Home sweet home, Jamaica....warts and all

Jamaica remains my favorite place on earth,  for I have wonderful friends and family there, none more dear than most of the Williamses, who I still consider family. And I did get the opportunity to meet the latest member of that clan at a lunch soon after I arrived.

Actually, the worst thing about Jamaica is the dangerous and downright annoying crime problem, but life cant be only roses can it?

I could have once again  become a  crime victim when I returned in February 2020, as some assholes saw me, a single woman driving their favorite car, a criss Toyota corolla and decided they wanted it! 

Fortunately I had learnt from experience, that I should never get out of the car and open the gate when strange people follow me home, so I waited them out until my host family returned. Then and only then, they drove off.

 I have always maintained that even if I get a Toyota corolla free, I wouldn't want it. Unfortunately, I had a lot of business to do on this trip and since that was the only car my "adopted" son Shawn had to lend me, had to use it. He was not surprised that people wanted to carjack it, as he said there were quite a few accidents involving that model over the Christmas holidays and the thieves wanted parts. My grandson has the perfect description for those assholes, "Cowards" as they never cease to target women driving by themselves.

The glorious Silver Sands beach

I gave the car back to Shawn as soon as I got the major things done and took public transportation. Actually, JUTC buses are quite good, as they ran frequently on the route I was staying and were air conditioned to boot!

Apart from that incident. it was great being home.

Posing in front of the Bolt billboard in Trelawny

We spent some time in Silver Sands at my brother's home and with cousins who live overseas and the water was great as usual.  As my brother just loves to drive, we spent some time on the road too, as one cousin wanted to see where in southern Trelawny the legendary Usain Bolt was born. 

I knew the area, having ridden there with my "Fun and Thrills" riding group some years ago, but alas, I took them on the long winding route with some of the worst roads in Jamaica. In fact, the day after we returned to Kingston, one newspaper carried a story that taxi drivers who ply the route to Wakefield, Trelawny, mounted a demonstration over the condition of that same road. Good for them. 
We however took the shorter and less potholed road back. It runs beside the Martha Brae river.

When we arrived at Bolt's parent's home, we found a brand new structure. When we went there some years ago, it was an ordinary country home, but now that Bolt is rich, he seems to have demolished the original home. Such a pity as the original home where he was born would attract  visitors I am sure, but I guess he wants no more paparazzo knocking around! 

Anyway they have erected a billboard in the community and established a gift shop nearby, so his presence is not lost.

A 250 year old house in Accompong

Another place we visited was Accompong in the Cockpit Country area of  St. Elizabeth.

This is the largest Maroon community in the island and we visited the community a week after their elaborate annual celebration. 

The maroons are former slaves of the Spanish colonizers who refused to become subjected to the British when they conquered the island. They fought them and when they could not be defeated,  they were given lands in various sections of the island and a form of self government.


 Some Jamaicans do not like them, for as part of their peace treaty with the British, they agreed to help capture the runaway slaves brought in from Africa by the British.

Regardless of how you feel about their actions, their communities are an important part of our

The "Bank of Accompong"

island's history.

Recently, they tried to take their independence to another level, trying to establish their own currency in  Accompong. Its called the Lumi, which they claim is worth $1200 Jamaican dollars. Even a Bank of Accompong has been established, but of course that, will not be given legitimacy and will only be bought as souvenirs,  by the vulnerable. And talking about the vulnerable, one maroon man conned $1000 out of one of my cousins,  for she touched his bead made from coconut and he claimed it was sacred and that is what it would cost to be cleaned!

 Unfortunately I never heard about the scam until we were in the vehicle returning home. 

When we went there, is was a Saturday, so the museum was not open but the visitors got to look around at the community. I was rather appalled to see that they have taken off the portrait of one of their foremost leaders, Queen Nanny, from the front of the museum and replaced it with two skinny girls. 

