Ocho Rios, Jamaica Inn, Blue Mountains, Nine Mile with photos

[tigerinatrance]

Re: Ocho Rios, Jamaica Inn, Blue Mountains, Nine Mile with photos

Weds. Feb. 2, 2005


I woke up in the morning so pleasantly surprised to hear the ocean. You know how sometimes you wake up in a strange place and you are disoriented? Anytime I woke up in the middle of the night, the first thing I would hear was the ocean waves, and I would literally smile, half-asleep, thinking to myself “Oh yeeeaaaah, I’m in Jaaaaa-maaaaayyyyy-kaaa!” and no sooner that that thought finished, was I back in one of the deepest sleeps I’ve had in a long time.


And that was every night. I never had a bad night’s sleep. Sometimes you go on vacation and, “damn, the pillows are too (soft, hard, puffy, flat) or damn, the bed is bumpy, or damn, these sheets suck, or damn, I wish I had my pillow because my neck is killin’ me.” ---Never had one of those moments, ----never.


Was that because the Jamaica Inn had the bomb beds and pillows and sheets? No, I was that relaxed. It was because Jamaica Inn has
--- Jamaica.

We strolled up to breakfast (in Jamaica, and in other caribbean spots, I stroll – my pace slows almost immediately, because of all the beautiful scenery).

I started off the day with that Spa Breakfast I told you about, and Scott had eggs and sausage. (He wants you to know that he is not a pancake eater, but the pancakes were fantastic – he had them stuffed with coconut, pineapple, and banana a few times.) We had planned to do nothing, but as fate would have it, we decided to catch the 10:40 shuttle to downtown, and we met Earl Watson.

Earl owns Watson’s tours, and he has a gig with the JI. We start talking to him – he was going to take people downtown and come back and pick them up. Somehow he offered to go see Fern Gully, and we said sure. We dropped off the other people, and headed up the Gully.

[tigerinatrance]

Re: Ocho Rios, Jamaica Inn, Blue Mountains, Nine Mile with photos

Marilyn and ladies - here is your bull:







Wow – beautiful huh? The only thing I can kind of compare it to is the redwood forest – because of the sheer enormity of the trees and ferns and the sunlight filtering through the leaves. I wish I could have spent more time in there – more time than driving through. Anyway, we are driving, and Earl is giving a great tour – telling us how in the 1600s, an earthquake happened, and the river automatically “change it course” and in the 1800s, they made a road of the old riverbed. He told us about how they have to sweep the roads because they would have a lot of limbs and leaves accumulating.



I liked this picture with the smoke and the car. I have a series of them, in the last one, the car is gone and the smoke is still there.

[tigerinatrance]

Re: Ocho Rios, Jamaica Inn, Blue Mountains, Nine Mile with photos

We start driving by the craft stalls, and one of the first ones you get to in the actual Gully, on the right, is a big place, with a more than life-size man with a pipe in his mouth, and a huge protruding penis, complete with bright red tip.

Earl, with his tourist spiel, is, on cue, explaining about the wood carvings, when penis man comes up, he hits us with “Some of them are very expressive.” “I’ll say so.” I was thinking.

The other thing I was thinking was how uptight the US is and how it is getting worse. You would never see a life size man with an erect penis (which disassembles for shipping, by the way) for sale at an antique or craft market, much less alongside of the road without it being local news. Guess which artists have more freedom of expression?

I have a picture of it, but I have to post it later.


We head through the Gully, to be met by our first pair of Jack In The Bush. We get to the end of the Gully, and we turn around, and by the Tyre Shop (seen?) we see another paid of Jack in The Bush, one on stilts! And Scott, in Scott fashion asks Earl “Just how many Jack In The Bush are there?” We stop and get a few pictures. I did not get in the picture because I had to make sure that it came out.





Later on when we went to Nine Miles with Delroy, we went thru Fern Gully again, and we were talking about Jack In The Bush and he informed Scott that “Men doan’t like Jack in da Bush, Woman like Jack in da Bush.” He told the story behind the character, that Jack In The Bush is the man who waits in your bushes for you to go off to work, and he jumps out of the bushes, and he is in your house “banging ya wife.”

