For old time sake

 It's wonderful to reunite with old friends. Actually, I have been in constant touch with Phil. I just haven't seen her much.

In fact, she may very well be the person who I have known the longest, (family excepted), as I think we first met in Infant school when I was around age 4!

I don't really see many people from the cool hills of Malvern in St. Elizabeth, as most of us have migrated to various corners of the world.

My brother and I with our friend Phil

Phil and Bernie 

But Phil has remained in Jamaica and has established herself as one of our most respected and talented artists.

She gave my brother this lovely piece she painted.

And I discovered that she has a green thumb too!

Definitely a green thumb😊.

My brother and I

Phil gave me these two lovely abstracts.

Yup, getting together with old friends is really special.

Return to Flamingo Gardens

The first time I ever visited Flamingo Gardens in Davie, Florida, was in September 2017, when they were about to reopen. For a few months before, Hurricane Irma had devastated that urban paradise, downing trees and destroying much of the flora.

Sonja left Rosa right

I only returned there Sunday November 5^th 2022, along with friend Rosa, to spend quality time with Sonja, who was celebrating her birthday.

It was a wonderful day, despite the rain which kept coming down regularly, followed by brilliant sunshine, as if to remind us that it was still hurricane season. And of course, I had left my umbrella in the car, so got wet despite my two well prepared friends sharing theirs with me on occasion.😊

Flamingo Gardens is a 60-acre tropical oasis, which is popular among families and also as a wedding avenue.

The Wray home is now a museum

It was originally the property of Floyd L. and Jane Wray, who in 1927 built a weekend home there. They established a botanical collection of rare and unusual plants and eventually willed the property to future generations.

Their home is now a museum.

Today, the gardens boast more than 3,000 species of tropical and subtropical plants, including 200-year-old Southern live oaks, and 300 plus species of palms. It is an absolute paradise which you can tour in a tram with knowledgeable drivers imparting valuable information all along the way.

Flamingos galore

In addition to the flora, the Gardens has a fully developed aviary with a wide variety of birds common to the Everglades. In addition, it is a sanctuary for animals which have been hurt and have to be rehabilitated before being let back into to the wild. 

Some cannot however be returned, so they have to stay there for life.

Beautiful peacocks hang out in a tree covered with orchids

An interesting attraction, is the animal show which is extremely popular among children, but I too learnt a great deal about Owls, snakes and falcons.

 I was especially impressed with the courageous young man who volunteered to assist in the demonstration, with a small boa around his neck.

As one who has also developed a love for that very maligned reptile, I was impressed how easily he fulfilled the role.

The only animal I saw on this trip was a Florida Panther, although I hear there is also a Bobcat and a Black Bear there. We never saw those but did get to interact quite a few friendly domestic cats.

No only were the Gardens themselves refreshing and wonderful, but so was the camaraderie among us. 

It was even more enjoyable when the visiting band started to play reggae music.

That certainly got me in the spirit!

Unfortunately, the intermittent rain kept people away from where they were, but the band played on!

Another pleasant surprise was the Gallery. Here we saw the most amazingly detailed black and white photographs of sections of the Everglades, which had been taken by what is now a very ancient camera.

This ancient camera takes amazing pics!

Flamingo Gardens is an absolutely marvelous place in the middle of metropolitan Fort Lauderdale, where one can enjoy some treasures of nature and learn so much.

I am happy Rosa suggested that we celebrate there with Sonja.

GREAT MEMORIES 

 

 

Turning tourist with Natural History society!

On Saturday 28th February, a couple of us joined up with the Natural History Society for a field trip to the ruins of Agualta Vale Great House and to visit a beautiful orchid farm in St. Mary. The able co-ordinator of the tour was Trevor Yee.

It was a great day which found me leaving my house at 8 am and not returning till 8pm.

The trip to Agualta Vale was uneventful but the search for the ruins was not, for our guide could not find the

We parked as we walked around in search of the great house

overgrown path for about an hour.Anyway it was no big thing as it gave us an opportunity to meet and greet other outdoor lovers. In fact, I even saw a number of persons from Jah 3 who I had not seen for years. Eventually an employee from Jamaica Producers, owners of the property, came rescued us and took us there.

Of course as it was totally overgrown we had to have a man with a machete chopping a path for us.

A comprehensive history of the house is to be found at http://www.thejamaicanmagazine.com/archive/23-pages-past.html in Jamaica magazine.

The same section now. Totally overgrown

Briefly, the original Great House was built by the Englishman and wealthy slave merchant Thomas Hibbert in the 18th Century. After the first Great House fell in ruins, the Scottish physician Sir John Pringle bought the property in 1914 and built an impressive house on the ruins of the older one. In World War II, it was used as a barrack for the Canadian army. 

It was later acquired by Sir Harold Mitchell and then the Jamaica Producers Group. They had used some sections as offices but the house was destroyed by fire in 1980 and has never been restored. It was there that I was introduced to Mukee aka Rat ears which is a wood mushroom growing on host trees, which the Chinese love to cook with pork.
Next we visited a 25 acre experimental teak plantation at Bellfield, St. Mary which was planted some 10 years ago in a joint venture project with Jamaica Producers.

Teak we were told takes 15-20 years to reach maturity and the board is said to be among the most expensive in the world, fetching some $7.50 per board foot.

As we drove through Port Maria, my cousin Sheila who lives here and in Canada, saw the "Firefly" sign and said she had always wanted to visit that property. That had been the home of the famous British writer Sir Noel Coward but what it is known for is the spectacular view.

The spectacular view from "Firefly"

 So comprehensive is the view that the pirate Henry Morgan is said to have had a lookout there.

I obliged Sheila and took her there .

When we left, we stayed on the high road which took us to Oracabessa via Mason Hall and Canoe Pond. I had never been to that area before and the roads were not all that bad.

Next stop was the home of the Chongs, also in St. Mary where we saw the wonderful orchids bieing grown by Mrs. Chong for which she has won dozens of awards.

Orchids all around

Their house on the hill is absolutely fabulous and has a great view too. The house is powered totally by wind and solar energy and Mr. Chong also restores classic cars.

 His pride and joy is this model T ford.

When we left there we took a back road to enjoy the absolute beautify of the White river with its numerous swim areas which are beautiful "blue holes".

I was happy to see locals have now set up businesses all around the blue holes, selling t shirts and renting river shoes and life vests. Other enterprising vendors were also selling Ganja Brownies aka Angel food.

Above the last "blue hole" which we had visited in the past we found the wonderful waterfall called "Island gully Falls" which  had only heard about recently after the "Gleaner did a feature on a mass wedding which was held there.

One of the "blue holes"

 This area has been developed with steps to the falls and changing rooms and there were a lot of local persons enjoying themselves there.

My curiosity as to who developed that area around the falls and how they recoup funds spent has not been satisfied as there was no one there collecting money to use the facilities.

As we arrived there late,meaning the water would be extra cold, we did not swim but only took pictures and resolved to return soon to enjoy a great dip under those beautiful falls.

Beautiful Island Gully Falls

While we had started our journey going to St. Mary via the Junction road, we returned via Ocho Rios as it would be closer.

I did not use my favourite toll road though as I was dying for some soup and that would not be available anywhere else but the Faith's Pen area. We were not disappointed and after having delicious chicken foot sours, returned to Kingston tired but very happy.