The original portrait of Queen Nanny that was on  the museum

But its their museum so they can do what they want I guess.

A great experience on this trip was a trip with friends and acquaintances to Mayfield Falls in Westmorland and it was so wonderful that it earned its own blog at ;                                                                                       :https://joan-myviews.blogspot.com/2020/02/return-to-mayfield-falls.html.

The new portraits on the museum at Accompong

Another nice experience  was going to the monthly Bank of Jamaica cultural show with my cousins. I had always only seen musical entertainment there, but this time they had an interesting comedy called the " A Tiny Room" performed by a small group from Montego Bay, and it was quite entertaining.

Yup going home is always wonderful and it is certainly something I will do as regularly as I can, despite the damn thieves and murderers!

Return to Jamaica 2018

L-R, Taureans Hector, Joan, Kippo, Delroy and MC Audley

Although I have been residing in Florida since my retirement from radio, an annual May visit to Silver Sands will always be on the agenda. For you see, my brother Bernie is a party animal who never needs a reason to host one, so my birthday has been hosted there, compliments of he and his wife Judy,  every year for around eight years now.

Coretta looks fabulous in her bikini

This year was no exception. The pleasant addition though was having my niece Coretta from Canada, joining us there for a week.

Others in-house for the week too were Bernie's friend from days at school at Cornwall College, Howard Johnson aka Kippo and his wife Joyce.

The usual Taureans were in attendance except for my good friend, Michael James who had some health issues. Delroy and Hector, the other regulars, cut the cake along with a newcomer Kippo. It was quite funny though, for in calling up the Taureans, MC Audely forgot his own daughter Kim, another Taurean, who was very much in attendance!

She, therefore was out of the cake cutting this year.

Coretta and I pose at Noisy River

As usual, when we hang out at Silver Sands, despite the fabulous beach which is always inviting, we do go out touring.

We were all therefore extremely disappointed on the Labour day holiday when we drove all the way to St. Elizabeth to visit YS falls, only to find it closed. It seems to be the tradition in St. Elizabeth to close their attractions on holidays, for we drove over to Appleton to do the rum tour and that too was closed.

The magnificent Good Hope great house in the background

As we were near to Middlequarters where my grandparents had lived, we visited their old home, a place about which I have fond memories. Their old house was sold and is so beautifully remodeled that no one would recognize the place. The Moravian church built on land which my grandmother donated is still there though as are the tombs of my grandparents, their two daughters who died in infancy and my uncle. Coretta has land there so we got lots of papayas from the gentleman who looks after her place.

We also visited Noisy River which is always open and saw them setting up sound equipment for what would no doubt be an exciting day of frolicking for the thousands who often flock that venue for a swim and general lyme later.

Bernie relaxes at Good Hope. One of the former slave quarters is in the background

We did not tarry there, however, instead headed to the popular Bluefileds beach in Westmorland only to find it jam-packed.  In fact, it was so crowded that we could barely maneuver our way back out to the main road after driving down to the beach.

Bernie and Judy enjoy the fabulous view

What we discovered on Labour day was that there is an ackee shortage in western Jamaica. It was really shocking for we traversed four parishes, St.James, Trelawny, St. Elizabeth and Westmoraland but although everyone was looking out for some,  we could not find one vendor selling the main ingredient in Jamaica's national dish! That is extremely abnormal, for it is customary to always find people selling this popular product on the sidewalks.

We later learned that there is no similar shortage in the eastern side of the island though for we easily found some in Kingston and heard that in places such as St. Thomas, it is always available.

On another trek, we visited Good Hope great house in Trelawny from where you get a  scenic view of our important national treasure, the Cockpit Country.

Everyone believed the washerwoman was real!

This was once a brutal slave plantation but today it is operated as a small hotel and there are numerous attractions on the grounds. Of all the attractions, my favorite was this carving of a washerwoman. It is so lifelike, that when I posted the picture of me standing beside the carving on Facebook, it fooled everyone into believing she was real!

