Zipping away

 I never knew I would ever go zip lining, as I hate heights. So much so that when we were in Ghana and took an excursion which included walking on 7 swinging bridges over the tree canopies, I did only one and turned back. 

My granddaughter did all seven.👏

There were 4 lines. This was the highest and longest.

Anyway, zip lining is fun.

 On 3 we had to run and swing and that was no problem. For the fourth, we had to climb up about fifty feet to the landing and I couldn't start off. It wasn't fear. I just never knew how to step off so I asked this young lady to push me off.

Lost my one of my slippers but a man climbed down and got it for me.

My granddaughter did it upside down!😲

It was really exhilarating.

This was in Kauai, Hawaii.

There was a final one called zip and splash. This is a short one like at our oun YS Falls where you hold on to a rope , slide to the middle of the river and let go. 

I wasn't interested in doing that in Hawaii, as the river looked dirty and cold. Besides the sun had gone in so I would have to contend with cold breeze on my body. 

That's ok. Been there, done that in St. Elizabeth, Jamaica, where the river is much nicer and the falls inviting.

Yup. Would do it all again.😊

A normal Christmas

I call Christmas 2019 "a normal Christmas" as I am unaccustomed  to freezing during this period, and thank heavens, I didn't this year.

Christmas 2018 was warm inside but not outside

You see, last year I made the crazy decision to spend Christmas with my daughter and granddaughter in Colorado and that is something someone from the tropics should avoid doing!



Actually I enjoyed going to my granddaughter's Christmas party and reading Jamaican stories to the kids, but heck we can do that at their end of year party in the summer can't we, for the photo below tells the name of the game there in December.

You know, it's not that I am exceptionally cold in the snow when I decide to dress properly, but as a 'shorts and  t shirt' person, I hate having to wear all the heavy clothes, so always end up not wanting to leave the house , and after a day cooped up in the house, ta-da claustaphobia!

Posing with Kevin

 So,  this year, it was back to 'normal' as I spent the Christmas  with my cousins Junior and Kevin in Florida, along with their spouses and a few other relatives, not to forget the star, two year old Major.        

We had a whale of a time.

Scheming with Junior

The food, ambiance and camaraderie were all great, then there was the movie afterwards.



The coup-de-grace was however BINGO.



You see, I have a gambling problem.



It is not the normal gambling problem that most people seem to have where they cannot stop chasing the dream. Mine is the stingy version for I always allot a very small amount which I am more then prepared to lose, then after that, no more.



That's it. Even when I go to exotic places like Las Vegas or Atlantic City, that habit prevails. After that, I don't mind watching other people chasing their dream but I ain't betting another cent.



Yesterday was no different. My gambling budget  for bingo was the huge sum of $4 and alas, I lost it very quickly as usual.



After that, I hung around watching everyone else. Rosie, Junior's wife was the lucky one as she just kept winning. If I were her, I would buy a Florida lottery ticket right away, before the lucky streak runs out.

Bingo!

Despite losing my proverbial shirt at gambling as usual, I really had a good, warm time with relatives and friends, though missing my daughter and granddaughter.



But will see them in July, hopefully, which is probably the only month it doesn't seem to snow in Colorado!

I love Boulder

Colorado is an absolutely beautiful state with its great Rocky Mountain range and so many other wonderful natural attractions.

One of my favorite places too is the little town of Boulder just 25 miles away from the capital.

It is even prettier in spring when the city administrators really go all out plant thousands of beds of lilies, daffodil and tulips all over the place. So when my daughter says lets hang out in there, you know who never refuses!

To encourage visitors to flock the downtown area which is never lacking talented street actors, great food and shopping, they also make an arrangement with all the private lot parking to allow free parking to all motorists on weekends.

That is why we usually go there only on weekends!

Easter Saturday we went to spend the day down there with my daughter's best friend Tania who is a yoga teacher and outdoor lover.

She took us to a walking trail/park near her home where the backdrop of mountains is really wonderful. Lots of people go paragliding from the mountain side there too and as we watched them hovering overhead, we all pledged to try it next time we get together.

After a pleasant hour or so of walking, exploring and just enjoying each other's company we headed to our favorite Italian restaurant downtown then we headed to her place to relax  until it was time to drive home.

Another great pleasant and enjoyable day in beautiful Boulder. 

San Andres island

View of a section of San Andres from the steeple of the First Baptist church at Mission Hill

San Andres is a Colombian-owned coral island in the Caribbean Sea. This and the nearby islands of Providence and Santa Catalina form the department of San Andres, Providence and Santa Catalina of which San Andres is the largest. These islands are however closer in distance to Panama than Colombia.

A brief  history

According to Wikipedia, the Dutch went to these islands at the end of the 16th century and British settlers arrived in 1628.  

It is also mentioned that Columbus ran into the islands during his fourth voyage. 

Inside the Baptist church

During the 17th century, English Puritans from Barbados and England settled in San Andres and i they later brought in African slaves from Jamaica.

Signs of Jamaican culture visible almost everywhere

Around that period too, the competitive Spaniards saw the economic potential of the islands and attacked the archipelago but were driven out shortly after.

Pirates including the notorious Henry Morgan also used the area in the 1670s as a center of his operations. They attacked Spanish ships carrying gold and other precious material that sailed in the Caribbean waters and also attacked Panama and Santa Maria.

After the temporary Spanish occupation of the islands, they were controlled by the British from 1740 until 1787, agreeing to respect the Creole population.

 In July 1818, the independent forces of Simon Bolivar occupied the islands, and it became part of Gran Colombia on June 23, 1822.

In 1821, the issuing of the Constitution of Cacti determined that every child born in Colombia was born as a free.

