Toronto Islands and all that

Beautiful Casa Loma, always a sight for sore eyes

Entrance to the Distillery

Traveling and touring are my passions so whenever I go to a new city, the first thing I do is to check out if they have hop on hop off buses. These I have found, give you a great insight into the city but some tour guides tend to be flippant, so before you report anything they say as a fact, it helps to verify.

I was reminded of this when one tour guide, in an effort to boast about the high tolerance Canadians have to integration, (no doubt in an effort to tactfully criticize their neighbor which seems to be vocally intolerant of immigrants of color these days) declared that Mandarin is the most widely spoken language after English. He even reinforced this by asking passengers beforehand what they thought the answer was and most had correctly shouted French, but he said this was not so. 

One of the man-made lakes on Centre Island

Well, their information is totally incorrect as whereas in some provinces you do see an abundance of Chinese people,  some 20 % of the Canadian population have French as their mother tongue as opposed to only a little over 650,000 persons who have Mandarin. The question he should have posed therefore was  'what is the most widely spoken language after the two official languages, French and English?' 

Until recently too, I have always had 100%  satisfaction from these tours, however, unfortunately, on my recent trip to Toronto, a badly trained guide marred their reputation somewhat.

 I had told her I wished to get off at the Distillery to which she replied, "That's stop 16."

Royal Ontario Museum

Shortly after, I heard an announcement; "We are at stop 17."

When I went to her, would you believe she never apologized for not stopping where I wished to get off until I raised my voice in disgust?

View from the scenic Scarborough Bluff

 After an eventual reluctant apology, she then indicated that I could return to that particular venue by walking a few blocks north.

Stupidly I took her advice but after walking a few blocks and seeing no sign of a distillery, went back to another hop on hop off stop. When the next bus arrived, I asked for the distillery and was informed it was stop 20!

(For the  benefit of those who are not familiar with the Distillery, this is an interesting 19th-century district close to the famous St. Lawrence Market, which has been beautifully restored and boasts attractively restored buildings, excellent restaurants, galleries, bakeries etc.)

Lots for kids to do on Centre Island

 After that, I did get dropped at the correct place and the reputation of the tour company was minimally restored.

Anyway, after doubling back to the comprehensive tour on the bus and visiting attractions of interest to me, I returned to a place which brought back amusing memories, Centre Island and the harbor downtown on the large Lake Ontario.

I love water so much that I think I was a fish or mermaid in my past life.

Centre Island is one of the cays in the Toronto Island Park. These are around fifteen minutes away by boat from the Harbor Front. The ferries also run approximately every 15 minutes from the pier.

One of the reliable ferries

These luxuriant cays which play an important role in bird life and preserving a healthy environment in general for Canadians, include Centre Island which is joined by a bridge to Ward island and is near to Hanlan island which has residences and an airport.

Pier at Centre Island

I have a special attachment to Centre Island as when I lived in Canada decades ago, I visited that island to view the popular Caribana parade and we rented a canoe there, only to capsize in one of the man-made lakes.

Centre Island remains today a favorite among families as it has numerous rides for kids and remains a peaceful, clean, scenic place to visit.

Despite the modernization of  the Victorian Toronto which I knew, I was still shocked to discover that on Ward island which has the best
beaches, clothes are now optional!


Yup, for me Toronto is now quite an attractive, interesting and fun place to visit, but only in the summer.

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Toronto Swings

With one swinging cousin

Many years ago when I lived in Toronto, Canada, I thought it was the most boring city in the world with terrible weather to boot.

Well, I am here to tell you that whereas the weather has not improved, that city now swings.

And the other

That is a new discovery of mine, for while I have visited my former country of residence many times since leaving for good, I have never really gotten to know the city itself too much.

This time I visited to attend a small family reunion and two of my swinging cousins, went out of their way to ensure that I would never use the word boring in reference to their city ever again and I enjoyed every minute, taking in the transition.

View of downtown Toronto from Lake Ontario

To begin with, while my information is that the development of the now trendy harbor front on the shores of the huge Lake Ontario, began from the 70's, it wasn't until the 90's that it really came into its own. Today, attractive street cars transport numerous visitors to that zone to take in the restaurants, bars, scenery and the wide variety of free weekend concerts.

I attended one exceptionally entertaining event put on during African week. This was a performance by Gambian entertainer Sona Jobarteh.

 While there was no doubt about her exceptional talent as she led the band through a melange of pulsating traditional African music, this performance spurred me to go on online to learn more about her.

