciatica and nerve complaints. The waters, however are so radioactive that patrons are warned to stay in for no more than ten to twenty minutes at a time, and then for no more than three baths per day.

 These baths were  opened in 1794 as according to legend, a slave, owned by one Jonathan Ludford  was brutally whipped and locked away in a dungeon. Imprisoned and severely wounded, and vowing never to be a slave again, he broke out of his chains and escaped. Days later, the man returned to the estate in full health, healed of the wounds he had received only a few days before. In an effort to convince others to run away with him, he told a tale of a remarkable salty spring in which he had bathed. Everyone who saw him was amazed at his recovery, and soon, word reached the owner of the estate who had ordered him punished. Ludford himself was astounded at the recovery, and promised to grant the slave freedom if he revealed the location of the spring. The slave led a party to the location, and Ludford promptly acquired the spring and the lands around it, and started the Milk River Baths.

 Upon his death, Ludford bequeathed all the property and land to the government and people of Jamaica to benefit all who needed them.

 I have not visited those baths for around ten years as the last time I went there it was in really terrible condition with junjo growing around the edge of the baths and the rails rusty.

In September 2015, Dr. Wyckham McNeil, Minister of Tourism  announced plans to carry out a $50-million rehabilitation project to include:

* demolition and alterations;

* upgrading of the electrical and plumbing systems, ceiling and floor;

* painting and decorating; and

* replacement of leaking and damaged roof

On this trip in November 2015, I returned with my Fun and Thrills familyWhile the real athletes rode from Kingston, a bunch of us drove to Osborne Store then headed south down to Gravel Hill primary school, parked and whiked  the 8 km to the bath.  At least, most of us walked while Ruth and Lisa the young turks jogged. My yoga teacher, Dada from Ananda Marga came to hike with us. While we waitied at the school for mthe others to arrive, a young rastaman rode up[ on his bicycle and mwelcomed us, then he and Dada got into a philosophical conversation. Before we left, Dada declared  "You know I agree with a  lot of the rastafari philosophy but I dont approve of the smoking of the herb" To which his fellow debater laughingly replied "Mi a smoke fram mi barn and mi healtier dan yu".

On the easy scenic walk, we passed a nicely decorated (private I guess) area called "Milk River Park" with some interesting paintings and signs, the most interesting being the ones calling for the legalization of Obeah and the one purporting to be a drawing of our ancestors!

Despite the governments announcement in September, not much work seems to have been done yet as the only noticeable improvement I saw that the the baths were refurbished (but the rusty rails remain)  some roofing work has been done and some areas re-tiled. Hopefully the next time I return, we will really see  $50 million improvement.!~

The bath was really refreshing and invigorating and the food was great, although about 70 persons took the trip while some 20 did not indicate they were coming and arrangements had only been made for some 50 the week before. This of course created some problems for the staff but they managed.

It was really an enjoyable day all round and of course Maurice and his ride back posse did declare they were riding back. I don't know if they did but the rest of us returned to Kingston in  comfortable vehicles with some of us even rejecting the new highway to drive through Old Harbour to get some delicious jerked pork.

Photos by David Jo and Jackie.

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." Martin Luther King

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=LOOKING+BACK.........%3A+The+Struggle+To+Preserve+Our+Freedoms

It reads like a spy thriller but events written about in this intriguing book really happened in little Jamaica in the 70's where the author, now an outspoken talk show host, was forced to join other courageous, freedom loving activists in the struggle to preserve their freedoms. This was during the era when the cold war raged and Jamaica was caught up in the deadly struggle between the USSR and USA for world domination. During that period Jamaicans actually fought an "undeclared civil war" as political deception/intrigue, the massacre of innocents and even downright treason by a government minister became dangers that had to be overcome as the dominant international spy agencies, the Russian KGB, the Cuban DGI and the American Central American Agency (CIA) assisted their local surrogates to try to dominate Jamaica, then eventually the entire English Speaking Caribbean.

