How I got to Jamaica...too.

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Originally Posted by Jamakafun

Thanks so much for sharing your story. You were both really brave to take on such an adventure. You have an amazing memory too. Thanks again.

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Being brave shouldn't be confused with being a little naive and making the best of situations. Sometimes you just need to get a little ways out of your comfort zone as that is where potential adventures are waiting to happen. Since this first trip, I have lived in several areas of Jamaica and usually in small, rural towns where an "adventure" or two most every day is almost guaranteed to happen. Over 37 years, Jamaica has been anything but boring and I take notes.

Peace and Guidance

I enjoyed your writing alot, thanks.

Thank you for the interesting read. I do so miss trip reports on here. It is why I signed up for this forum many years back.

what a wonderful story, thanks for sharing

Thank you jojo p and Stoners6 for your replies.

Trip reports serve the purpose of giving people ideas for things to do when their ambitions overcome the sand gravity. Everybody travels for different reasons but I find it necessary to learn more about the people and the places all around the island and can't find personal satisfaction in sunbathing and bar and restaurant hopping. Again, everyone is different and has different ways to be satisfied.

Why a lack of good trip reports? Perhaps people don't do things of interest to write about or they are not motivated enough to share.

I hope some people decided to share a story or two.

Peace and Guidance

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Originally Posted by Shaggy

what a wonderful story, thanks for sharing

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Thanks Shaggy. "It wasn't me" ;)

Respect.

Loved loved loved your story! Thank you for writing down your memories.

I do trip reports when I can, mostly because I can look back at them to jump start my memories..

Great story, loved reading all of it, fantastic contribution to the board.

Vacations are temporary, but the stories last a lifetime and you cannot put a value on that.

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Originally Posted by Maralunatic

Loved loved loved your story! Thank you for writing down your memories.

I do trip reports when I can, mostly because I can look back at them to jump start my memories..

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Although I rarely react to the trip reports I read here on this site, I do enjoy most of them. Why not do a trip report? As you say, "they can jump start your memories" and we all can use a little boost right now.

Thank you for your words of appreciation. By writing my memories down, it has me looking at the calendar and checking fares again.

Respect.

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Originally Posted by TuffGong

Great story, loved reading all of it, fantastic contribution to the board.

Vacations are temporary, but the stories last a lifetime and you cannot put a value on that.

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Thank you TuffGong.

This self-imposed quarantine has me doing a little introspection and longing for some better times. All these years of traveling and staying all around Jamaica left me with a wealth of memories and a deep well of experiences to draw upon.

Respect.

Given that most of us are stuck at home if you would continue telling us about the trip, meaning what you did in Mexico, I doubt the board would mind. I realize it is a Jamaica board but travel is travel. I've had many great experiences in Mexico and I'm sure your trip was no exception.

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Originally Posted by TuffGong

Given that most of us are stuck at home if you would continue telling us about the trip, meaning what you did in Mexico, I doubt the board would mind. I realize it is a Jamaica board but travel is travel. I've had many great experiences in Mexico and I'm sure your trip was no exception.

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Please keep discussions about Negril and Jamaica.

Thank you.

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Originally Posted by Rob

Please keep discussions about Negril and Jamaica.

Thank you.

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No, Thank YOU Besides, I am too worn out to write more anyways.... for now ;)

Respect

Thanks for understanding man!

An interesting little tidbit and fallout from writing this story. I mentioned "Hunter" Wint as the guy that took us to Port Royal and Lime Cay well, his son contacted me on Facebook. It seems he was searching his father's name and this site and this thread came up. I was honored when he told me his father spoke of me and my wife a few times and in subsequent trips I spent time with Chef "Hunter" Wint when Peter's house burned in a fire and he relocated down the hill near Foxy's at a place Peter called
https://youtu.be/5bF12_HxAdM Maya Lodge.

