I have always heard that there are no
alligators in
Jamaica, nevertheless, I went off with
Fun and Thrills yesterday to see if any had turned up in
Portland and and take a look at their church.
While I saw dozens of churches on the way and even a funeral in progress, I never saw any
alligators and not even a
crocodile (thank God).
Nevertheless it was a great day out organized by the dynamic team of
Charles the 1st and the other
Charles, aka ayatollah.
While we the
lowly pretenders (to riding) drove to
Port Antonio, t
he dynamic trio made up of
Terr-Ann, Johann and John decided that it was too
dibby dibby a ride for them, so they opted to ride
all the way from Kingston, leaving at
3.40 am yet they arrived in
Port Antonio minutes after us who drove out at around
6am.
 |
| The folding bike on the left |
(Incidentally, John is a British man who is pursuing doctoral studies in the USA and is visiting Jamaica to do some research. He brought along his
folding bicycle and since
Larry told him about us, he made contact with
Howie. )
In
Port Antonio, we were treated to
5 star restaurant reception with
mento band and all. Not only was the ambiance impressive at Anna Banana, but also, although the breakfast was
morish, the
mackerel rundung that I had was absolutely delicious.
And this place is on the beach just outside of port Antionio, a lovely little place indeed discovered by Charles 1st.
There we were joined by another Foreigner, this time from Ireland.
His name is Colin and he is in Jamaica riding around and getting to know the culture. He too was told about us by Larry (Larry seems to be our greatest admirer!)
After breakfast we warmed up with a coast ride to
San San, on a suggestion by
Howie. On the return journey I told
Pat about the cute little church at Trident hotel and coincidentally, saw the security at the huge closed gate, peeking over the wall. We asked him if we could come in an see the church and not only did he oblige but also he took the picture of us with the church in the background.
On returning to Anna Banana we regrouped and headed toward our destination, Alligator Church Bridge.
It was a pleasant ride on a reasonably surfaced road until we got to
Friendship and made the left turn. The roads in that southern area leave a lot to be desired but the ride was not strenuous and the scenery refreshing.
When we got to
Alligator Church Bridge, some riders opted to continue on up to
Millbank while others waited until after they had tested the river and eaten . The rest of us just stayed there the entire time
swimming, playing dominoes and lyming.
Of course I had to play dominoes with my
now regular partner
Chris and we dropped t
he big one on
Carolyn and Fatman. Then
Chuck came for his share and but after a few "
bruks" (we were playing
bruk an spoil") we were warned by
Simpson that the food
was being rapidly consumed so we needed to get our share. So
Chuck was saved from the same fate that F
atman had suffered with
Carolyn!
While we were there, who arrived but the entire
Assam family, baby and all and we were told that
Penny and Stefan had alternated on the ride up to
Alligator Church Bridge!
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| Monique, Chully, Carol |
The food was absolutely wonderful except they had no ground provisions and just a little green bananas which was all consumed by the time we arrived. The only alternative was plain rice.
The
janga run dung, busu soup and
busu and janga stew with pigs tail was out of this world, almost as good as the first time I had
maroon food in
Milbank.
The river was warm, deep and inviting although it had a slight current but we all had a wonderful time and I know this trip will be spoken of for years to come, as we relive the fund memories.