According to her webpage, she ; "is the first female Kora virtuoso to come from a prestigious west African Griot family. (traveling musicians) Breaking away from tradition, she is a modern-day pioneer in an ancient, male-dominated hereditary tradition that has been exclusively handed down from father to son for the past seven centuries."

Traditional costumed Greek performers at Danforth

(A kora is a Mandinka harp built from a large calabash cut in half and covered with cow skin to make a resonator with a long hardwood neck. The skin is supported by two handles that run under it. It supports a notched double free-standing bridge. It doesn't fit into any one category of musical instruments, but rather several, and must be classified as a "double-bridge-harp-lute". The strings run in two divided ranks, making it a double harp.)

Her performance was absolutely mind-boggling and while we did enjoy other music sessions on the Harbour, hers just had to get special mention.

Another swinging setting was at Taste of Danforth which is in its 25th year and dubbed "Danforth Strong."

 This is because this year was extra-special, as it marked the determination of Canadians to take back the streets of Danforth after two people were killed and 13 others were injured after a crazed man with a handgun opened fire on a bustling avenue in  July.

To support the taking back of the streets, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited the area on the opening night, Friday 10th August, even mingling with the crowd and taking photos with random people. 

We were actually there and although we stopped briefly to listen to the speakers, did not recognize him as we were too far away.

While there too, I saw a long line of people waiting patiently to enter a theater and discovered that they were waiting to get in to see the performance of one of my favorite artists, Toots of Toots and the Maytals fame. What was especially heartening was not only the crowd he was drawing but also the fact that he had recovered sufficiently to put on a performance. For some years ago, maybe 5 years, he had been attacked and injured during a performance in the USA by a drunk fan. I saw him some months later at the my dentists and to my horror, he revealed then that his doctors were not sure he would ever be able to perform again.

I was therefore enthralled that he had and was still drawing mammoth crowds.

Danforth is famous for its street entertainment and Greek food and they did not disappoint, so we even went back on following Sunday to taste even more of Danforth before heading north to the scenic, peaceful Wilcock Lake in Richmond Hill with its creative metal sculptures, to hang out with my young relatives.

Scenic, peaceful Lake Wilcox

Yup, the overall weather in Toronto may not have improved, however happily, during the week I was there, it was great summer weather, and now I am here to say, Toronto now swings.

Family Time

One of the bands at Caribana 2018

For years, I envied my ex husband, as he had such a large family and although I became extremely close to all of them and remained so even after the divorce, somehow not having my own large family still left me feeling a bit isolated. You see, I have only one brother and two cousins who grew up with me but each time we got together, we seemed so few as opposed to his family.

A section of the Caribana parade 2018

Well I am now discovering that it is not that I have a small family, my problem is I just never knew many of them!

The largest unknown segment of my family is from my paternal grandfather's side. I had met him only once and was dead scared of him as he was blind so wore dark glasses. I had never before seen anyone in dark glasses. Besides, he had a large grey beard so to me, a young kid of probably six years old in the days before television was invented thus exposing us to different looking folks, that was a very scary picture! I remember running away from him on that occasion, although his wife, my grandmother was my greatest hero.

 I guess it was because I never knew him why I never knew anything about his family either and never considered asking. It is only recently that I discovered he was one of 14 children and their descendants are spread out throughout the world.

Some of my Cuban kin

I therefore was most excited to meet a cousin from Canada who had a wealth of  information about that side of the family.

First, I learnt that I had cousins in Cuba and having traveled there three times already from my home in Jamaica which is only 90 miles away, had no problem jumping on a plane to find them in 2014.

It was a great pleasure meeting them and learning a bit about their family.

Our relationship stems from their late matriarch who was a sister to that grandfather. 

In the early 1900's, numerous Jamaicans migrated to Cuba in search of employment as then that country then had a thriving economy. That grandaunt of mine was among those who migrated there, she got married, had three daughters and she ended up seeing eleven grandchildren before she died at age one hundred and seven.

I was extremely happy to make a

Some of us bonded immediately

link with those descendants and am now in regular communication with the eldest who is the only one who speaks English. She has always said her greatest dream is to visit Jamaica, the country of her ancestors.

More link-up was to come as the same Canadian cousin who is my source of information, told me she was arranging a small reunion of some relatives who live there plus sisters who live in Seattle, Washington.

She was smart enough to arrange the reunion to coincide with Caribana. We had a lovely get- together at the Event's room at her condo and got to know all about each other and some of our late relatives all over the world.

