Day 4 Fri. 2-19
After a breakfast of Ackee and Saltfish we found our driver Munroe and headed to the Lighthouse. Just as we were going over the bridge before the roundabout a goat ran out in front of the car. Munroe swerved, but he did clip it a little. He looked in the rearview mirror and said "him ok". (Kay said it looked like it was limping pretty badly.) I told Munroe that the owner should have tied up the goat better. Munroe said "him no wan dat go-at".
Lighthouse Park is quite at bit larger than we expected. The area to the north of the Lighthouse would make a great place for a picnic. Must be two or three acres of grass. An old canon sets in the middle of this large clearing. We found the seawall to be great place to sit and watch the waves plow into the cliffs. There is ladder down to the cliffs so you can get all the way to the water. Looks like the perfect spot to snorkel! All in all, a very peaceful setting. The huge tree just inside the gate to the lighthouse grounds impressed me. Looks like a Cyclops, with a big knot for an eye! The trunk was covered with huge termite trails.
After we left the Lighthouse we walked down West-end road to Sir D's Lookout and had a drink. Nice spot! We continued walking down the road and a Rasta with a huge spliff in his mouth introduced himself as Farmer Pat. He wanted to know if we would like to visit his fields and see everything he grew. I said "sure why not." Kay kept muttering something about "what are you getting us into now." Farmer Pat's place was just a little bit off the road. We walked into a clearing behind the low huts close to the road. There was a Rasta with a machete, a BIG MACHETE, busily chopping up something on a table. Chunks and pieces seemed to be flying everywhere! Farmer Pat had to get the ok from him before we could visit the fields. All this time Kay is still muttering and looking around nervously. I probably didn’t help matters when I told her not to worry, “there aren’t any poisonous snake in Jamaica”.
It was a great tour! He showed us all the vegetables they grew. Even gave us some Okra and Bean (Red Pea) seeds for our garden back home. Of course we had to go way back in the bush to see the Ganja field. The trail wound through the bush and in some places you couldn’t tell it was a trail at all. We would cut through sticker bushes and back on a trail again. We finally came to a small clearing with Ganja plants in various stages of development. I asked if I could take a picture. “Yah Mon” and struck a pose with one of the plants and the super-spliff he had been smoking since we met him on the road. I think maybe Farmer Pat had done this a time or two. hehe. He even offered us a big bud right off a living plant but we told him he had better keep it. Didn't think I needed to be wandering around the West End with plants hanging out of my pockets. We tipped him 100j and hit the road again.
Caught a cab and stopped at Pirate's Cave (Joseph’s Cave) for a drink. Great view of all the action at Pickled Parrot. The cave is a really cool place. Will definitely have to snorkel there sometime. Stopped at Hi-Lo on the way back to Charela for some more goodies. (Kay loves to grocery shop.) I just love to eat!
Dinner and drinks at the Negril Yacht club with Fatfish, Carol, Rasta John and Blondie. I had the curried chicken…. Yum! Yum! Detroit Jim stopped by and met everyone at NYC. Met Rob at the bar. He was trying to get the NEN up and running. The phone company guys had stopped for drinks earlier and said they could fix the phones but guess not. Thong man, Len (from nothin but net) and Chuck worked on the lines too but no NEN when we left. Oh well, soon come!