In looking back now, Joan boldly declares that she feels nothing but gratitude to the CIA for their surreptitious assistance to those who were not prepared to capitulate and lose their freedoms to the power hungry Michael Manley regime . She writes “In light of the fact that those who tried to sell out our country to the eastern bloc were armed and financed by the Russian KGB and the Cuban DGI, I reiterate even now, that had the CIA or whichever other US agency not assisted the JLP in the undeclared civil war that raged between 1978 and 1980, the freedoms we accept as normal today would not have been preserved." Her determination to remain a free citizen however, even meant her having to make the ultimate sacrifice of having to send her children away, but this lady reluctantly made the painful decision for she wanted them to enjoy the freedoms she had been accustomed to.

However, as she reviews the terrible economic conditions in Jamaica today compounded by the fact that the country is one of the top 5 "Murder Capitals of the World," Williams wonders out loud if it was all worth the effort? However, since she discovered close relatives in Cuba, she visited that country recently and concluded, “I have visited Cuba four times, including once in 2014 to get acquainted with and spend a few days with some cousins who were born there. Although the natural beauty of that country cannot be totally destroyed, life there is simply intolerable for the residents. And I am not talking about only the lack of freedoms but also how the system makes it impossible for people to advance economically no matter how hard they work. So poverty is pervasive while corruption and prostitution are rampant as people turn to any means necessary to survive. So if it’s the CIA that assisted us to win the battle that saved us from becoming a deprived, browbeaten and hopeless people like the Cubans, I feel nothing but gratitude towards them."

In Looking Back, Williams does not only reminisce about the past however, but more importantly, wonders about the future under what she describes as the “Bastardisation of the Westminster System"  as practiced in Jamaica today. For while Jamaica is theoretically a “democratic” nation,  she reveals how some 25% of their electoral constituencies are tightly controlled by gunmen aligned to senior politicians in the dominant parties, the JLP and PNP. This is what she sadly insists accounts for the fact that Jamaica’s murder rate remains frighteningly high while the young people lose hope.

This is a timely, thought provoking and insightful book which is a “must read” for persons interested in democracy, politics and international affairs.

In Part 2 of this mini- autobiography, Williams shares the torment she went through when her only son was murdered and the surprise possibility she is forced to face since 2014, that he was actually murdered by someone in the Police Force, which is paid by taxpayers to "serve and protect." She also shares some quite hilarious views on family, religion, marijuana and other matters, ensuring that readers are never bored.

https://youtu.be/LvUJXyiJKKM

That Ill Fated Cruise and Roatan island

What should have been a wonderful vacation, turned out to be really tragic. Not for me and my family,  thank heavens but for the family of the lady who jumped overboard. 

You know, when I heard the announcement "man overboard" I thought it was a hoax. This is because some years ago on another Carnival cruise, just outside of Dominica there was a similar announcement and not only did we spend some four hours circling and looking for the body but so did a British frigate. It had been on some training mission in Dominica and came to assist. 

After a long search, they did an inventory and found no one missing. Coincidentally, it was  the 1st April so the captain concluded that the anonymous call they had received was some idiot's idea of an April fools joke! It was no joke however, just stupid and wasteful.

View from the manually operated swing bridge

In this case it was deathly serious though as a lady who was about 65 years old I hear, did jump to her death. I never  knew her or even see when her body was being recovered, but I know the grief that comes with  losing a loved one and as her son and daughter were there, I can just imagine how traumatic it is for them. Our discomfort only came from the fact that after the boat had to circle for about three hours searching for the body, they were low on fuel so had to turn back to Cozumel and bypass the Cayman visit. 

This was  especially annoying for me at first, for my friends were waiting there to take me on  a tour of that island which I had not visited in over 30 years and was looking forward to seeing them and the developments which I hear taking place there. We were all sooooo disappointed but as I said, our loss was not as great as that of the mourning family so we would just have to arrange for a future visit.

This cruise should have taken us to Cozumel, which I had visited twice before, Belize which I had visited at least 5 times but wanted to see the developments which had taken place. The other ports of call were Mahogany Cay  on Roatan island. I had never been there before and have now put the island on my bucket list for it appears to be quite attractive with lush mountains and white sands beaches. 