Here is an interesting LA Times article from 1992 talking about him, Peter and Maya Lodge. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-...293-story.html

Peace and Guidance

On this first trip, I took a Super-8 movie camera which I still have transcribed on to a DVD which I consider personal. My wife did, however, take along a couple of small cameras which I have some pictures I can share. A couple of them are from subsequent trips when I re-traced our steps after her death. Hope you like them.
Here is a picture my wife took of me as we left Puerto Rico on our way to Kingston, Jamaica....Hawaiian Shirt and all.
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The Texaco Gas Station in Barbican at the foot of Jack's Hill Road.
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Maya Lodge on Peter's Rock Road behind Foxy's
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The road behind Peter's House on the way to the Water Storage Tank.
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The outdoor patio at Maya Lodge with Hunter, SweetP and the cook.
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Port Royal view from Fort Charles to the spot where the earthquake on June 7, 1692 submerged half the city.
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Have just a couple more I might share later.
Peace and Guidance

Always love your stories Bill. Beautiful memories thanks for sharing!! Your stories about Accompong made me want to see it and dragged Jojo along. Thanks for that too!!

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Originally Posted by Momthor3

Always love your stories Bill. Beautiful memories thanks for sharing!! Your stories about Accompong made me want to see it and dragged Jojo along. Thanks for that too!!

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Thank you, Momthor3 for your kind words. I try to make each and every trip an adventure as I like to experience new and different things. This trip coming up I plan to do something different than I have done before and I am so looking forward to it.

Respect.

Just a few more photos....
Out on Lime Cay, this shelter over a picnic table has seen better days...
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Spending the day with "Hunter" Wint.
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The Kingston Skyline looking back from Lime Cay
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A look down from the verandah of Firefly with Port Maria and Cabarita Island in the distance.
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My good and now departed friend Jah Mike Higgins.
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Thank you.

Doing a little rummaging through old things and came across just a few more pictures. Hope you like them.
Here is the ticket stub from our Ferry Ride from Kingston to Port Royal.
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Took this picture while walking through Trenchtown.
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Visited Tuff Gong Record Plant and Store.
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While touring the Record Pressing part of Tuff Gong, the operator gave me a freshly pressed 45 as a souvenir.
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A few more later..

A couple of more from a visit to White River and caving at Cooks Bottom and Cedar Springs.

From an Expedition to Cooks Bottom Cave. Although not as deep underground as some, the caverns are much larger than most. This is where the Maroons hid from the British during the Maroon Wars.
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Another Expedition to Cedar Springs Cave nearer to Accompong Town. This cave is narrower and deeper than Cooks Bottom with a little lake of water in some areas.
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While staying at James Bond Beach, I took a trip up the White River to go tubing and swimming.
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Peace and Guidance

While on the topic of the Cockpits, I would like to share two pictures of the front and back of the LUMI currency currently being used internally by some of the residents of Accompong Town, St. Elizabeth Jamaica. There are still open question as to its legitimacy as a legal tender sanctioned by the Bank of Jamaica but, as of now, it is traded at some establishments in the town and there is a bank where it can be exchanged for Jamaican Currency when the bank is open.
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http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...257?profile=-1
If nothing else, it makes for a “one of a kind” souvenir for tourists.
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Here are a few more of the oldest pictures I have from 25 or 30 years ago.

This is a picture of an Accompong Town Kindergarten Pre-School class taken about 25 years ago when I visited bringing some school supplies and was asked to give the kids a brief talk.
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I took this picture 26 years ago on a hike to the Peace Cave led by my now deceased best friend, Clive "Marshall" Robb.
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This is a picture of some neighbor kids on Marshall's grandfathers house verandah. I stayed here for several visits over the years some 25 or more years ago. I took this picture after waking up from a nap in a chair on that verandah finding the kids had cut off some of my hair.
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About 30 years ago, this picture was taken of the house where I lived in Seaview Gardens, Kingston.
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When I used to stay in Negril during the 90's, I stayed at the Negril Yacht Club that was owned by my good friend Chuck who was from my town in Florida.
I picked up a brochure in the office with the only map I could find of Negril at the time. I thought you might enjoy seeing it yourself. I particularly like the way they show the interactions between Jamaicans and the tourists. Hope you enjoy.
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Peace and guidance.