Get together in Toronto

I bonded immediately with most of my newly met family and some of us toured together, first at Caribana and also on a boat tour of the harbor front of the vast, busy Lake Ontario.

Caribana is a cultural festival of Caribbean people and traditions which has been held each summer since the late sixties, in the city of Toronto. 

This has been billed as North America's largest street festival and it is frequented by over 2 million visitors each year. It was first held on Centre Island, one of the Toronto islands, but quickly outgrew that venue so was transferred to the streets of Exhibition Place and Lakeshore Blvd. downtown. 

The man-made lake on Centre Island in which we overturned 

When l lived in Canada many decades ago, I remember attending the carnival at Centre island and vividly recall renting a canoe and overturning, spilling all our belongings including even a radio which never played again.

I was therefore happy that I could go to the family reunion and take in the carnival at the new venue, along with the Seattle based sisters who spent a few more days in Toronto.

We all had a wonderful time there viewing the costumes and tasting the various foods and in general, just hanging out.

I must admit that each time I meet new members of the family, it certainly brings me a great sense of belonging and I look forward to many such events in the future.

An Inuit sculpture on Lakeshore Blvd.

Justice at last

Wikipedia seems to be having problems deciding whether it was William Penn or William Gladstone who originated the wise saying "justice delayed is justice denied." I have no problem with that but  I know, it is an absolute truth as when it is delayed it is denied for numerous reasons.

The question therefore is, when will we ever get justice in Jamaica, for in my country, delays are the name of the game. 

I was reminded of this terrible situation two days ago, when I ACTUALLY GOT JUSTICE IN A TRAFFIC COURT IN FLORIDA AND WITHIN 20 MINUTES TO BOOT!

No justice delayed thus denied here at all!

My experience occurred when I decided to appeal a $32 ticket I received in Fort Lauderdale, for overstaying my time at a parking meter.

But I had a very plausible explanation.

So off I went to court to appeal the fine, more to see if the system works than to save myself the $32.

The system worked beyond my wildest expectations.

To begin with, the court was scheduled to begin at 5pm and anxiously, I arrived at 4.30 pm as did many other persons. They then registered us by the actual time you arrived so I was the second person called by the judge, who himself arrived early and started the hearings at 4.35 pm.

He found the plausible explanation I gave for my tardiness very reasonable and even congratulated me for speaking the truth for he commented that most times what he gets in the court is lies!

Having had my ticked invalidated, I reflected on the numerous times tried to get justice in traffic court in the own country.

THAT DOES NOT EXIST AS OUR COURTS  ARE OPERATED AS JUST ANOTHER REVENUE COLLECTING DEPARTMENT AND T0  BE REALLY EFFECTIVE, THEY DRAG OUT CASES UNTIL MOTORISTS ARE SO FRUSTRATED THAT THEY SIMPLY PAY THE FINE FOR A  PEACEFUL LIFE.

A most disgusting approach to justice.

The last time I decided not to be frustrated into paying the fine, it took me five times of wasting hours to attend the court,  to get the case dismissed. You see, the policemen who prosecuted me, refused to appear so the disgusting judge simply set a new date each time I went to court. It was only only on my 5th appearance when another policeman who must have seen my disgust and frustration told her that the policeman was on "long leave," so she reluctantly threw out the case.

When no policeman's presence is necessary as with a parking ticket, if one just goes to give a plausible explanation for a traffic infraction as I did last week, first, you are going to spend hours waiting for your case to be called and mine starts W, then, no matter how rational the explanation is,
you will never find a reasonable judge at traffic court in Jamaica.

I swear if I had a heart attack and had to be rushed to the hospital, I wouldn't be able to find a judge in traffic court in Jamaica to invalidate my ticket!

Imagine having to come to a foreign country to finally get justice! SMH
.

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Of Caving,Thai kids, Omens and, Claustrophobia

Entrance to Blue Hole, Westmorland

What I think will be the most memorable story for 2018, is what I dub the Cave Event in Thailand.

In brief, On June 23, 2018, 12 young soccer players ranging in ages from 11-16, who went exploring the six-mile-long Than Luang cave complex at a park in Northern Thailand along with their 25-year-old coach, went missing.

For ten nail-biting days parents and indeed the  entire world, anxiously followed the progress of searchers from that country plus numerous international volunteers, many of them experienced divers, as they braved the murky waters inside the flooded caverns, squeezed through narrow twisting tunnels, climbed sharp ledges at great peril to themselves, but despite not finding them for days, they refused to give up hope and just kept going.

