Every likkle ting's gonna be alright...
on George Hamilton (Jamaica), 06/Mar/2011 17:28, 34 days ago
"Don't worry about a thing,'Cause every little thing is gonna be alright.(Bob Marley)OK, so I fell, again. My third fall in a year and the second time on Hope Road. This time luckily no broken bones, but I did require 4 stitches on my forehead, was hooked up to an IV for 7 hours and finally released to go home all bandaged up like a mummy for a scrape on my knee, a cut on my toe and a bump on my head.So to combat my fear of falling we rented a car and went on a road trip for the weekend. What harm could I come to in a car? Our weekend's adventures took us all over the back roads of the southern coast in search of manatees, alligators and water falls. None of these were found on this trip because rental cars don't have 4 wheel drive and we discovered the roads we travelled that weren't officially closed were impassable for anything but off road vehicles and route taxis. But because this is Jamaica we also experienced moments of luxury. Here are some photos from our weekend.First we attempted to find Aligator Hole where there are reported to be manatees and then onward along the coastal road to Aligator Pond, Lovers' Leap and finally Little Ochi for lunch. Little Ochi is renown for the best fish in Jamaica so we were really looking forward to lunch. Reading our map carefully we attempted several times to find the right route but the roads just didn't match up. We eventually found Halse Hall Great House above but the map was wrong, this wasn't the right road and unfortunately Halse Hall Great House isn't open to the public, it's the administrative offices for Jamalco (Jamaica Alunina Company). No worries, we could see where we were on the map which showed good roads all the way to Aligator Hole.We spent a couple of hours driving along roads which all eventually became impassable or sign-posted as closed so we never did get to Aligator Pond or Little Ochi. Settling instead for the Juici Patties back up on the highway we stopped for a really late lunch to satiate our hunger and rethink our plans. It was late and there was no reason to go to Treasure Beach because I wasn't allowed to get my stitches wet so swimming and the beach were out of the question, I had to report to the hospital in the morning to get my dressings changed and we were there just a week or two ago so we headed back towards Kingston.Instead of just going home defeated, we ended up checking into Morgan's Harbour Hotel in Port Royal where we watched the sun go down from the dock before enjoying a wonderful dinner listening to the sound of sting rays and schools of hundreds of fish splashing like rogue waves as they jumped out of the water right beside our table.In the morning we ate breakfast on the dock and just watched the world pass by in typical Jamaican fashion - fishermen in row boats passing container ships fully loaded. High tech versus low tech. Old ways versus new ways. Big versus little.After a leisurely breakfast I checked into the hospital to have my bandages changed. We nipped home for lunch and then headed back out for a Sunday drive to find Cane River Falls.Once again our adventures were aborted. We found the Cane River as dry as a bone and the road was closed from the Papine end so we took another route down to Bull Bay which was closer to the falls. Same thing. The other end of the river was just as dry and the road, although not closed, looked equally dodgey. We concluded there were no falls right now so we'll have to return in the summer after the rains.But as is typical with Jamaica, a gully close to a section of the Cane River was flooding over the road, flowing from the sea direction, not the hills. All so very puzzling but obviously there is a simple explanation. We just need to find out what it is. But later.I am heading back to Canada for a bit so George will take over the blogging. We'll need to find him a camera since I'll be taking mine with me. Below is the airport sign in the middle of the round-a-bout at Kingston's airport which I'll be looking forward to seeing soon but until then...over to George."I'm sad to say, I'm on my way, won't be back for many a day..." (Harry Belafonte)