August – January – My 5 months in Jamaica

I should first start by admitting that I didn’t set foot in Negril during this trip but I hope some of my pictures and observations will entertain you enough to get an insight into living in Jamaica.

I don’t know when it started but early on in life I dreamed of living on a deserted island like Robinson Crusoe (first published in 1719 under the title; "The Life and Strange Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe of York). I think I read the book until the pages simply fell out from overuse but the visions live vividly in my mind. I first went to Jamaica in 1983 and was extremely fortunate to have met many of my best friends to this day. The most fortunate of these some 80+ visits was to discover my now hometown of Accompong Town, St. Elizabeth Jamaica.

Everyday life in Jamaica is “noh easy” as most any rural Jamaican will tell you. Hard work and a small return from that work is simply a fact of life but the sunny, “no problem” attitude to life belies the enormous stress they must bear. About 4 years ago after Hurricane Ivan destroyed my best friend Marshall’s house, we decided to rebuild the house where we both would live in our little corner of Paradise. This is my story of life in Accompong Town.

I hope you will enjoy.

Peace and Guidance
The beginning of a typical day as the sun rises over the Figueroa Mountains.
Attachment 34183
More soon come.

stories by bill . . . bring in on . . .

I recently read (a link you posted) about all of your many years of travels to Jamaica & enjoyed it very much. My first trip to Accompong was in 1972, my friend & I drove up there and stayed the night in our rented VW bug. They had us park under a place where MANY banannas were stored under some kind of large zinc covered open structure. We heard of some German people who lived very deep into the walkfoot area, did you ever hear of them? They supposedly had been there for a couple of years (and this was in 1972!). We wanted to go and meet them but the hike into the bush from Accompong was something like 16 hours so we didn't go. I was always curious about them though & what happened to them.

Marshall and I get up just before sunrise each morning. Me? Well, I just grab a cup of bush tea and enjoy the morning on my verandah but Marshall’s day starts in the bush even before the sun comes up.
Making Charcoal

Since I first met Marshall, he has always seemed to have a chainsaw either in his hand or in close proximity. Originally, it was a 4 foot bar Stihl when he was cutting large trees for selling the lumber but today it is a 2 foot Poulan Pro and he is cutting small pieces of hardwood and putting them in a “still”.
A still is a pit in the ground where you put dried wild grass in the center of the hole and stack the wood pieces around it like making a Boy Scout fire and then you put more grass on the top before burying the whole thing in a mound of dirt with a vent hole in the top leading down to the dry grass below. Once the fire is lit, then you block up the hole and keep checking on the still every few hours to make sure no “blow outs” (smoke escaping) occur. After 4 or 5 days, you dig up the pit and the result is charcoal.

Attachment 34184

Peace and Guidance

The charcoal, for the most part, takes care of itself so a lot more time is available to do other farming tasks. We had 5 goats that need tending. Four are she goats and one is a ram goat. Two of the she goats were pregnant when I arrived and both delivered right around Christmas so the new total is 7. Now, a ram goat is a good commodity to have as you can rent him for stud and he is the main ingredient in Mannish Water and Curry Goat. A typical she goat (once weened) can fetch $20k Jamaican on the market.
Tending the goats.
Attachment 34187
There are other crops to look after as well. Two in particular are Sorrel and Yams. Sorrel ripens around Christmas so it is a traditional Christmas drink. We strip the buds off the sorrel and put them out to dry in the sun. Once dry, they store quite well and can be put into boiling water whenever you want to use them. The yams are of various species; we have Renta Yams, Yellow Yams, Lucy Yams as well as two wild growing yams called Bitter Gashie and Imba Yams.
Growing Sorrell
Attachment 34185

Growing Yellow Yams
Attachment 34186

Peace and Guidance

Definitely enjoying this... keep it coming, please. :)

Looking forward to more! Very interesting.

Just before midday, most of the farmers come out of the bush to grab some food or work at other tasks before returning to the bush at the end of the day. On this day, my neighbor Rani “Boss” Genas came by to mix some rendering concrete mix used to make the smooth finish on the outside of concrete houses.
Boss mixing rendering concrete.
Attachment 34188
Once the mixture is just right, Marshall hauls it by bucket up to a scaffold made from old lumber and cut poles where another neighbor spreads it on the wall.
Marshall hauling the mixture.
Attachment 34189
We would do this work when funds and weather permitted. When I left in mid-January, only two ceilings inside the house were as of yet finished but a phone call yesterday updated me that all the surfaces have now been rendered. The only thing left to do is the painting inside and out and the tiling of the floors.
Attachment 34190
Attachment 34191
Peace and Guidance

It was time for a late breakfast so Marshall went to the kitchen to cook us a meal. Marshall is a Garveyite-Rastafarian so we eat no meat. In fact, we eat what is referred to as “earth food” (things the we or neighbors grow) and river fish for protein.

This particular morning we had a meal of Yellow Yam, callaloo, broadbeans, okra,tomatoes, onions and a small piece of saltfish all cooked together in coconut oil.
Breakfast is ready!
Attachment 34192
While Marshall was cooking, I went work on stripping the sorrel off the bush to get ready for drying.
Attachment 34193
Later in the day, we went to the market to get some vegetables for the week. This vendor had some pumpkin, dasheen, cabbage, Irish, coconuts, green peppers and various yams.
Attachment 34194
See asked, “Makin pumpkin soup?” “How about some Gungo Peas?”
Attachment 34195

Peace and Guidance

Bush Tea has supplanted all other forms of beverages. I look forward to a cup of tea each morning and at night just before going to bed. Marshall brings out different herbs for tea each morning. He often makes different blends on different occasions like; John Charles, Vervine, Noni, Moringa, Jack’na Bush, Bas Cedar, Fence Stake and Leaf of Life. A personal favorite is a blend of Strongback and Ginger.
Strongback and Ginger
Attachment 34196
Also, a casually thrown Gungo Pea spawned a health bush just off the verandah that supplied us with Gungo Peas for the last couple of months of my stay. Some people find them to have a bitter taste like the Susumba Bean but I like the flavor.
Gungo Pea Bush
Attachment 34197
Water is very important in Accompong and, for that fact, all over Jamaica but there is no piped water in Accompong Town so we have to rely on rainwater for everything. Sometimes during the drought times, a water truck will come around and sell water at about $3J a gallon or you can ask a taxi driver to stop at Dry River near Maggotty to fill a few 5 gallon used vegetable oil containers from the standpipe.
Plenty of water now!
Attachment 34198
Peace and Guidance