All geared up to enter Green Grotto cave, Discovery Bay, Jamaica

 
Miraculously, on July 2nd, they were spotted by two British divers, fearful and hungry but thankfully safe, on a high ledge deep inside the cave.  

After feeding and giving them medical assistance, the rescuers were faced the awesome task of getting them out of the flooded caverns, a journey of some three miles, without even knowing how many of the stranded youth could actually even swim. 

This was a dangerous and staggering task that had to be completed quickly too, as the rescuers soon realized that oxygen levels were being rapidly depleted. Further, the rainy monsoon season was due to begin in days, thus further flooding the caves, despite the effort being undertaken to use a massive pump to get out the millions of gallons  of water already inside the flooded caverns.

Outside the Guadirikiri Caves in Aruba

At one point, it was even feared that they would have to keep the boys inside for months for their own safety as getting them out looked too dangerous. And it was indeed dangerous, as a former Thai Petty Officer,  Saman Gunam,  unfortunately, lost consciousness on his way out, after delivering air tanks inside the cave to facilitate the rescue.

Sadly,  Saman  Gunam later died.

Finally thanks to the skills and technology of  dozens of 

Engineers, geologists, military persons, health care volunteers etc from all over the world, assigning two divers to each boy and medicating the young people so they would not panic in the murky waters, all the boys and their youthful coach were rescued on 

July 10th 2018.

Inside Two Sisters cave, Hellshire

And would you believe that the pump that had been taking out the water from the cave to facilitate their exit, broke down almost immediately after the last person was rescued? This caused the water to start rising rapidly to the point where experienced divers who had gone back inside to recover the gear that was left inside, had to exit quickly to save their own lives!

Eerie isn't it?

Considering all this happened during the exciting  FIFA World Cup which was being played out in Russia and in which upsets have been the order of the day, I couldn't help wondering if this event involving the young Thai soccer players was some kind of omen. 

Marking inside the cave at  Cudjoe Hill, St. Catherine, made by the Tainos in Jamaica before Columbus arrived and wiped them out. Nanny's brother Cudjoe also hid out in that cave for months, when the British were trying  to capture and subjugate the Maroons. 

For example, could it be that in four or eight years, Thailand, a rank outsider in the soccer world, could become a world beater or this young soccer team would eventually represent their county at World Cup? 

I hope I will be around to find out if this was really a soccer omen!

While I know this drama held the attention of people all over the world for all sorts of reasons, for me it was especially eye-opening in understanding my own self!

For I am an enigma in that, although I tend to be extremely claustrophobic, I actually enjoy caving. 

Native Americans built fascinating abodes in the caves at Mesa Verde

However get this clear, when I say caving I do not mean I am a spelunker.

 No sir, I don't go into unexplored caves to study anything. I just like to go into well-established caves with professional guides to look and learn.

However, its is only since the incident with these boys that I realize that my love of exploring the underground and claustrophobia just cannot co-exist! 

For it has never occurred to me before that something like a flood or earthquake could occur while I was under the ground.... especially in my homeland, Jamaica, which sits on a serious seismic fault.

One of the caves along the Cuna Cuna trail in which Nanny hid for months

I cannot even conceive of how I would survive trapped underground for an hour much less 10 days. 

In fact, I have no doubt that I would actually go crazy if I was trappedn underground, anywhere.

This Thai drama has caused me to have a great deal of respect and admiration for those Thai youth who all seem to be in reasonably good spirits, despite being trapped in the dark, no bathroom, no food and not knowing if they would ever come out alive! 

What a terrible 10 days that must have been. 

This has also prompted me to have even greater respect for Jamaica's only female National Heroine, Nanny of the Maroons.

She led the Maroons in Jamaica to victory against the British in the early 1700's when they defeated the Spanish, captured the island and tried to re-enslave the former slaves who the Spaniards had transported from Africa to work on their plantations.

It was the complex caving system that the Maroons studied, which helped them in their struggles, as they were able to strategically select those caves which had water inside, in which they could hide for months on end while waiting to ambush and kill the  British soldiers. 

It was not until hearing about the Thai youth and seeing their plight in living color that I got a much greater appreciation for the suffering that Nanny and her people had to endure, as they hid from the oppressors.

As for me, will I continue going into caves? 

Maybe not right now. Luckily, I have been into all the interesting caves in Jamaica but maybe later if I am in another country and hear about a fascinating cave, who knows what will happen?

You have to ascend many steps to reach the entrance of Hato Cave, Curacao