After my car crash in 1990, I was given the all-clear to travel in 1991. I decided to go on a two-week trip to Jamaica, a place I had always wanted to visit but had never been to before.
I loved Jamaica and did many things, some of which I would love to do again and some of which I shouldn't have attempted at the time. I also saved the life of someone else from the UK who was on holiday in the same hotel as me.
I have recently considered returning to Jamaica and have looked for the hotel where I previously stayed to see what it looks like now. I couldn't find it, but when I used Google Earth photos to search for it, I found a large area that resembled the site it was on, and it appears to have been demolished.
Dunn's River Falls.
One of the many places I went to while I was in Jamaica was the Dunn's River Falls.ย
After my recent car accident, I wasn't fit enough to climb the whole set of falls, but I did manage about half, stopping to have my photo taken in one of the small lagoons on the way up. I wasn't the only person who couldn't do the climb, and one of the ladies on the trip also got out at the same place as me after we had our photos taken in the deep water under the falls. We walked back up a meandering path through the dense undergrowth next to the falls and met the rest of the tour back at the top.
Bob Marley's House.
Whilst on a trip to Kingston, I went on a trip around Bob Marley's house. It was a museum to Bob Marley, but his family still lived there.ย Two things have stuck in my mind since I was looking around the Marley house. One was the enormous Ganga plant at the front door, which we were told was Bob's favourite ganja plant. The other was the location of the police station.
Kingston police headquarters is next to the Marley house, yet when an assassination attempt was made on his life, it took hours for the police to respond to emergency calls and gunfire. You can see the bullet holes in the wall where machine guns were used in an attempt to kill Bob Marley, and the noise must have been deafening, but the police next door took hours to arrive. Is it any wonder that the Marley family believe that the Jamaican police or government had something to do with the assassination attempt?
I met a few of Bob's family whilst I visited the house. Read about the story here.
Black River.
The Black River is one of the longest rivers in Jamaica. At a length of over 33 miles, it was believed to be the longest until it was discovered that the Rio Minho was longer. Its name refers to the darkness of the riverbed caused by thick layers of decomposing vegetation. The water is crystal clear, but the black base makes the water look shallow.
I travelled up the Black River on a motor boat that should hold around 50 people, but there were only around 10 of us on the trip. I was soon talking to another Englishman, and we were both trying our best to impress a couple of English girls on the trip. I had asked the pilot how deep it was, and he threw a silver coin overboard, saying to try to dive and retrieve it. After diving in, I soon realised it was a lot deeper than it looked, as I could not get down far enough to get the coin back. The Englishman I had made friends with dove in and was unable to reach it either. The water was beautiful and warm, so we swam along next to the boat until it stopped in front of a low-hanging bridge going across the river that the boat could not go under.
The pilot handed out sandwiches, so we got back on the boat for lunch. After a short break, the boat was turned around, and we went back towards the dock from which we had set out. On the way back to the dock, the pilot pointed out lots of different birds and some large crocodiles that slid into the water as we passed. When we asked why he hadn't told us about the crocodiles when we were swimming, he told me I was too skinny for a crocodile to be interested in me. Maybe I was then, but I won't be going back there for a swim now.
Blue Mountains.
The Blue Mountains are the longest mountain range in Jamaica, and I passed through them on a trip into Kingston in Jamaica.
Whilst passing through the Blue Mountains, we stopped at a coffee plantation to see a display of how they grind the famous Blue Mountain coffee. One of the men on the trip, who was sitting next to me on the coach, had been telling me about the Blue Mountain coffee and how expensive it was in England. When we stopped at the side of the road, he bought enough coffee to fill a suitcase. He had already told me how expensive the coffee was in England, and he bought enough to sell in England that would make enough profit to pay for his holiday. I took a bag for my mum and made a note to check how expensive it was when I got back to England.
Rik's Cafe.
Rik's Cafe was the bar where Tom Cruise poured cocktails in the film Cocktail, and has been popular since it opened in 1974. During my visit here, I decided to dive off the cliff into the water, and one of my companions said he would as well. We made our way down to the lower platform and dived off. We were met at the bottom by local Jamaican divers congratulating us for going from the tourist jump. They proceeded to show us how they dived from the platform at the top of the cliffs and gave us some banter about being chicken.
Not wanting to be outdone, we both climbed to the top of the cliff and the diving point. My companion jumped off first, and after he climbed out, I went next, jumping pencil fashion off the cliff. On the way down, all I could think was that it was a long way down. I tried to look down to see the water, but I lost my balance. I continued down and belly-flopped into the sea. The water knocked me out, and my new friend had to jump in to help me get ashore. Once back on land, the local Jamaicans congratulated me and gave me some stick for my dive style before treating us both to several free beers for having a go. I won't be doing it again.
Saving a drowning man.
Whilst on holiday in Jamaica, I saved the life of a man who had fallen in the hotel swimming pool. You can read about this story here.
Add comment