The circle of life

There is a feature on Facebook which I really cherish. That is their reminding us of your posts and photos posted years ago.

This picture  below, from sometime in 2016 was especially memorable.

Here I am, looking down the throat of a nurse shark, as a fisherman held its jaws open.

On that particular day, I had been returning from Bob Marley beach in Bull Bay, St. Andrew, Jamaica after a vigorous ride there with my fiends from Fun and Thrills Adventure club, to enjoy a Saturday morning swim.

Just before reaching the main road, I had run into two men, one pushing a wheelbarrow with a strange looking creature inside.

Curious, I stopped to find out what it was. When I was told it was a nurse shark, I berated the men for killing the poor creature which I declared was harmless.

That's when one told me it had been caught in his fishing net into which it had stealthily entered it to eat the fish inside.

He then pried its jaws open, to show me the evidence of its dastardly act.

He said he was going to sell it to a security company to recoup some of his losses. They he said, would grind it up for dog food.

That dear friends was another valuable lesson for me about the circle of life.

https://youtu.be/O4H4Js9esxY

A Toothless Shark

We hear such chilling tales about sharks, that seeing a toothless one was quite a novelty.

 This I ran into on the way to Bob Marley beach for breakfast and a swim on Saturday, before riding on to Macca Beach in Yallahs, to watch the international surfing competition.

As we entered the unpaved road to the beach, we saw a man with a wheel barrow with a huge shark inside. As Omar was just ahead of me with his camera,
I exhorted him to take a picture, after all, how often does one get to see a shark close up and even look in his mouth to boot.

It was about 6 feet long with a super -flat, broad head and I actually felt sorry for the creature which was still breathing and the fisherman told me it was a harmless nurse shark.

When I asked him why he killed him then, he said he had gone into his fish net and eaten some if his catch.

He even opened the mouth of the creature which was still breathing, to prove his point.

I never knew I could feel sorry for a shark but I did , especially when he told me he was going to sell it to a guard company for them to feed their guard dogs.

Eighteen of us went on to Macca Beach after we ate and swam, then Johann rode over to Yallahs by himself.

As we reached our destination I saw a jelly man and thirstily, we all converged, buying out most of his stock. I did not have any, as Grace who had been driving around like a tourist with David., had just saved my life with a bottle of water.When we got to Macca Beach, I was ready to go home as the waves were not as fierce and large as the last time we were there, so I knew it would be a tame meet. Besides, on this occasion, there appeared to be more vendors than spectators.

So as the first vehicle was ready, guess who was a passenger?

It was a nice day though, good breakfast, my first shark up close, a nice swim and an invigorating ride.

PICTURES COMPLIMENTS OF OMAR DOWNIE.

https://youtu.be/O4H4Js9esxY

No More "Pathole" For Me.

Enjoying the cool clear water at Bob Marley beach

If you have never heard of Fire Saga, you should shortly, as he says he will soon "buss out". I met him at Bob Marley beach this morning as he regaled all who were there with his latest CD.

I was actually the first rider to get there this morning because of a mix up in communication. The plan that I heard was that we would ride out from Charles' at 6.30 am but when I got there, everyone had left to go to a 5k at the airport. So I rode around to Michael and discovered that Alrick, Omar, Gary and Marlon had also been left out of the loop.

Omar and Alrick went riding to Jack's Hill and  I started out with Marlon and Gary for the beach.  That was when I was exposed to the civilized manner of warning riders behind of pitfalls like potholes in the road. Gary and Marlon have ridden professionally and they simply use hand signals when they see some danger in the road. We, the bhuttos of Fun and Thrills  normally simply shout out "pathole". 

Maybe we will all become sophisticated  one day and use our hands too instead of distorting the poor pothole!Anyway, on the way out, Gary and Marlon ran into an old colleague of theirs. His name is Troy and he rode with me for a while on Michael Manley Boulevard. He says he is a stunt rider on both bicycles and motorcycles. I would like to see him in action. After a while I could see he was itching to go race the others and I was riding slowly so I assured him,  I would be ok by myself.

I never saw them again until they arrived at the beach later. By then I already had my first swim and breakfast.

Charles Simpsonsoon joined me for he too had been screwed up information wise and he had ridden all the way up Mountain View avenue to meet us going to the beach,  so of course he ended up riding by himself both ways.The others filtered in close to 9 am and soon the sea was full.

 Ann Marie who had come with Desiree, thought she lost her gold earrings which she had left on a towel on a table on the beach and lots of people spent a good deal of time looking for them. It so happens some perceptive person had seen it on the towel and decided it was not safe so wrapped it in Maurice's socks and put it safely in his shoes. Then not to be left out, Chully started searching frantically for his towel in which his glasses had been wrapped up and left on the same table. Eventually he found his glasses on the table but his towel was never to be seen again. Apparently someone had mistakenly taken his towel and left a nicer, newer one for him, so he ended up being better off.

