Jamming in Jamaica

(The picture of the Bob Marley statue was taken in Kingston)

The picture below is of seven mile beach in Negril.











Could not sleep a wink last night for the excitement of heading to Jamaica (been looking forward to this one for a long time), So i am near the end of a gruelling 11 hour flight looking at the island in the sun (managed to secure a seat over the wing) out of the aeroplane window when all of a sudden the plane starts a sharp banking to the left along with a dive heading towards the island. Within about five minutes of this happening the runway appeared and i took a massive gulp, the thoughts that run through my mind were "i don't believe it, surely we are not going to try and land on that lolly stick down there" all that was visible was a green field with a thin strip of concrete in the middle of it, the plane touchdown with a bit of a bump and then everyone aboard started to clap (new experience for me that one). I got out of the plane a walked towards the airport building (i say building, because that is all it was - a small building) it was made from breeze blocks to my amazement, what a contrast to the airport say like Heathrow Airport the security check was pretty much informal, the only thing they asked is how much money i had plus did i have a place to stay (as it is a requirement).

I did not have any where booked so they told me to go the the help desk, i did and picked out a guest house called Ocean View Guesthouse in Montego Bay (the west end of the island) mainly because of the name, it sounded like it would have a nice view to relax on after staying awake for so many hours, i saw a gentleman sitting in a chair along with a lot of people around him nearing my exit of the airport and figured he was the man to see for a taxi. Sure enough he was indeed in charge of allocating taxi's we haggled for a minute or two and i managed to secure payment in US$ and a little cheaper than his asking price, he then pointed to a guy and said go with him i told him where i was heading and he took my bag and said get in. Out of the blue his first question was have you ever been to Jamaica before (i thought wow of all the questions in the world he had to ask that one) remember i am on my own, extremely tired, in a foreign country and a notorious one at that, i did some quick thinking and realised no point in saying yes (so as to give the impression i knew the place and people so that he would not try any funny business). The charge was US$5 and we only went for no more than 3 minutes, i laughed to myself and thought welcome to Jamaica i then managed to secure his services for next morning as i wish to head down south (less tourists down there and i was here for the real experience - no hotels full of holiday makers).

Booked in to the guest house and went to my room i had a real shock when i saw the bars on the window but turned it into a positive thought process that made me sharpen up and gather my Witt's. Later sitting on the veranda (by the way the only view was a electricity sub station on the other side of the road - no ocean view here) i met the owner and her partner lovely people, had a chat and i asked so what's it like living in Jamaica and the gentleman replied there's no guarantee you know (here i realised what was ahead and though well there's no guarantee anywhere in life and freed up my mind) the owner gave me a little black and white brochure with some info about Jamaica plus ads for places to stay etc, i retired to my room exhausted got into bed and read the brochure i got a feeling about one of the ads for some where to stay down south, so i decided there and then that is where i am heading next.

Woke up at 6 am and took a stroll out to the front of the guest house where i met a gentleman who was delivering the supplies to the place, he throw me a orange and bid me a great time in Jamaica. I eat breakfast on the veranda packed my stuff and met the taxi driver from yesterday out the front then headed down south with him, i asked if he knew the place where we were heading and he replied that he had never been out of Montego Bay in his whole life (this was going to be interesting). It turned out that he was a beautiful guy, we stopped half way and got something to eat at a roadside hut (i intended on paying for the both of us) however he insisted that i let him pay for the two of us, we arrived at my destination (a little village in westmoreland) turns out that Peter Tosh (one of the original wailers) was buried just down the road from here. The taxi driver waited with me while i made a call to the guest house about my arrival, they said that they would be down soon to collect me (as this guest house is in the hills) the view from Shafton Guest House was amazing looking back down the hill towards the little beach and across the natural bush of Jamaica. Here i set up my tent on the side of the house and settled in, after only a few hours i felt at home and decided that i would use this as a base to explore the rest of Jamaica.