We also went over to Negril to visit friends there.

Hanging out at a rest stop on  the way to Negril

Boats anchored at Negril beach

Later, we journeyed to Kingston (minus Coretta who had to go back to Canada), to attend my former in-laws' family reunion. By then, my daughter Michele, granddaughter Maddy and daughter in law, Michelle had already flown into Kingston to attend.

 This is the second occasion on which I attended such a gathering,  for although I have long divorced my ex-husband, his family remains near and dear to me.

No one believes aunt Gladys is 90 years old!

In fact, his mom, Hazel has been my best friend and alternative mother for decades.

Posing with my friend Hazel

She is now 96 years old and extremely alert although she cannot move around by herself due to having a stroke some years ago.

She is well taken care of by her son Chully who ensures that she lacks nothing and can live out the rest of her life in peace and comfort.

Her sister, aunt Gladys also attended the reunion. At 90 years old she looks phenomenal, not a day over 60 and I hear she still drives when at home in Canada. Her family was well represented too as some 15 of them, including children, their spouses, and children, traveled to Jamaica for the event.

After the reunion, my daughter, granddaughter

Overlooking Montego Freeport

 and I went to Montego Bay for a few days at what she describes the Pirate hotel there, for it really caters to children.

It was another unforgettable vacation at home, spoilt only by the fact that we have an extremely lousy member of parliament in Kingson, one DelroyChuck, who has made no effort to fix the roads in the area where my home is.

Here the potholes have become so large and disgraceful that some of them have even taken on distinctive shapes......like the one below which is shaped like a heart.

In this case, the heart is definitely not the symbol of love!

Another Wonderful Weekend

This National heroes weekend was and absolute blast. On Saturday and Monday we went riding and swimming at Bob Marley beach in Bull Bay. Actually Simpson had wanted to ride to Hellshire on Monday as he lives near Bob Marley beach and complains that when we go there, he barely gets a little ride. But we shouted him  down and suggested that he ride to Kingston to meet us. He did and never met us until he had ridden to the top of Mountain View avenue, so I suspect he will never complain about the length of the ride again lest he be given the same option.
Anyway now that we have discovered Bob Marley, Hellshire is just too crowded and polluted for us! Besides riding to Bull bay is much more fun than riding in the blazing sun on the long, flat stretch to Hellshire   As usual the crazies rode back, but I and I not into dat.

Beautiful Bob Marley beach

Anyway it was great fun both days and the rasta men cooked some nice ital food. Saturday they shorted us a bit with the food but today we got more than enough. Barry created the excitement today when he lost his $50,000 tested, designer sun glasses. We spent a good while searching for it but  no luck. When a $5,000 reward was announced, a professional spear fisherman came with his snorkeling equipment and found it within 20 minutes.

Sunday was the real clincher though as we journeyed to Accompong Town in St. Elizabeth to reconnect with out ancestors. 

While some 50 of us traveled in a JUTC bus, another 25 or so went in a mini bus. Our driver was absolutely competent, pleasant and his music was fantastic as we were entertained by a wide selection of oldies to all the way.

On the way down we stopped at Jucci in Clarendon where Charles had pre-ordered breakfast. The camaraderie in the bus was great and it was smooth sailing until we almost reached Accompong where we encountered some really narrow roads which our big bus had some difficulty with. Desiree created some excitement as she looked over the deep inclines and got out of her seat thinking, I guess, that the bus might catapult down the side of the road. I was sitting on the hill side of the bus and did not see what was creating the problem, but on the return journey, I sat on that side and really didn't see any area that was particularly treacherous , but as they say, different strokes for different folks.

This  beautiful painting of Nanny of the Maroons is in the assembly hall.

When  we got to Accompong, they were ready for us and we got an interesting 10 minute presentation from the colonel, on the history and traditions of the Maroons. They are really well  set for tourism as there is an interesting museum there and an a number of explanatory plaques and statues.

