My trip to Accompong Town....and other little niblits :)

Just got back from another great trip...sitting in my office, looking out of the window snowing here in Minneapolis, and the depression has set in.

Actually.....hugging my driver Dwayne good bye yesterday, in 85 degree weather is when the depression set in.

I'm almost shocked looking in the mirror, at how tan I am, as the weather was beautiful everyday, so I rarely got off the beach. The closest I got to the cliffs was getting
some fried chicken at the corner bar....man..that is some good stuff!!!!!
I have a few things that stick out from my great trip, but one day was particularly fabulous. The day I got to spend with my sweet boardie friend, Momthor, and Linston.

We had decided before hand that we both would like to visit such a place, by everything we have read on the board. We arranged it all with Linston, and he picked us up at 7:30 AM.
( I was a tad late as Linston waited for me, that's quite early for me to be up in Negril...lol... we stop to get Momthor, and head out.
The way to Accompong Town is the way to Ys falls and Appleton Estates, I remember when we started assending up the mountain,, I thought wow, the Linston said, this is nothing, and proceeded to point up , way up, to where we were going, I remember a distinctive "GULP" as I looked up, I'm quite afraid of heights, but , smiled and proceeded forward.

The mountain area is called the cockpit mountains, I probably spelled that wrong. As you assend up the mountain on the very narrow, curvy , roads, the great sights of beautiful
flower, plants, animals, and absolutely gorgeous view made me forget how high we really were. ( Jitterbug, we thought of you..lol..remembering at one point, you said you had to get off,
Linston showed us that, I don't blame you girl...it actually didn't bother me as much as I thought it would, it was quite fun.
We arrive in town....and Linston introduces us to a very kind gentleman named Marshall. He does guides and such in town, and teaches the deep roots of the Maroons. I learned a lot,
through him , and all the history plaques , and I'm not by any stretch understanding it all, but in short, I learned the maroon people were Africans who escaped from slavery from the
Americas, and formed independent settlements.

The unique experience is very hard to explain, when we visited the schools, the children were all out playing, and they litterlly swarmed us. It was quite something. There fascination
with our complextion and blue eyes was quite eveident. It would be to long to say everything I would like, but it was an experience I will not soon forget.

A few other little trinkets......
I had jerk pork for the first time at the Red Dragon, wow, I was missing out, thank you, Jamaicarob,and Stoner86, what a fun afternoon that was.
The sidewalks are great now, makes it so easy to get around on the street, more of a party atmosphere, if you will.

Frankk,and Millie, I so enjoyed floating with you, on you beer raft..lol... at the White Sands, you both are fabulous ,maybe next time, we will end up just floating to Cuba, the heck with flying :)

To everyone I so enjoyed spending time with..... Jamaicarob, I love you and Lisa, my sweet friends...Momthor, Stoner 86, Debbie, Weathermon,Helen, Debbie, Nurse Marcia, Barry and the gang.
Dash, I mss you all already,,,until next time soon come !

Great stuff, jojo... Accompong sounds so interesting so glad you got to check it out... See you in April

Off to a good report! Thanks!

"Actually.....hugging my driver Dwayne good bye yesterday, in 85 degree weather is when the depression set in."

awwww I've been there many times. Seems that last hug stays with you until you fall asleep. Then you wake up to...everything that is NOT Jamaica! You know what that means...get out that calendar and at least pencil in a next reach. Thank for sharing such a nice experience. Sounded like go to Accompong Town had the same effect on you as visiting Mooretown had on me. :)

It's so hard to see friends go home..... I couldn't even look at jamaicarob this morning.....miss you Jojo. We had a blast!!!

thanks so much for writing all this down.. it's great. Accompong has been on my bucket list for a while.. looking forward to your next installment.

jojo . . . too funny, i can still feel how anxious i was when i had to get out . . .

great scenery though . . .

nice report JOJO ...no pics?

Had a blast as well jojo.

great time at Red Dragon with you, i am so glad you liked the jerk pork, miss you big time, soon come

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Originally Posted by jojo p

The mountain area is called the cockpit mountains, I probably spelled that wrong. As you assend up the mountain on the very narrow, curvy , roads, the great sights of beautiful
flower, plants, animals, and absolutely gorgeous view made me forget how high we really were. ( Jitterbug, we thought of you..lol..remembering at one point, you said you had to get off,
Linston showed us that, I don't blame you girl...it actually didn't bother me as much as I thought it would, it was quite fun.
We arrive in town....and Linston introduces us to a very kind gentleman named Marshall. He does guides and such in town, and teaches the deep roots of the Maroons. I learned a lot,
through him , and all the history plaques , and I'm not by any stretch understanding it all, but in short, I learned the maroon people were Africans who escaped from slavery from the
Americas, and formed independent settlements.

The unique experience is very hard to explain, when we visited the schools, the children were all out playing, and they litterlly swarmed us. It was quite something. There fascination
with our complextion and blue eyes was quite eveident. It would be to long to say everything I would like, but it was an experience I will not soon forget.

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My best friend, Marshall, called me this morning and told me how much he enjoyed meeting you. The house is where Marshall and I live in Accompong Town when I am not in So. Florida working. You spelled cockpit correctly. If you would like to know a little more about the Maroons, here is a link to some of their history I wrote a few years back. http://www.accompongtown.com/the-war-years.html

I have been living off and on in Accompong Town for almost 20 years now and I agree it is a "unique experience that is very hard to explain". I am sitting here in So. Florida with my next reservation in my hand because I can't wait to go back home.

Peace and Guidance

That's a fascinating read.

A friend sent me a great picture from the January 6th Celebration that I wanted to share. Captures their spirit.
Attachment 44903
Peace and Guidance

The picture is a little fuzzy, are those gungo peas they have on a string?

Those are the leaves from the "cacoon" vine. You might have seen some necklaces sold in Jamaica that have the large, heart-shaped seeds. That is from the cacoon vine. The Maroons used this foliage to disguise themselves in virtual plain sight as British soldiers would march by. The Maroon warriors would carry a cacoon seed with them when traveling so they could test standing water for drink ability. The inner meat of the seed would be either consumed directly, or the meat would be chopped, dried, mixed with other herbs like tobacco and smoked just before sleep to induce the desired dreams.

Peace and Guidance

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Originally Posted by TAH

The picture is a little fuzzy, are those gungo peas they have on a string?

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