A few more of some favorite pictures.
Rubber rafting the Black River from Appleton to the Maggotty Hydro Dam with my Austrian friends Robert and Helen.
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Relaxing at Maggotty Falls on the Black River below the hydro dam.
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The old Maggotty Post Office.
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Fisherman's Beach at Frenchman's Cove, Treasure Beach in the '90s
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My old and dear friend George "Sylvester" Huggins, Gombe drum maker taking a break from work.
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A few more...
The JRC Maggotty Train Station. One year I rented the old station master's quarters on the upper floor for $100US/mo.. It was cheap but a little spooky at the same time.
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Sometimes it took about 6 hours to get from Kingston to Montego Bay on the JRC train but, for about $8 US, it was a real bargain.
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The Appleton Express Train that ran from Montego Bay to Appleton Rum Factory. It cost about $25 for a round trip and since I was friends with some of the crew, I was able to ride the train for free with free drinks when needed.
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Mr. Foster was the first Maroon I became friends with and he was the official Abeng Horn blower for the Accompong Town community. Picture taken at Apple Valley Park in Maggotty.
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This pay phone in Accompong Town was their only link to the outside world before cellular phones. There would be lines of people waiting patiently to make a call and, when you called that phone from the outside world, people would run and fetch the person being called.
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A few more....

The caverns inside the mountain at Roaring River have deep pools of cold water running through them. This is the largest cavern that is easily accessible.
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Taking a ride on a fishing boat from Frenchman's Bay in Treasure Beach to Black River followed by schools of dolphins and a quick stop at Floyd's Pelican Bar for a cold Red Stripe.
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Cruising up the Black River under the last low bridge into the Great Morass.
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My six-month stay in Billy's Bay, Treasure Beach was ending and the people wanted to give me a party. Here is a good friend "Shaker" steaming some reef fish for the party.
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Outside Ochi, going up Fern Gully are the "stilt walkers". They perform as once did their ancestors. It is an effective way to get tourists to stop for pictures and to shop their stalls.
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Here are a couple of pictures from a trip to Nine Mile and Bob Marley's Mausoleum I took with Marshall.

Here is a picture of Bob's bed in the house where he lived with his mother.
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A picture of the outside of Bob's house.
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A picture of Bob's cousin who gave us the tour. BTW, it seems like everyone is Bob's cousin there. I particularly love the children in the picture. Especially the little girl "stylin'"
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Here are a few from my adopted Jamaican hometown of Accompong Town St. Elizabeth taken during the January 6th Celebration of Cudjoe's Birthday.

Maroons from all over the World come home to Accompong Town for the Celebration. After a solemn ceremony over the graves of their ancestors, they climb the hill to the Kindah Tree to begin the Celebration.
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Drumming and dancing to traditional songs plus the eating of unsalted pork, roosters and male yams as the traditional homage to those that came before and those that will come after begins.
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At the appointed time, the procession marches from the Kindah Tree though town and down the hill only to return to the Parade Ground to finish the Celebration through the night.
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A short video of the drumming and dancing.
https://youtu.be/LI3-H7oOCR0

What are male yams? I have been loving your photo commentary.
Regards,
Bob

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Originally Posted by rjonsun

What are male yams? I have been loving your photo commentary.
Regards,
Bob

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Thanks for the love, Bob. I was wondering if anyone would ask. Here in the US I have heard them referred to as a "Man Yam". The Celebration Ceremony is a mixture of the harvest celebration and a fertility ritual. In the time of the Maroon Wars, they were constantly on the run and unable to cultivate crops so they were hunter-gathers. After the signing of the Peace Treaty in 1738-39, they were able to move from an area called Old Town to the top of the hill where the Kindah "one family" Tree was located and founded Accompong Town named for Cudjoe's brother.

The traditional feast was a fertility rite as their numbers had dwindled from about 600 to around 200 following the war. They had domesticated some boar and would choose a male that had to be black to cook without salt. They also had (what was referred to as) "male" roosters and the "male" yam was a Guinea yam also called the Jamaican Yellow Yam and considered "male" because of it's size and shape.

