Bullhead Mountain, dead center of the island

This marker was installed to signify the peak as being dead  centre of the island 

Isn't it fascinating that dead centre of the beautiful island of Jamaica, stands a mountain range from which you can get a fantastic view of sections of the parishes of Clarendon, St. Ann, St. Mary and St. Catherine? Well right in the centre of that peak, you will find the marker confirming this fact.

That is the Bullhead Mountain which is situated in the parish of  Clarendon, the third largest parish in Jamaica.

The fabulous view of the scenic plains and surrounding hills

This important landmark is also the source of\Jamaica's longest river, the Rio Minho which runs from the range and empties out at Portland Point, after running a distance of  92 km ( 57.7 miles) providing life sustaining water to irrigate the Clarendon plains for thousands of farmers.

Magnificent pine trees abound

The range which consists of 220.6 hectares (545 acres) is controlled by the Jamaican Forrest Department and peaks at 547 metres (3600 feet) above sea level. As it is the forestry department that controls it, most of the area is covered in pine and bamboo trees which provides excellent shade but several species of ferns grow wild and provide a soft cushion all along the hiking trails.

While this area is unknown to most Jamaicans, the people of Clarendon have for years been using it as a major outdoor centre especially during the Easter holidays when, they trek there in droves to enjoy the wonderful scenery or simply hang out.

Fun and Thrills hikers

The first time I head about Bullhead Mountain, I thought I heard it had a beautiful waterfall and being very addicted to water, quickly  encouraged friends to accompany me on a hike there. We got ourselves a guide from nearby Thompson Town and asked him up front if he knew where the waterfall was and although he replied in the negative, he assured us that he could find it. Well we spent an entire day from about 10 am to around 4 pm hiking and dying to cool off but alas, there was no waterfall  to be found. I subsequently heard about the local folk lore that indicated that there is a mysterious waterball hidden somewhere in the range which will one day burst and wipe the entire parish of Clarendon from the face of the earth! That I heard many decades ago but have not fear, its just a duppy story!

The entrance to the park

More recently though, I went on another trek to that mountain with my regular group Fun and Thrills.

This was a properly organised outing overseen by environmentalist Nicole Brown who arranged with members of Northern Rio Minho Forrestry Management group, an environmentally active community group, to give us a proper tour.

Young Norris

Naturally, as Bullhead is dead centre of the island, there are several ways to get there. This time we opted to drive from May Pen to Red Hills via Pumpkin to Orange River road. It was near the park that we met there that we met a most pleasant young man, Norris Newman on his way to the river to get water.

When the guides joined us, my first question to the guides was "Are there any waterfalls here?" They assured me there was but after many hours of walking, when we got there, because we were in the midst of a severe drought, what we saw was a mere trickle.

This was however the occasion on which really got comprehensive information about this mid-island wonderful park. For example, we learnt that the original name was name of the mountain was Santa Marian, named after an indigenous plant found there. The name was however changed by the British to Bullhead, as it is said that the peak looks like a bull's head
when seen from out at sea and it provided an excellent navigation tool for sailors in the olden days.

Scenic views from every angle

We also learnt that the famous Maroon warrior Cudjoe, hid out there for a while after killing his first British aggressor in nearby Colonel's ridge which lies to the south of the range. As a result of the greart warrior and members of his troops hiding out there for a while, there are many descendants of the Maroons in the area, although we were told that they do not keep up the traditions as do their relatives in places like Scotts Hall and Accompong.

Nope, we still haven't seen a good waterfall at bullhead mountain but it is still a fabulous place to visit and lyme.

https://youtu.be/h2eZbrXgTNQ

Moore Town

According to the Jamaica National Heritage Trust, ".... in 1739 Cudjoe, Nanny's brother, signed a peace treaty with the British. The Maroons thereby became the first group of blacks to succeed in gaining their freedom and having that freedom officially recognized. 

Nanny, at first refused to sign a treaty with the British but eventually agreed to a truce. Nanny's Maroons, after the truce, divided themselves into two groups one of which went with her Brother Quako to Crawford Town and the other group followed Nanny to a new settlement, New Nanny Town, now called Moore Town.

Posing with Colonel Sterling,

In each Maroon settlement was a white Superintendent whose job it was to maintain good relations between the Maroons and the British. The success of settlements like Moore Town depended to a large extent on the diplomatic skill of the Superintendent and Moore Town was fortunate in obtaining good ones. 