Oh well, we liked Jack In The Bush - notice the look the guy on the right is giving Scott:



Anyway, back to Fern Gully. We stop for some pictures, and at a craft stand, where we buy a Bob Marley key chain for our room key (which promptly started to fall apart, but who cares?). We are looking at all of the stuff, and given penis man earlier, Scott and I have a discussion about the fiver wooden pipes on display, one of which was “The Claw”, a kind of “black power” fist from the 60s, or maybe a “thumbs up” (which looked more like a small animal claw), and the other ones which were all different variations of penises. OK, vacation moment. (One time I was in Jamaica, and . . .)


So, being a sponge, I had to ask “why all the penises?” Earl thought it was because “da men smoke da marijuana, and some a dem think gives them strength” (which was his way of saying something about stamina, I think).

So then, on the same Nine Miles trip, I ask Delroy why all the penises – his take was that people like to take that kind of stuff home. (Scott got him to agree that some ladies like to take home a little momento of the trip, and they were laughing it up). He told us about the removable-and-ready-for packing penis and pipe. We agreed that maybe the carvers should make some pipes shaped like a boob – maybe they would sell some more to men.

Don’t think that I am knocking the penis carvings experience – I thought it was great – something I’ll never forget. It’s just that I can’t believe I am the only person on this board to notice this. If I am the first person- there, now you know – keep your eyes peeled for a 6 foot skinny, reddish-brown guy, with long hair (maybe dreads), a pipe, certainly filled with ganga, and a 3 foot erect penis with a red tip.

[tigerinatrance]

Re: Ocho Rios, Jamaica Inn, Blue Mountains, Nine Mile with photos

As promised:



You can see him behind the white car. This is a screen capture from a video - so not the best quality.

And the Tyre Shop near the Jack In The Bush (notice the stilts)




And one of the craft stands in Fern Gully. Check out the huge carved fish.

[tigerinatrance]

Re: Ocho Rios, Jamaica Inn, Blue Mountains, Nine Mile with photos

[tigerinatrance]

Re: Ocho Rios, Jamaica Inn, Blue Mountains, Nine Mile with photos

By the way - apologies. I suck at typing, and I don't always spell check.

On The Jamaica Inn - I had some conflicts about staying in a place like JI, and coming to Jamaica to learn more about Rasta - a total contradiction I guess. However, I don't think it would have made that big of a difference if I had stayed someplace else in town. And, I can say that Scott and I have been so much more relaxed and pleasant and less stressed since we got back. A week without the phone, computer, television, newspaper or radio did wonders.

[tigerinatrance]

Re: Ocho Rios, Jamaica Inn, Blue Mountains, Nine Mile with photos

Then, if that weren’t enough, Earl took us to Coyaba Botanical Gardens. I will post some of the pictures and tell you that if you have not visited, you should. It costs $5, it is a short drive from downtown, and it is beautiful, and peaceful. They also have some falls there, and you can take the “easy way down” and take the stairs. That is something that has been around for only about a month. It is on the way back from Fern Gully to Ochi, and is a great side trip.



These flowers looked like shrimp tails.



Bird of Paradise - these go for about $25 per flower in an arrangement.


Rainford, our guide, explaining all of the benefits of the coconut tree, and its many uses.





Don-kay (said with a Shreck accident)

[Laurel]

Re: Ocho Rios, Jamaica Inn, Blue Mountains, Nine Mile with photos

I assume others may be PMing you their appreciation of you sharing your journey .... hope so anyway -

Fun shots of the 'Jack in the bush' - good humor!

I noticed the 'look' Scott was getting first thing - even beore I read ... [img]/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Very cute Don-Kay!

[tigerinatrance]

Re: Ocho Rios, Jamaica Inn, Blue Mountains, Nine Mile with photos

He was quite a poser.

[sammy]

Re: Ocho Rios, Jamaica Inn, Blue Mountains, Nine Mile with photos

tinatrance,

this report is WONDERFUL and the photos are to die for!

thank you for the inside peek of jamaica inn

[evesisland]

Re: Ocho Rios, Jamaica Inn, Blue Mountains, Nine Mile with photos

Dear Jah T, this is fabulous!!!!

[tigerinatrance]

Re: Ocho Rios, Jamaica Inn, Blue Mountains, Nine Mile with photos

Thank you all so much, and, in my opinion, the best stuff is yet to come - this was just the first day and a half!

I was running around taking pictures saying "oh, for my trip report" so, I had you in mind when I was taking pictures.

