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

[Accompong]

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.

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

[jon c.]

That's a fascinating read.

[Accompong]

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

Peace and Guidance

[TAH]

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

[Accompong]

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

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