The beach was not its usual calm self as it had quite a current. Charles Simpson who lives nearby told us they have been having unusually high winds, up to 30 mph sometimes he thought, in the early morning so that could account for the roughness, erosion near the shore and signs of dirt in the water.

It was Jordan's birthday today so Betty brought along a lovely chocolate cake. Betty always rises to the occasion.

T

Penny and the kids joined us later and although she says she is going in to have the baby on the 5th February both Chully (who has a world of experience with babies) and I told her we see it in the stars for this month.

As usual a number of riders encouraged by Maurice,  decided they needed to ride back. We passed the first set by the Harbour View Round about . Johann who had left out last, was way ahead on Windward road and when we started up Mountain View Avenue, we saw Marlon and Gary in front.

Although the sea was not its usual calm and clear self, I still had fun in the water after a nice ride out.

Photos; compliments of Ms. Elizabeth Williams

https://youtu.be/O4H4Js9esxY

Tiring but Fun

This Saturday with the Fun and Thrills family was tiring but  lots of fun.
We had volunteered to  marshal at the Jamaica Cancer Society's fund raising 5k run/walk at stadium east and it meant being at the stadium from 6.30 am.

Marshals and runners from Fun and Thrills stop to pose for a group photo 

Apart from some of us marshaling, a number of the members of the family also entered the race. These were Michelle, Sparkles, Howie, Deiree, Maurice, Bernadette, Michael and Kim and guess what, we won a medal!

Of course its we! Whereas it is Bernadette who  will actually  collect the bronze medal, how could she have done so well if she had not been keeping fit riding with us? 

Just kidding, you did it all on your own Bernadette so wear it with pride.

Charles had sworn that Howie would have been the overall winner but unfortunately while he didn't, it is still possible that he did well in his category, for we are still waiting to hear his time. As usual uncle Roy entered and never even came in last, instead easily outdoing people some 65 years his juniour!

 Charles Simpson, Charles Williams and I were to have monitored the first three runners but after a while we couldn't find Charles Williams then someone told us had he had apparently given up marshaling and was seen at an intersection directing traffic. I suspect he gave up the marshaling as he couldn't keep up with the runners for apart from the downhill sections, we were in  real danger of them running faster than we could ride!

 Other marshals were Orrel, Alric, Sharon, Fatman, Peter, Teresa, Ramon and Pat. Omar was of course there in his capacity as official photographer.

After we had seen the last walkers safely back to the stadium, we met at the eastern gate to get ready to ride to Bob Marley's beach for the real fun, but Charles (Ayatollah) was no where in sight. It was Alrick who suggested that he would soon reappear, coming from a direction  we least expected! He surely did for it is the Police station that he was walking from, saying he had gone there to arrange parking for Sparkles' car.

 As usual it was an easy ride but by then the sun was blazing and at times I was tempted to summon a support vehicle to stop and enjoy some air condition. However I kept reminding myself that the distance was not very far so I could survive and kept going.

 The great disappointment was that on arrival we discovered that the cook did not prepare for the numbers he had been instructed to, so some 10 or twelve of us were unable to get breakfast. Fortunately next door they were frying up fish for the regular beach goers so we managed to get some food, hence we didn't have to lynch the cook.

As usual too, the beach was absolutely wonderful and therapeutic . 

Incidentally today was the birthday of the twins, Ayatollah and his good half Chully but as Johnathon had his graduation ceremony from UTECH  today,  Chully couldn't come so we had a celebration for our half, Charles! Betty and Lisa brought over a lovely cake and pies, most welcome after the stingy breakfast!

It was a fun celebration with Charles  who tried  to fool the MC (the regular guy who deals with the music there ) to announce Happy birthday to Betty but the mischief was quickly corrected.

Then Teresa presented him with a book that Barry had brought along entitled " How to use the Internet." Who knows, we may just live long enough to see Charles learning to use the computer as his other half Chully has been computer literate for years now. (My own brother, Bernie, a gynecologist had contemptuously dismissed the idea of using a computer for years, saying he created employment for others to do that job. Then his hospital went paperless in 2012 and he had to go to night school for 6 months to learn about computers, so basically,  he was dragged kicking and screaming into the  twenty first century! lol)

Of course, we could not miss the opportunity to take another group photograph.

Then as usual, despite how strenuous the morning had been, there were the ride backers with Maurice (RB), Omar leading the charge, Omar raring to go and Pat joining them to ride until the support vehicles caught up.  We caught up with her group at Windward road.

We saw another group of RBr's at the bottom of  Mountain View avenue and as we approached the stadium, we saw the lone figure of Barry charging way ahead of the pack as usual.

Those who missed out on today's activities really missed out on a great day of fun and camaraderie.

Photos supplied by Omar Downie.

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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.