It has a population of some 70,000 I hear and a rich history similar to most former slave colonies. Although they had car rental agencies at the dock there and the island is really small,  because when I tour I like to stop and take in every thing, I did not try to get a car this time as I didn't want to rush.

My curiosity about Belize city was well placed as not much has changed in that city at all except there are people on the streets harassing tourists now. One man with locks whose teeth looked like Bully Bop's told us to stay on the main street as we could assaulted by gangs. When we asked others about the crime situation there they assured us that his was not true. As we walked back, he asked us to give him money for helping us and when I told him no, he shouted that I was mean and should not return to Belize. 

This made me feel so at home!

 We arrived there on the 18th August and another man tried to sell us a flag as he said it was their Independence Day. I never believed him anyway for had it been,  it would have been a holiday and signs of celebrations. I later researched it and discovered their Independence day is September 21. 

So be warned.

My main reason for visiting the town though was to look at the Swing Bridge as I thought that by now they must have moved from manual labour to machinery to move it. I could not believe they hadn't! 

I remember the many days I was rudely aroused from my sleep while staying at a hotel nearby, for the noise from the men pushing the bridge at 6 am to let the boats through was really horrendous!  I guess it is still a pestilence to those who have to reside nearby.

 I really could not believe the country had not progressed from that point some 15 years later! 

My one regret was that I was not able to visit San Pedro. This is a town in the southern part of the  Ambergris Cay. According to 2012 mid-year estimates, the town has a population of about 13,381 as is the second largest town in the Belize District.

I hear it is beautiful there but unfortunately during all the years I used to visit that country for work, I never heard about it so did not visit. I only subsequently heard about it from a cousin who lives in Canada but who spent many years there with her ex- husband who managed a hotel there, how fabulous it was. The water taxis did not leave till 1.30 pm  though which would have me returning too late for the ship. So next time.

The place I was really looking really really forward to was Cayman but fate intervened. The experience in Cozumel made up for everything else though. We had a really fabulous guide who took us to a Mayan holy site. His name was Angel and he was a proud Mayan. He was not only extremely informative but really passionate about his culture. This is never something you see in tour guides as they normally recite what is popular for tourists to hear. This guy spoke about how his culture was being adulterated by the Mexican establishment and insisted that his native language was not Spanish but Mayan.  He did the tour in English but we were all so impressed with him.

When we returned to Cozumel to drop off the body as a result of the suicide, we just walked around the town which is pleasant and touristy.

In Miami, I really had a great time with friends Joseph and Jackie and it was a good thing Jackie dropped me off early at the airport, for it was quite a drama, but not unpleasant. 

According to the security, they detected, wait for it........explosive residue on my hand luggage! 

A nice young man with locks (which he admitted it was for style not religion!) then went through my things piece by piece, rubbing everything on a strip then testing it on the machine.

Before a lady body searched me, she wanted to know if I had any aches or pains anywhere. I told her everywhere hurt as I had chic v which is partly true since the stupid pains from that virus do come back on occasion. The entire process took about 45 minutes but I feel better that security there is thorough. It certainly isn't in Jamaica for on a Jet Blue flight the next day, two women from here got into a fight and one drew out a razor and the other had pepper spray!

Man that is really disgraceful.

Independence Day at Kent Village

It was quite by coincidence that we ended up in Kent Village for Independence Day 2015, since that Village is somewhat synonymous with Jamaican Independence. This is because that is where the singer Eric Donaldson who is famous for winning festival songs, hails from.

Donaldson first made his name with the monster hit winner "Cherry Oh Baby" and in other  festival competitions followed up other hits such as "This is the Land of My Birth". In fact, he won four festival song competitions and when I asked two ladies in a shop at Kent Village why he no longer entered the festival song competition, they told me JCDC stopped him as he was winning too often. One then added "Festival nuh nice since im stap enter". I think I concur with that sentiment.

When Donaldson became famous, he named his commercial building in  his home town Cherry Oh Baby and still resides there, I am told.