When the construction of the Panama Canal ended in the early 1900's, thousands of Jamaicans (and a few other West Indians) workers who had toiled on the project, settled in Colon, Panama; San Andres; Bluefields in Nicaragua and Limon in Costa Rica instead of going home.

 The extremely pervasive Jamaican culture and use of patois in those regions are lasting
reminders of this history.

My introduction to San Andres.

My late cousin-in-law Harris

I first heard of the tiny island of San Andres (it is just over 10 square miles with a population of around 80,000) from a cousin-in-law, Harris, who was born there.

Lifelike statues are all over the island

As a ship's engineer, he had traveled extensively and always insisted that his island was just like mine, Jamaica, so I should go there and see for myself.

Unfortunately, I procrastinated until he died. However, I met several of his relatives at his funeral in August 2018 and they too insisted that I respect his wishes by visiting their island soon.

Finally, in December 2018, I made the trip and was not at all disappointed, for indeed the similarities are stark, especially the similarities to my favorite parish-Portland.

Scooters are the most popular mode of transportation

Downtown San Andres, Centro, also bears a remarkable resemblance to our own western tourism city of Montego Bay with the proliferation of hotels, tourists and great white-sand beaches.

The immediate contrast though is that San Andres has smooth pothole-free roads throughout the island, because unlike our flimsily built asphalted roads, their roads are made from  hardy concrete.

The Mule

There is significantly less traffic there too with the most popular mode of private transportation being scooters, whereas tourists use a larger and hardier variation known as the Mule.

 Anyway, the island does resemble Portland a great deal in that it is extremely green and fruitful with wonderful white-sand beaches.

It is not quite as mountainous though and most importantly it has no rivers or waterfalls.

They, therefore, get their water from wells and have also constructed a desalination plant at place called Cove.

 We visited that area where I was re-introduced to the lifelike statues that the government erects throughout the island to beautify it, and also something called  Babia.

Downtown with its numerous hotels, beaches and tourists reminds me a bit of our own Montego Bay

These tiny croc-like creatures clearly do not like red meat!

The Babia is a small crocodile-like creature that lives in the pond close to where the desalinated water is processed.

What fascinated me about these tiny reptiles is how tame and peaceful they are!

 I just could not believe my eyes as they swam around looking for fish to eat while small dogs and birds were in close proximity, each ignoring the other.

Because the island is so beautiful, I was not surprised that despite their small size, they welcome over half a million tourists annually. 

The attractions that I personally found extremely enticing were the Cays, the stingrays and the Blowhole.

I had always thought of stingrays as being extremely dangerous creatures because of their lethal tail,  even if they do not mean to do harm!

The young man plays with a huge stingray.

However, the captains of the boats that take visitors to nearby Aquarius and Rose Cays apparently do not think so, as they had no problem interacting with these interesting creatures that heavily populate an area close by.


Rose and Aquarius Cays are close to each other, allowing visitors to easily walk

from to the other.  Rose Cay has great beaches and Aquarius, a wide variety of restaurants mainly specializing in seafood.

They are both visited by hundreds of visitors daily as boats arrive and leave in droves non-stop, up to 4pm.

Other Cays that also attract hundreds of visitors are Johnny Cay and Rocky Cay.

A section of Aquarius Cay

While you need to take a boat to Johnny Cay, you can actually walk from the huge white sand beach on the mainland to Rocky Cay.

The attraction that I found most fascinating however was the Blowhole.

The western side of the island is extremely rocky and the water is quite rough but it is still very beautiful.  This is where you find the blowhole which is in fact a big hole in the rocks through which the huge waves forces the water upwards, dousing all who are close by, much to our enjoyment..

Getting doused by the fierce sea spray coming up out of the blowhole

I really enjoyed the bath there.

I think Harris is finally happy that I followed his suggestion to visit his homeland as not only is it as absolutely beautiful as he described but I discovered such a warm and welcoming "family" there. Well, all except for this goose that lives at his cousin Kathleen's home, where I was hosted for my entire stay on the island.

The only unfriendly inhabitant of San Andres that I met!

 He made it known every time he saw me, that I was unwelcome.

However, the humans showed the very opposite attitude as cousins and new friends, made every effort to ensure that my stay was comfortable and most rewarding.

I have rarely felt more welcome and loved elsewhere and considered this visit a mere taste of what I hope will become a giant meal one day. 

Hopefully, San Andres will remain as quiet and peaceful as it is today, although based on some troubling information I garnered during my visit,  I am having a few doubts. 

I enjoyed riding around on the back of 'cousin' Colagio's scooter

As I understand it, there seems to be a major thrust by some "Spaniards" from the mainland to take over the beautiful island and even introduce racism in what I found to be the most integrated society I have ever seen.

Posing with some of my new 'family members' at Cove

 Due to the threat of over-population and excessive pressure on the infrastructure, the government passed laws a few decades ago preventing people from the mainland, living or working on the island unless they marry a native there or have a skill that is not available locally.

 However, an ominous sign that autonomy on the island is in danger arose from the government in Colombia, recently imposing a military person from the mainland to replace the civilian governor on the island.

Further, they have built  a huge police station downtown, which is mainly manned by "Spaniards" from the mainland, many of  whom are not shy to make racist statements against
the local people, it is reported.

 Troubling too is the fact that many from the mainland who sneak into the island through the porous beaches, are wanted for crimes on the mainland and are accused of escalating the drug smuggling industry and introducing a really scary form of extortion to vulnerable local young people on the island.

You can walk from the mainland to Rocky Cay

Hopefully, these trends will be nipped in the bud as San Andres is too close to being a real Garden of Eden to be destroyed.