The owner was a German gentleman and was married to a Jamaican lady, i did about 16 different tours with Frank (the owner) across the island and each one was absolutely amazing, i also did some of my own adventures across the island meeting the most beautiful open hearted people i had come across to date. Out of all the things i experienced on this island in the sun there is one that i shall never forget, one day i was walking along the country road on my own when all of a sudden a child no older than 8 years of age appeared who had a stick in one hand and was beating a old bike tyre, on the top of it so as to propel it down the road with him as he walked along. When he saw me he stopped and shouted yes sir, this young child had the biggest smile i have ever seen in my life (he was so happy) and it made me realise that all the people upon the planet who have money, possessions etc are missing out on this natural happiness for they have been conditioned in to thinking that they must have all these things to make them happy, yet here was a child who had nothing (his toys he had found and made himself - one from nature the stick and some one else's throw away) yet he was content because he had grown up that way. I decided there and then that i shall do my best to never ever complain about a single thing in this life no matter what happens, and because of that meeting with that young child i owe the positive perspective i now have and that has carried me through many a storm and turmoil in this life (i salute and thank you young sir, you shall forever be in my thoughts and i am indeed indebted to you).

Jamaica has a extremely rich history, a massive collection of fauna and flora plus the whole of the island is lime stone underneath (which has the benefit of cleansing the water) and as most people know a remarkable musical history which has touched all the four corners of the earth. There are world-class reefs for diving, abundant fishing resources plus stunning scenery and a cuisine fit for a king, it is almost near impossible to fail falling in love with this idyllic little island, of course just like any where in the world it has it's dangers too of which down town Kingston being the most notorious. Jamaica lies just of the equator and therefore enjoys pretty much all year long sun and heat (which can cause brief yet heavy down pours at times while staying humid) it's climate is that of tropical, it does lie within the hurricane belt which starts on June 1 to November 30; August and September are the peak months.

If you go to Jamaica you will not be disappointed there is fun in the sun for everyone.

Magnificent Mexico

This is a blog about all my worldly travels and destinations around the globe to visit. The photo at the top is of my shoes in the Sierra Madre Occidental mountain range which is in the western region of Mexico, at this point i was between 3000 m and 3300 m high.The name Sierra Madre means "Mother Range" as it is the biggest and highest in Mexico, the whole range extends some 1500 km starting at southeast Arizona and ending at Guanajuato, (which is a state in the central highlands of Mexico). Here the range joins with the Sierra Madre Oriental and the Eje Volcanico Transversal (Transverse Volcanic Axis) of central Mexico, this range is home to the Sierra Madre Occidental pine-oak forests, noted for their high biodiversity and large number of endemic species. Of course i also visited a lot of the Mayan site's such as Chichen itza, Teotihuacan, Yaxchilan, Tikal and a few others, the one that really stood out to me thou was Yaxchilan (which is only a small Mayan site). The journey to get there alone was a adventure in it's self, i had to make my way to Palenque (which is probably the most well know Mayan site for it's location and fascinating history plus art) from here i took a light plane (first one ever - it was fantastic to see some of this beautiful country from a aerial view) and landed in Agua Azul on the Rio Usumasinta and then from there i took a very small boat with 5 other people along the river to arrive at Yaxchilan.

The excavation site it's self was barely visible at all from the river's edge due to it is for the most part covered by the thick vegetation of the rain forest that surrounds it, the site runs along the river for about a distance of 2km and about the same in depth inland across a few terraced hills. It has been commented on as being one of the most fascinating archaeological sites in Mexico, and is easy to see why when you are actually there (the photo on the above right was taken at the site, it is called a steles and has carvings on both sides which is very unusual). The site it's self is a small village and i would guess it had about the population of no more than a few hundred people, it's not like most of the Mayan sites in Mexico with huge temples. This site was more humble in it's appearance of buildings and monuments yet still highly decorative with carvings of many different natures plus extremely complex, over all it is a very impressive village and gives off the feeling of a closely knit community, it's a world unto it's own and a reminder of the past civilizations that came before us.

The climate has two different kinds of seasons in Mexico, the dry season (from late November to early June) which is also when you get the most tourists, and the rainy season (from June to November), where torrential though brief rainfalls happen that mainly take place in the afternoons. Within Mexico City the weather is dry and mild, obviously this is the capital and just like most capitals around the world it has it's beauty and danger, the biggest danger there is to your health due to the pollution and crime being the second due to the current economical climate as unemployment is high. However saying that the sheer natural beauty of this wonderful country makes a trip to Mexico more than worth while, the population of Mexico City is about 9 million where the estimated population of the entire country is around 100 million. The most common spoken language in Mexico is Spanish (because of the conquistadors), the indigenous language is only spoken by a very small percentage of Mexicans now. There is plenty to see and do in this amazing country and if you get the chance to go take it without a moments hesitation, you will never regret it neither forget magnificent Mexico.