Simpson  poses in front of Eric Donaldson's building 

Sheriff arranged this ride apparently for sentimental reasons as on her first ride with us she had "discovered" there as a cable car spanning the Rio Cobre River right there.

At the time we had stopped  there to buy snacks and on seeing the cable car, Heather, one of our founding members, had jumped on it and got a ride over the river.

Sheriff  returned to the area a few weeks ago and arranged for breakfast to be cooked on the property on the other side of the river. This meant finding a good cook and introducing herself to the owners, two brothers surnamed Rutty. They operate the farm across the river and the property has many huge hundred year old trees that provide great comfort for picnickers.

On an exploratory trip with the Sheriff  the Sunday before Independence, I learnt that the Ruttys operated a 152 acre orange farm  right there and the back of their farm joins the train line.  It is above the train line that the new highway from Inswood to Linstead is being built and we saw obvious signs of the construction on the hillside to the south. All the material the Rutty's needed to build their home and set up the farm was brought in by rail years ago.

Huge hundred year old trees made it great for picnics 

However to get over to Kent Village required them having to cross the river, so according to one brother, they had to use a bamboo raft when the river got swollen. Soon when they started to sell oranges to higglers, because of the huge rocks in the river they had to come up with a better strategy to transport the goods, so some 25 years ago they set up the cable car.

Richie in red shirt is the cable operator

Richie who is the operator told me he has been operating the cable car for 15 years and made a good living transporting higglers but now that a disease had devastated the orange grove, his income has dwindled to almost nothing.

He was therefore very happy to have Sheriff sweeten up his holiday with the 40 odd  adventurers who rode and walked to the area on independence day.

Alrick at the controls

Everyone had a ball and Alrick re-lived his childhood and got a learner's permit  to operate the cable car. Fortunately for Richie, he did not have the stamina to take everyone across so soon ran out of steam and Richie was able to reclaim his livelihood!

A few people were "fraidy pus" though and did not want to use that mode of transportation until they discovered that if they didn't, they wouldn't be getting any breakfast..

It was an absolutely wonderful day as  the water was nice and fresh due to the fact that it had rained  for a couple days in the gorge. The food too was delicious, ready on time and plenty and Sheriff had even organised a "security chief" to tend to our bicycles while we picnicked and frolicked in the river.

Of course in making the arrangements, she had the assistance of the Ayatollah  who ensured that transportation was adequate and available when we wanted it. Thanks to them, we had a ball and only had to get there by foot or bicycles, eat, pay our dues and have a wonderful time. That is true independence indeed!



Some photos compliments of Julian Dadag

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

Rehashing the past?

When I saw the headline in The Gleaner dated February 7, 2015 declaring, 'Take over idle lands - 'Hugo' Buchanan', I thought I had been transported back to the past.

Why do politicians always concentrate on reinventing the wheel?

Why can't the Buchanans of Jamaica put their minds to coming up with strategies to get the hundreds of thousands of acres of Crown land into production and to provide housing for those poor people who contribute to the National Housing Trust but can never acquire a home or even a house lot before casting a grudgeful eye on people's private property?

For Mr Buchanan's information, there are good projects being undertaken by Farm Up Jamaica, 'One One Coco', and, probably, others that I am not aware of that could probably benefit from the Government's horde of idle lands, thus providing a good income for young farmers.

So let's have some creative thinking before even contemplating returning to the counterproductive days of trying to capture privately owned land.

Haywood Hall, St. Mary and River Mummas

Yesterday we had a really nice ride to Haywood Hall in St. Mary which has a really long river with swimming areas above and below the fording. This outing was arranged by one of the the St. Mary men  in F&T, Alrick Rpbinson. He did his part well and the problems which we had with food, was caused by a breakdown at the Haywood Hall end, nothing to do with the planning from his end.

Haywood Hall river is a tributary of the Paget river.

This area is approximately four miles from Port Maria  and 36 miles from Kingston. Trich and I accompanied Alrick when the area was being scouted out for the ride some months ago.

That was when we met Norma, an absolutely beautiful back woman of around 40 years old who said she is a photographic model living in  Germany.