The view from that plateau too is absolutely awesome and I can't recall ever seeing so many little, verdant, warm hills surrounding any one town anywhere else.

We set off for the hike to Cudjoe's grave site after our guide sprinkled white rum and wiped his face with some. (Cudjoe is the leader who led the western Maroons to victory in the fight against the British) .

Unfortunately it started to rain  as we set out and the soil there is extremely muddy so our hike, (despite the trail being shorter and less difficult than the Cuna Cuna trail of the Eastern Maroons) became quite treacherous . I slid and fell at least four times, I hear some lady got so stuck in the mud she had to be pulled out by others, then they rescued her shoes! 

Others less fit were bawling and complaining all the way but I think it was because they were ill prepared for the hike, most not even carrying the basic insect repellent although it was well known that we were going to the Cockpit country, but then that's why they are known as MTR for most never even carried water when they first tried to hike down to the bottom of Lovers leap some time ago!

The champion hiker was of course Penny who though about 7 months pregnant, declared at one point "isn't  this fun" and even offered to carry Verleta's bag as she observed that she was struggling! Stephan carried one child and the guide the other. That family is patterned off the Robinson Crusoe clan.

Crusoe himself with passenger! (A Terry Ann Miller photo)

I  thought it was great walking in the rain but we never got a chance to go to Cudjoe's burial site which is up a hill among the rocks, because of the rain and most people never made it to the "peace cave" which is the site where the British signed the peace treaty with the Maroons, giving them the land and self government as they just could not defeat them. And one could see clearly why the white man got what the duck got for there is no way they could have survived in those hills as the Maroons had the strategic advantage of being above them at all times and having many caves to hide in and ambush the enemy.

The way back was quite easy and when we returned they played the drums for us and did some traditional dances (after doing another ritual of pouring white rum on the floor and wiping their faces with it.) The food was absolutely wonderful too..... stewed pork, curried goat, run dung, fried chicken, rice and peas and lots of ground provisions.

 Part of the plan was to go back to  the Maggoty water fall and swim. From we were going past it however, I declared I was not swimming since it was the rainy season  and the river looked really  muddy. It seems everyone else had that thought for when it was said that it was too late for us to stop there, no one protested. Some of us wanted to hike down the hill anyway but were over ruled by the Ayatollah. Howie, Richard  Sharon and myself did start out on foot anyway but before we had covered two miles we were caught up by the buses and had to board.

The drive back was great, rum punch flowing from Bernadette's stash and I had already had my fill of Vodka and coconut water with Howie, Fatman etc. The absolutely wonderful selection of oldies that our driver brought along was competing with the loud chatting and laughter and a few snores but that made the journey even more interesting.

Can't wait for the next hike.

Ride to Dornoch

The Dornoch that we sought.

The Dornoch that we got!

According to the late, brilliant Albert Einstein,"Reality is merely an illusion" but boy the reality of Dornoch was no illusion but a great disappointment interspersed with real mosquito bites!

It was just yesterday morning that Betty was telling me about a documentary she saw about the photos that we see on the Internet versus how the subjects really look. We got a taste of this after going to Dornoch and I am especially sorry for Tara, Stefan, Penny and family who never got to swim at all or even ride. But I am sure they had a wonderful weekend nevertheless. I surely did.

On Saturday night I decided to sleep up by Betty and Charles, since the MTR Fun and Thrills people had decided to do a ride to Trelawny starting on Sunday morning at 4am and I did not feel like getting out of my bed so early and riding up to meet anyone. Besides I had long decided not to start any more rides from the Headquarters since I am allergic to getting up early to start rides at the appointed time only to end up waiting hours on end for those who do not respect other's time or simply lack discipline. So I have been, for almost a year now, riding out with Charles who does things my way. This two day ride was slated to have ended on Monday morning (after a night's rest) at Dornoch  in the Cockpit country where the Rio Bueno has its source, for the pictures which we had seen, had made it look like the Garden of Eden.

