Rumpolephoreskin's Existential Wanderings in and Around Negril

[Rum-polephoreskin]

DAY (6) Monday

Alfred opened the door to his van. He was taking us to Rockland Bird Sanctuary. I’d never been further than Negril before. The only Jamaican country I’d ever seen was the old Mo-Bay rd. to Negril (with the ganja bridge) and now on this trip, the new road that sold the sea views to the highest bidder.

Verdant is the most apt description of the country side.


We headed out of Negril on the road to Sav. Alfred announced Likkle London, as it hove into view. It was the first time I’d noticed a Jamaican actually using that term. As we rolled along Alfred gave us a tour of Jamaican flora. He stopped the van at one point so I could get a shot of an honor-system-breadfruit-stand.

Breadfruit speaks loudly of Jamaica's history.


Mrs. Peel didn’t know that breadfruit wasn’t native to the island. I told her that in the late 1700’s the HMS Bounty had sailed from England for Tahiti. The purpose of the trip was to obtain live Tahitian breadfruit plants and ship them on to Jamaica. Why was England engaged in this botanical experiment? Unfettered (if you’ll excuse that expression in this sad case), free market, capitalism demanded a cheap, easily grown food to feed the Jamaican slaves.

To keep the plants alive on the long voyage the Bounty’s Captain cut the working sailors water ration to intolerable levels. Finally the sailors could take it no more and they mutinied. Captain Bligh and the breadfruit were thrown overboard, Bligh unlike the breadfruit was put in an open (23 Ft.) launch (essentially a lifeboat) with 18 loyal (to the crown anyway) followers. In an absolutely Herculean effort of seamanship Bligh managed to sail this small boat back to the arms of the empire (landing in East Timor- a Dutch possession). Ultimately Bligh was reassigned to the HMS Providence and completed the mission of bringing breadfruit to the W. I. Upon breadfruit’s introduction the slaves refused to eat it. Neither Mrs. Peel nor I imagined that the significance of breadfruit in Jamaica would come full circle by our tour’s end.

In Sav we stopped just past the hospital for some coco bread. Alfred bought it and shared with us (our first taste). He explained a Jamaican theory about breakfast. Alfred said that if you ate something heavy like coco bread or fritters for breakfast, it took a long time to digest and kept you from getting hungry before lunch - important if you’re working in the fields cutting sugarcane.



Our tour then wound on through Ferris Cross, Galloway and so on through Anchovy (located curiously inland) and on to the Rockland’s Bird Sanctuary located at the top of a seemingly un-navigable, narrow, ill maintained mountain road. Alfred’s driving abilities came to the front as he wheeled that big van up a road that would have challenged a motocross rider.

Then our cares were washed away. It’s hard to explain the serenity of Rockland’s, it’s close to intoxicating. Within seconds we were seated in the arbor, surrounded by bird feeders, and native birds. The feeders were visited by Jamaican Orioles, Bananaquits, Orangequits, a Jamaican Woodpecker and two kinds of doves.



Orangequit


Jamaican Woodpecker



(poorly focussed) Jamaican Oriole


Oliver, our host, seated us then took a chair for himself. He began the hard part of his job, calling in the Dr. Birds. Oliver assumed a soft, falsetto voice and began his gentle coaxing, “birdie, birdie, here birdie. . . etc.”. I thought to myself I don’t care how much he makes this must be the best job in the world. His blood pressure must be perfect.


More to follow . . .