She was born  at Haywood Hall  (as was the film star Ester Anderson who acted for years in the series "The Avengers.")  She is now developing the area where we went as an eco-tourism park.

She has already cleared the section by the river, set up wooden lounge chairs by the river, installed a small stage and a nice clean bathroom. It was on that trip that we learnt the legend of river mummas at Haywood Hall.

Wooden lounge chairs line the river side

RiverMumma is the Jamaican river equivalent of mermaids which are said to live in the oceans.

These are ghost like, beautiful women with long hair who occasionally rise from the deep to sit on the rocks and comb their long tresses. According to folk lore, if you look directly at the river mumma, it can bring all kinds of problems including you falling into the river and drowning.

Since it is a ghostly creature, it is therefore not surprising that only children have ever see one and both Norma and Mr. Ellis, who was supposed to arrange the St. Mary part of things as Norma had to go back to Germany, claim they had actually seen one when they were children.

Mr. Ellis poses with his son and daughter in law

   

These river mummas are said to live in a bottomless area at the eastern side of the fording but as the water was cloudy on that side as they are repairing the fording, we went swimming in the western section.

I guess that is why we never saw any river mummas yesterday!

Brian enjoying the river

I Ireally enjoyed the ride through Junction which has become one of my favourite routes to ride as road is undulating, paved and well shaded. 

I rode with Andrew and Charles the 1st all the away  to Agualta Vale. They are really good company and stayed with me all the way.

At Agualta Vale I decided to drive as I find the north coast highway too void of trees and hot and always shy away from riding in the blaring sun.

 Andrew joined me in the support vehicle being driven by Stanford and Charles went in his own SUV. When we got to the entrance to the destination, we jumped back on to the bicycles for the approximately two mile journey there.

When we got there only a few members of the A team had arrived including Bernadette the only woman who could keep up with with the fast ones.

Alrick consults with Bernadette and Barry

Soon all the other riders filed in  by one.

Apart from some 30 riders, there were approximately 20 hikers, most recruited by Chuck from the outdoor lovers at Stella Maris. The walk  however proved too strenuous for most of them so they gave in to support vehicles one by one.

From we arrived, there was delicious hot chocolate waiting on us as well as potato pudding, cornmeal pudding and blue draws, aka tire leaf. This is a mixture of sweet potato and cornmeal with other ingredients that make up puddings, cooked in coconut milk, then it is tied up in banana leaves and boiled.

It is rarely seen these days as not many modern cooks have acquired the skill to make it. But it was popular in the days of our grandparents when people had lots of time to sit around and make all sorts of delicacies. Unfortunately most of these recipes are lost to the younger generation but I really enjoyed getting this after so many years.

Unfortunately though, the cook  that Mr. Ellis had, got it all wrong for there was the dessert ready from we got there but could we could not get our breakfast! For he kept cooking small amounts of fried  johhny cakes, saltfish and cabbage etc and before you turned around, it was all gone as everyone was starving and wanted their full breakfast. That cook is a disaster, for the food was nice but he had no idea about time, what had to be done first and how to cater for a large group!

What did we do before those smart phones were invented, I wonder lol?

Fact is at noon, he had not even peeled the bananas for the mackerel and bananas which so many people had ordered and the ackee and saltfish, the other popular dish that he had prepared, was so inadequate that not even ten people were able to get any.

This really made a number of people very angry and some even drove to Port Maria to buy KFC .

I had run dung salt fish for the first time and really found it delicious but there was just no food available to go with that small dish either. Although I think I now prefer run dung saltfish to run dung mackrel but that could be causerie I was so hungry !

I left there about 1 pm in Nicole's car,  along with Stewart, my cousin Sheila and Maurice Brown. I suspect all the others left shortly after.

Hanging out with Diana, Carol and cousin Sheila

Luckily I had gone to the river early and had a wonderful swim and  later got in a couple games of dominoes while picking at the food as it was being slowly prepared. Those who came back from the river later had every reason to be angry as the there was no food ready for them at noon after Alrick had even gone to the trouble of printing food tickets with "FNT' on them! Unfortunately the food part was  really a flop because of bad  organisation at the Haywood Hall end.

