L.J. - the eagle ray comes by pretty well every day - right on schedule, kind of like the beach vendors.
An Excursion to YS Falls
Bright and early Saturday morning, 8:30am, we all boarded Lloyd1. Everybody was surprisingly cheery for such an early start. Lloyd1 is a very comfortable, well maintained, twenty three passenger bus, so with only eleven in our party, there was plenty of room to lounge.
Just past the traffic circle in Negril, Lloyd Lewis, our driver and tour guide, stopped at the tri-coloured banana truck and bought two large hands of bananas for the bargain Jamaican price of $500J, which is a very good price considering there’s a banana shortage right now. We passed the bananas around and were quickly back on our way.
Alex and Josh had wanted to see some of the country side so I organized an outing to YS Falls. I asked others in our crew if they wanted to go. I understand how difficult it is for people to give up one beach day from a one or two week trip, so I was pleasantly surprised when seven others decided to come along.
We trundled along the road to Sav with Lloyd commentating and pointing out various things of interest along the way. Passing through Savannah-la-Mar we stopped at a gas station to pick up drinks and road treats.
Soon we passed through the small village of Bluefield’s – this is where Peter Tosh was born and raised and kept a home. Lloyd pulled over to a stop at the front gate to Peter Tosh’s mausoleum. He told us that there was to be a huge party in the village the next day as it was the anniversary of Peter’s birthday. The streets would be impassable, filled with people celebrating the life of the great reggae superstar.
We entered the parish of St. Elizabeth and drove between vast fields of sugar cane framed by green hills further inland. The cane fields gave way to massive papaya plantations.
At Black River, we turned inland and headed for the falls and after a short drive we pulled to a stop at the reception center. A tractor pulled a wagon-full of us up to the falls area, about a five minute drive beside a babbling stream through a cool forest.
For me, the most impressive thing about YS is the vegetation, the trees, the plants, the variety and the lushness of the whole area – it was stunning. Photos don’t do it justice, but here are a few.
Escargot anyone?
We trekked to the upper swimming pool and waded in. After the bathwater temps of the water in Negril, the fresh and COOL water at YS was a bit of a shocker. Alex, Josh, J.T. and I worked our way, against a powerful current, to the base of a rushing waterfall. We braced against the rocks there and pushed our backs into the churning white water. We were pounded by the torrent of water, but it was a lot of fun. The others, watching us from the platform, said we sounded like a bunch of eight year olds yelling and screaming at a waterpark.
We got back onto the wagon and departed the falls, well refreshed, about ninety minutes after we’d arrived.
As we were hanging out at the reception center waiting for Lloyd1, we heard what sounded like a car with an amazingly loud sound system approaching. We all turned to see the source of the music. It was a flatbed truck carrying a load of musicians and some very powerful amplifiers. The truck was moving quickly, there were at least six musicians on board and they were playing to beat the band. Lloyd later told us that this was a funeral band. As the truck roared past a small herd of horses, that had been peacefully grazing in a nearby field, suddenly took flight. They ran with wild abandon across a verdant field. They were a picture of grace and beauty as they galloped under the spreading limbs of a giant tree. For a moment I felt like I was watching wildebeests running across the Serengeti.
We loaded up on beers and patties and left YS Falls. Lloyd made a detour up to Bamboo Alley, which was not far away. It was an interesting sight. Lloyd said that the effect of the bamboo trees arching out over the roadway wasn’t quite what it used to be due to a recent fire that took out some of the bamboo clumps and the fact that the foliage wasn’t as lush as normal due to the on-going drought. When we reached the end of Bamboo Alley we did a u-turn. One side of the street was lined with stalls that were bedecked with bags of peanuts, both shelled and un-shelled. Since they were raw, we didn’t purchase any.
Soon we were back out on highway A2, headed for Negril. It being a Saturday, we encountered a few funeral processions along the way. Whereas in Canada funeral processions are stately, slow moving convoys, the ones we saw pulled out and passed Lloyd1!
On the way back, shortly after crossing back into Westmoreland from St. Elizabeth, we stopped at the seaside town of Whitehouse to visit the Saturday market. It started at the main road and ran all the way down to the sea where there was a pier and some local fishing boats were tied up. My immediate impression was that not many tourists stop here. You’ve seen a photo of Bea, she’s a German blonde and very fair skinned. When we were about halfway down the market road, one of the vendors called out, “Hey, Whitey!”
Bea looked over, smiled, waved and replied, “Hi, Brownie!”
We stopped in at a well-stocked bakery that was crowded with customers buying the freshly baked bread that was stacked high on the counter – it was selling like hot bread! The aroma in that place was divine.
The remainder of the trip back to Negril was uneventful. Shortly after arriving back in our room, the heavens opened up. We enjoyed a tropical deluge from the shelter of our balcony.