I will have videos of our visit to Retreat Basic School, Nine Miles, Blue Mountains on my personal website, and I will let you know when they are up. They are edited videos some with music. The video of the kids is about 4 minutes long, edited clips, with "Jah Live" as the music.

I even have a personal message for NappiHead from someone in Jamaica - but it is all part of one particular story, so we'll have to wait.

The picture above with the vine covered trees and bushes on the hillside (there is a clay pot on the right, seen?):

When we came to this point at the back of the garden, where the river head has been capped, and crystal clear, cool water flows over the sand and silt colored pebbels into a stream, you look to your left and see this. I recall saying something like "wow" outloud, and Rainford, pleased that I had taken note saying "Isn't it beautiful?" (Rainford was partially responsible for laying out the grounds.)

The vine covered bushes and trees looked like something straight out of an enchanted forest - everytime I look at those bumps on the side of the earth, I think that they might come to life at night.


The falls on the property:



This reminded me of some kind of alien being – again, I would not have been surprised if this thing just walked away.




This was apparently a big deal – blue ice or something – I was busy taking picture of something else, and rainford wanted me to take this picture.




This is where the riverhead is capped- 800,000 gallons of rain water flows from the mountains, to this spot, everyday. That 800,000 gallons is then disbursed throughout the area.






This was a house on the property.





I love the way the impatients grow on the size of the road.

Here is the traveller’s palm:

[tigerinatrance]

Re: Ocho Rios, Jamaica Inn, Blue Mountains, Nine Mile with photos

These blue flowers were really pretty:



These never look this way at home:



These plants look like cigars:



Here is the Shame Lady plant – ShugaShug talked about this plant in her trip report. When you touch it, it bends toward the ground (like it fainted) and the separate leaf branches close as a defense mechanism. It opens about a minute later.



These white flowers were cool.





This house was in the Coyaba garden, and I guess the people who own it (the garden is privately owned) never come here. What a shame.



That is not a driveway, or a path, that is super clear water running over pebbles.

[tigerinatrance]

Re: Ocho Rios, Jamaica Inn, Blue Mountains, Nine Mile with photos

Coral Hibiscus –

Another one of those fish looking things:



A poinsetta tree:



These little ferns grow on the lines – air ferns.

[tigerinatrance]

Re: Ocho Rios, Jamaica Inn, Blue Mountains, Nine Mile with photos

I wanted to do a thorough job with the report in terms of representing the places I visited in Jamaica, so that I could illustrate how different it is at different parts of the island.

I don't know if a lot of people know about Jamaica's lush rainforest, the mountains and streams flowing straight out of the side, all the rivers, the coffee, fruit and so on.

I really hope to encourage people to visit Jamaica through these photos and this report. In fact, we are having people over this weekend to do a few things - discuss our trip to The Turks and Caicos, on which some friends will be joining us for the first time, and, to discuss our trip to Jamaica, and hopefully interest others in visiting, maybe with us. Finally, we'll be collecting school supplies from everyone that comes and shipping them down to the Rotary Club.

As I mentioned, Earl Watson, our driver for that day, is a member of the Ocho Rios Rotary Club. The have done some really great stuff, such as donating a mobile emergency unit to one of the areas, starting an Ocho Rios skills center, and, helping schools.

We had school supplies and had no particular place in mind. Well, as Jah would have it, we hooked up with Earl -who was working with Retreat Basic School to renovate their kitchen. He said he would arrange for our visit, and that is coming up later.

At any rate, we discussed the problems of getting supplies and used computers, and the like down to Jamaica, without paying a duty. So, what we are going to do is work it through the Rotary Club, and get permission from the "powers dat be, mon" and ship things down legally, and without duty.

I have to write the letter to Earl. If anyone else would like to contribute to the letter (although it is not necessary, it would just show the interest), PM me a short blurb about your interest -why you want to donate to the children of Jamaica.

I sat in Jamaica thinking about the school books that are literally thrown away in this country. I thought about the local libraries and how once a week, the throw away books. I thought about how, at my small office alone, I have at least 3 computers that are fairly new, that I could send to Jamaica. I thought about setting up a charitable organization through which to do all of this, thereby possibly covering shipping.

But, I am getting ahead of myself. I have to get the letter to Earl first, and approval from "da boss man" second.

Maybe this should be in another topic?