I told Mr. Ellis that if he keeps that chef, he is going to go into bankruptcy at the get go, for this was the very first group catering session and it went awry. Word of mouth can be great or devastating!

Anyway, I had  a great ride and really enjoyed the desserts, the great country chocolate tea and of course the ride, the river, the camaraderie and dominoes.

Christian

The star of this ride was a little boy named Christian who is only nine years old and I bet that in ten years he going to win Tour De France (if he continues at the rate he is going.)
For not only did he ride up the entire Stony Hill road without stopping but I also hear he never even took a rest stop for the entire 36 mile journey. Wow, am I impressed!

 Another Sunday well spent .

The Real Garden of Eden

If a real Garden of Eden exists, it is right here in the Rio Grande valley in Portland for there is yet to be another more peaceful, scenic, lush place in the world. 

The distance from Berridale, where you start rafting, to Port Antonio is eleven miles but by river it is only eight. And it is eight miles of sheer peace, beauty and tranquility.

Pat relaxes

Where you take the raft is across from the district of Burbank which lies to the south of the river. The Parish council operates a raft free of cost for the residents of that district as during the rainy season., the river really gets deep so they cannot cross by foot.

The one time we hiked to that area to visit Scatter Falls and the Fire cave, the river was really low so we just swam across.

The captains have to be very adept to navigate through the shallow areas

This Saturday when we went rafting, the river was indeed low too and that made you realise that the captains need great skill and not just strength to navigate that eight miles down to Rafters Rest.

My cousin Sheila and I had a ball

Our captain was Dennis, was a very nice guy. He said he has been rafting from he was about eight years old and he and his friends started building their own rafts  which they fished from.

He said his father is also a raftsman but because business is not very good, with most of them not getting more than one trip per week, he does farming in the hills, growing bananas coco and dasheen.

Poor Portland, they did great business in the good old days but because cruise ships are now super liners, that port cannot accommodate them so tourism there has gotten a real beating.

Dennis at work

He says before you can become a licensed captain to take visitors down the river, you start as an apprentice bringing the rafts back from Rafters Rest back to Berridale. This means polling most of the way up but to get up the rapids they have to get off and pull up the raft up by rope.

I had always thought these rafts lasted years, but he told me they only last about four months as when the bamboo starts to split it becomes water logged.

Amrita and family

As I had seen the rafters at Martha Brae carrying back their rafts by trailer, I asked him whey they don't do that in Portland but he  said when you pack them on top of each other, they do not even last three months!

For this trip, we had been invited by Charles as his sisters Diana and Amarita  were here with their families.Nine of us took the four hour trek including my cousin Sheila who is here from Canada.

The Rio Grande valley is surrounded by part of the Blue and John Crow mountains and now I see why it is called John Crow mountains.

Lovers Lane on the Rio Grande

John Crow is the Jamaican name for our vulture  and they abound there apparently. All along the river we saw them cooling off  in the water and hunting for rotten bait left by the numerous fishermen who make their living fishing for mud fish, snooker, mullet, jack etc in the Rio Grande.

About half way down,  shortly after you pass through Lovers lane, a lady by the name of Belinda has set up the most wonderful restaurant by the river bank.

There we  had the nicest lunch I have had for many years. Yes it was rice and peas and chicken, but real country chicken which has a much better taste than  commercial chicken. She also had the most delicious cray fish cooked in coconut milk. 

Boy I could eat some more  right now!

Ready to eat again

It is back breaking work for Belinda though as she lies in Stony Hill in the hills overlooking the Rio Grande valley and has to bring down the ingredients by foot daily. She says she stores her pots on site however.

So many people depend on that river to make a living. There as a lady on the way down too who had cool drinks and coconuts on her raft.

Pat was her best customer.

It was an absolutely wonderful day of camaraderie, swimming,m ,eating and of course falling asleep because of "itis" before we reached our destination!

 

An absolutely beautiful valley

Selling drinks and coconut from a raft