The most famous of these was Lt. George Fuller, an Englishman, who became the Acting Barracks's master, and later Superintendent at Moore Town between 1809 and 1823. He also started the Fuller family through marriage with a Maroon girl."

Moore Town is today governed by Colonel Sterling who has been in that position for 20 years.

 According to him, the maroons do not have set elections but whenever the residents want a change of leadership, they have their means of asking for a change or letting their dissatisfaction with the current leadership known.

Under his leadership are the villages of ;  Kent, Brown's Field ,  Seaman's Valley, Moore Town, Ginger Hill, Comfort Castle and Millbank with a population of around 10,000 maroons. They have their own regulations and their council deals with all illegal activities except murder which falls in the jurisdiction of the Jamaican state. One way they maintain a low crime rate is that when strangers come into any of their villages, guides immediately approach them to see what they want and if necessary take them immediately to the Colonel.

What I was especially impressed about is how proud they are of their culture and how it is highlighted everywhere. In fact, I had the pleasure of meeting two very nice young men there. They were Kevin Patterson and Rayon Sterling aka. RJ who is a grandnephew of the Colonel. They proudly informed me that they were members of the junior cultural group and their traditions are kept going strong as from an early age the kids are exposed to every aspect of maroon culture in their schools.

Kevin and RJ

This recent trek to Moore Town took place on February 28, 2016 when some 80 persons journeyed to the settlement under the aegis of Fun and Thrills.

Some super fit troupers namely Maurice, Omar, Julian, Derval and Johann rode all the way from Kingston and back (returning home 8 pm I hear!), amazingly some of them even  reached Moore Town before any of the other riders or hikers. The other troupers fell into two groups, B team riders and hikers. The riders drove to Buff Bay and cycled from there whereas the hikers, among which I was numbered, walked from Fellowship.

 As usual, it rained most of the day but that made it a great day for hiking as the steady drizzle really cooled us down. Actually it rains so much in that area that just outside of Windsor we saw a marker on the road showing possible flooding up to 7 feet. When we inquired from a farmer we saw  tending his banana plantation across the road if It had actually reached that height, he said he had never seen it but he had experienced the water rising to the 6 foot level a few years

ago when it flooded his field.

We were actually on a trek to the famous Nanny falls which falls under the jurisdiction of the Moore Town maroons.

As you enter the community, you could almost feel a difference but what really surprised me was the profusion of churches, at least four in the first 200 metres after we left the main road. While most were some form of evangelical denomination, I was interested to learn from the colonel  that the Anglican church there was the very first to have been built in the area, some 100 years before any other.

I loved the pedestrian bridge too, which crosses Wildcane River and leads to Corn Puss pass in the John Crow mountains.

The pedestrian bridge over Wildcane river mountains.

As we arrived, we headed straight to breakfast in the school, where we had pre-arranged to have a typical maroon breakfast.  However, the janga run dung was just not up to the standard of what we had been introduced to on  a previous trip to Millbank,  but I guess that like in all societies, you have good and poor cooks.

After breakfast, we anxiously set off on the 20 minute walk to Nanny Falls. The first thing that struck you on that journey was the profusion of apples strewing the ground. Such a waste when you consider how much they cost in the city. The good news though was that many of the trees had an ample supply of apples hanging fairly low down so we could pick and eat as we trekked.

As, the falls are way below the track we walked on, the maroons built steep steps go get down there and that was quite a  challenge for some people.

The falls that day were also really bursting  as apparently they had been having heavy rainfall in the area so the force far exceeded what we had seen on the exploratory trip some weeks before. In fact so fierce and cold was it that I did not go in at all but most other persons did and had a wonderful time bathing and frolicking around.

  Despite the vast number of persons who accompanied us on this trip and the logistical challenge that it must have caused for the organizers Ayatollah and Chuck, it was an wonderful, well organised fun day.

Unfortunately it did not end too well for the chief organizer Charles Williams and his twin Chully who had to drive back to Fellowship where some vehicles had been left, in the back of an open van in the pouring rain. However I am sure that once they got dry, they too felt that the day had been well worth all the discomforts.

Photos compliments of Janel James, Julian Dadag, Michelle Munroe and David Jo.

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.