Charles and I set out promptly at 4 am with Kenesha as a support driver and after a brief servic stop at the gas station on Constant Spring road, we were joined by Chuck. From the beginning, the three of us had decided that there was no way on earth we were going to spend hours on end on a bicycle, but instead we would ride to Juici Beef at Clarendon Park, then leave the MTR's and drive over to the beach in Trelawny.

Well by the time I got to Sandy Bay and was about to cross on to the main highway, I felt the sun pelting down into my back and who did I see drive up beside me but Stewart, music and  air condition running and feeling no pain. He looked so happy that I immediately decided that I had had enough of the ride (3 1/2 hours in the saddle) and also wanted to share the good life, so I beckoned him to stop, packed up my bike and we drove off happily to Juici Beef where I had the most delicious porridge I have ever had anywhere, Peacorn porridge, made from peanuts and hominy corn.

When the MTR's arrived, I heard that there had been one mishap as super rider Howie had slipped and fallen while crossing the train line in Old Harbour.  He got a cut on his knee but happily there were no other mishaps for the entire weekend.

Beautiful, calm Burr Head Beach

Charles, Kenesha and I left the main group at Juici  (Chuck drove back to Kingston) and drove straight to Retreat Guest House in Trelawny where we heard about this absolutely wonderful beach, Burr Head beach. In my book, this beach is only to be outdone by Negril.  It is a public, white sands beach right beside Beaches hotel and it is so clean and shallow that I swear that if you wade out for half mile, the water is still at your waist. This is going to be my beach of first choice, from now on, in Trelawny. Betty later joined us there as she had driven down my car but came via the north coast whereas we had  taken a new and challenging route, going into central Jamaica then heading north from Porus, up Shooters Hill then to Trelawny via Albert Town, Clark's Town, Duncan's then on to Falmouth.

Whereas we used the beach for free, Betty had to pay $300 as it had been rented for a private stage show and after noon they had closed the gate.

After a wonderful swim we went to Bodmint where we found that Caroline and Charles Simpson had also defected from the ride and had driven straight over after riding to Porus.  Later, we went over to the bar next  door  to make arrangements for dinner. It was there Carolyn and  found two Jamericans  and played dominoes with them.

When we went back over there to wait for dinner, one was still there and he played with Carolyn while I played with Charles Simpson. That's when the 6 love drop! 

While we played some more,  the main group of tired riders arrived . (about 7.30 pm)  It was then that I learnt that the only person s who rode the entire journey were Alrick, Orelle, Maurice, Howie and Michael. Everyone else had to be driven over Shooters Hill and Sanford and Fatman never got back on their bikes. Disgraceful, considering that the stalwart women like Nicky and Sparkles did! (I wonder who dares to say "Look who's taking" . I aint no masochist! lol)

Anyway, when Fatman came he joined Carolyn, one of the six loveites and threatened to give it back to us.  Thank god we were called for dinner just when we were at the dangerous got 4 love point!

The dinner was quite good and I dare say the curry goat was probably the best I have had in years.

Next morning I discovered that Penny, Stefan  and family had arrived in the night as they wanted to ride to Dornoch  next day. The breakfast at Retreat guest house was excellent and before we could finish, Charles was calling desperately for Kenesha to pick them up at Burr Head Beach for while they had walked over from Bodmint from 6.30 am, they did not feel like walking back. I could have kicked myself for not thinking of driving to the beach when I woke up for I had been up from 7am but just never thought of it.

The lazy men who refused to walk from the beach back to Bodmint!

After breakfast Kenesha and I drove down and found the bunch of lazy men who we piled into the back of the pickup and took them back to Bodmint. We then walked with them to Aunt Gloria's where they voraciously gobbled up the breakfast but  poor Howie, chief masochist could not even sit down at breakfast, as he was still sore from the 15 hour ride.