After the drinking of the rum and spitting it all around to ward off the evil spirits, the gathered crowd would clamor for a piece of each of these food items to ensure fertility. BTW, roasted boar without salt and not completely cooked through and through is nasty!

I am putting together a photo album so I might have a few more pictures to share as I run across them.

Peace and Guidance

I am a history buff and I think this is very interesting. Thank you for sharing the history. I am going to be reading about this ..love it..

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Originally Posted by fargoman

I am a history buff and I think this is very interesting. Thank you for sharing the history. I am going to be reading about this ..love it..

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You might like to check out this video shot by the Public Broadcasting Corporation of Jamaica in 2020 to get a flavor of the happenings during the festivities. https://youtu.be/XwJfLqz67Xs

While on the subject of the Maroons and Accompong Town, here are a couple of more photos. These photos are about 30 years old.

On my first hike out into the Cockpits on the way to the Peace Cave where the Treaty to end the Maroon Wars was signed in 1739, took this picture of my best friend "Marshall" climbing the Karst limestone formations.
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Before you reach the Peace Cave you find an area called Big Ground. This is where the invading British Soldiers set up camp and were attacked and suffered enough casualties in the middle of the night to convince King George to sue for peace and end the conflict.
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This is a picture of Marshall and some youth under the Kindah "One Family" Tree. This is about a 200 year old mango tree where Cudjoe used to assemble his people and his warriors to plan strategy to defend against the advancing British Army marching up from Balaclava. They could watch them for about 3 days that it took to reach the area. This is called the "One Family" tree because the Maroons were from many tribes in Africa and they had to put aside tribal allegiances to become "One Family" to defeat the British invaders.
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Although Marshall was a practicing Rastafarian, he went without his locks for several years. This is one of my favorite pictures of him. He died this past year from complications caused by unchecked cancer spread.
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Back in 2005, I spent a couple of days in what was for me a spiritual spot in the coastal mountains above Cave, Westmoreland called "Kentucky". Here are a couple of pictures from my visit there. Here is also I story I wrote about it at the time but the contact information may not be accurate anymore. https://jamaicans.com/kentuckyjamaica/

Our view from the verandah of our little wooden cottage just after sunrise overlooking Dean's Valley and the ocean.
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A little clearer of a picture. That is Savanna La Mar in the distance and you can just make out Negril on the horizon.
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This is a picture of Ozzie's home perched on the side of the mountain.
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I would like to thank you all for riding along on My First Visit to Jamaica Story and the subsequent random pictures covering some 30 plus years of visiting and living in Jamaica. These are the last photos I have to share.

A picture of Marshall at the entrance of the Peace Cave outside of Accompong Town. This is where the Peace Treaty of 1739 was signed and where Cudjoe and his warriors would hide before attacking the British Troops at Big Ground.
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The Blue Lagoon in Port Antonio. This is a restaurant that jutted into the water and was a great place to eat.
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A picture of a pod of dolphins swimming along side us on the way to Black River from Billy's Bay, Treasure Beach.
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Sunset in Negril.
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While staying at the old Negril Yacht Club, I worked a deal with a local fisherman to purchase his catch each Friday. This was one such Friday and a picture of the catch for that day.
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Such great memories. Spectacular views. Thank you for capturing some great moments in time.

Thank you for sharing your story and pictures. I loved hearing/seeing all the Accompong stuff. Our visit last year was so interesting to hear about the history and someday I will go back when the world has returned to normal.

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Originally Posted by Jamakafun

Such great memories. Spectacular views. Thank you for capturing some great moments in time.

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Bless up. Respect.

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Originally Posted by Maralunatic

Thank you for sharing your story and pictures. I loved hearing/seeing all the Accompong stuff. Our visit last year was so interesting to hear about the history and someday I will go back when the world has returned to normal.

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Like the rest of the World, the Accompong Maroons are experiencing some political and social problems. There will be an election called soon and the people in Accompong Town seem to be rejecting the current leadership or lack thereof. The problem is that Maroons who live outside the town get to vote and their votes seem to be for sale in some instances.

If there is a change in leadership, Accompong Town will be a much better place to visit and to live.

JMO