As we got back to Bodmint, Chris (Dalrimple) joined us, having driven over from her home in St. Ann's bay. While we hung around, we heard brakes screeching outside and a faint thud, only to discover that a taxi  had run into the back of Donavan's  vehicle as he was turning into Bodmint. Although his vehicle's bumper was damaged, it was admirable to see him working assiduously to help the taximan pull away metal from his fan so he could drive his car to a mechanic. I wish I could be as charitable to people who rear end me. I promise to try.

Well sanity finally prevailed and it was decided that we would all drive the 19 miles to Dornoch instead of riding. We took the winding road  via Clark's Town to Stewart Town where we then took an unpaved, potholed access road into Dornoch. When we got there we parked at the top and hiked for about fifteen minutes down to the river head . Disappointment, for the beautiful clean river that we had seen in the pictures was no where to be found but instead only a mud hole and millions of mosquitoes. Luckily I had a towel to ward them off so only got bitten about a dozen times!

Disappointed I returned to my car with Johan and Kenesha and we decided to go back to Stewart Town to find a bar to get some cool beer. We did but then got a call from Charles saying that he had discovered that if you continue on the road to Dornoch, you could end up in Discovery Bay in 10 minutes.  I could not bother to go back on to the bad road so instead proceeded on to Kingston via Brown's Town. I was sorry to have to separate from what was a really nice group of fun loving people, but c'est la vie for after all, it had been a wonderful weekend of riding, swimming, eating, dominoes and camaraderie so there was no reason for me to be greedy.

 Another weekend well spent despite the disappointment of the Rio Bueno river, but I imagine that the mud and mosquitoes were a natural result of the islandwide rains which had pelted us all on the Saturday before .


No regrets about anything.

Erasing the corruption stain

Over the weekend Gary Spaulding had an interesting article entitled Erasing the corruption stain in which he outlined the task that Burchell Whiteman and others have in trying to clean up the PNP's tarnished image.

I hail this thrust by the PNP for the reality of Jamaican politics is that its either they or the JLP that will form the government and the JLP having lost all moral authority, they recognise that the apple is within their grasp.

Apparently too, they seem to understand that in order not to be swept to power only by their tribalists and thus having to face a very rocky road to get support or consensus from the rest of us, they must give the thinking public a reason to trust them, hence this sudden interest in integrity and weeding out corruption.

However, if this new body is not to be only a face card, before they even do anything else, they must demand answers to the Trafigura affair and share those answers with the public. For in the same way that the public will not be appeased until all is told about Mannat, Phelps & Phillips , neither will they be until all the gory details about the underhand deal with Trafigura are told. For while it is well known that Trafigura gave the PNP $30 million and were given a contract that the then ruling party would do something for them, what we can't find out is exactly what was promised to them. Was it that they would be allowed to dump their toxic waste in Jamaica? Was it that the contract to pull Nigerian oil would be renewed without competitive tender? Or did it have something to do with the destruction of the cockpit country in an effort to find more bauxite?

These both international scandals in which the ruling parties which formed the government at the time have been involved have only reinforced in the eyes of the world, the perception that Jamaica is nothing but a corrupt banana republic.

Also, if this integrity body is to be credible, they must do a better job than previous bodies in selecting who will be allowed to represent the party in an election. For since the 2007 election, the police has been showing great interest in two of their candidates for involvement in gangs. What would have happened had these two candidates been elected to parliament6 to make laws to affect the rest of us? This matter simply cannot be swept under the table.

Then there is the issue of MP Sharon Hay Webster brazenly remaining in parliament while admitting to being a dual citizen, a direct breach of the constitution.

What is this integrity committee going to do about this grave breach and insult to the integrity of Parliament?

Unless this commission is really serious about dealing with such issues, it will turn out to be nothing but a face card and once again voters will be left with a choice between a corrupt black dog and a corrupt monkey.