If you lived in the town then you know just taking a trip into the city can be a very dangerous yet exciting affair. This particular time we decided we would take a long 3 hour drive from the hills of ST Elizabeth to the city of Kingston.
So they set off early in the morning about 5am with Craig and his family hiring a taxing going from the country to the great city of Kingston. Though known for its high crime rate and poor living conditions Kingston can be a very vibrant and beautiful place to visit and that is why the family decided to go. Also Craig’s father had his sister there and he could visit her.
Now Jamaica is a land of contrast and anyone who has not taken a trip like this across Jamaica needs to immediately. Craig had never seen such wonderful scenery. The first part of the trip involved going through Santa Cruz which was an amazing site with stalls selling groceries, many fruit stands. After that there is spur tree hill which is a road that literally wraps around a mountain until you are at the top. Imagine going up a mountain and then looking back on the city from where you came. This is what Craig saw and he enjoyed every bit of it. He had read in the Jamaican gleaner once before that talked about spur tree hill and how it was built.
After that they had to go through Clarendon as after spur tree hill in Manchester they found nothing else that they enjoyed there. Clarendon however was a different story it had many hills and gullies and driving looking at the city below was amazing. After Clarendon they came to Spanish Town St Catherine. This is one of the more amazing cities in Jamaica due to its sentimental value that comes from how old it is. it was an old Spanish colonial town which was taken over upon the capture of Jamaica by the British. Because of this it has many old buildings and a Spanish look and feel to it that has British and African details added.
Now they reached Kingston and went up to the hills of Kingston where the view was amazing. Now tips for Kingston to enjoy it to the max are
Never go to places known to be dangerous as it could mean your life.
Stay in tourist areas
Do not give money to strangers or buy things from people you don’t find trustable.
Here is a photo of the kingston hills view
Author Archives: Admin
Kingston and Traveling Jamaica tips
- Friday, 15 October 2010 21:03
- Admin
- 0 Comments
Authentic jamaican food
- Monday, 11 October 2010 21:03
- Admin
- 0 Comments
We all love authentic Jamaican food. You know the type of Jamaican food that is cooked by a mother painstakingly over the stove for hours on end. The type of food that you play some good reggae music to while you get ready for it and then dance around as it is served. This is the type of food we are talking about. On this occasion we decided to make Jamaican drops, as the snack which is essentially sugared coconut.
Now on this day craig sat at home tired and hungry from dragging bamboo all day from the hills to make lobster traps his dad used. So the procedure for drops was easy but only craig could turn it into a hard thing. In his love of science one thing he loved was fire and anyone who has played around with banana trees and fire knows that when the branch from a banana tree is dry and gets lit on fire. It really burns quickly.
The ingredients for drops are simple being just sugar, coconut and ginger. Being this simple meant that anyone who can put a pot on the fire can make drops. Craig decided to do it outside on a wooden fire as this would cook it faster and also it would not waste any electricity.
For the person who doesn’t know how to make drops here is a quick recipe that is not the best but is very simple.
You need
A dry coconut diced into pieces square pieces preferably
Sugar(it is something you just know)
Ginger
Simple put the coconut in with the sugar and ginger which has been blended. Let the sugar melt onto the drops stir regularly until it becomes a thick liquid paste which then you simple take out and put to dry where it will cool and harden together. Not the best tutorial but its simple recipe
Jamaican Patwa 1.1
- Friday, 08 October 2010 00:18
- Admin
- 0 Comments
The first jamaican patwa lesson is up on youtube. Here it is.
Any comments and suggestions would be gladly appreciated. Also if you have not noticed, I try to make these videos as close to the rosetta stone model as possible so expect much more.
Journey to the Jamaican style Game shop
- Thursday, 07 October 2010 22:18
- Admin
- 0 Comments
If you ask any Jamaican boy, the game shop is where they go to unwind and relax. It is like what reading the Jamaican gleaner is to older people. Now the game shop is where the Jamaican child goes to unwind and socialize and have a good time. This was one of those days when craig and his friends decided to go and play.
Craigs favorite part of school had always been getting out and either going for a swim in the river or going to the game shop as all Jamaican boys do. It was this particular day that he decided with gayle that they should go play mortal kombat ultimate, which had just been introduced to the game shops.
They set out to do it big when they saw T.T a girl that craig liked and deciding to man up craig decided to go talk to her, but found himself getting slapped after only a few mins of conversation. Apparently he learned he cannot comment on womens clothing unless it’s positive. On his way with gayle he decided to take a shortcut that meant he had to cross a busy intersection.
Crossing the street Craig had not looked and being that gayle had stopped. He suddenly saw a car speeding along very quick and it stopped a few feet from him. He was in shock and heard a loud sound and felt something in his pants. He realized what it was and went home.
The Old Plant – Reviere
- Monday, 04 October 2010 18:47
- Admin
- 0 Comments
Prelude
If you ever grew up in the country, you would know it is one of the best places to grow up because of the fact that there is just so much nature to see. No matter where you are in the countryside you can walk many places, do many things for example. This is the story of friends who decided to explore an old factory but it turned out to be a terrible idea.
Story
Well it was one of those days for craig, he had a very scientific mind and always wanted to explore and build things. He for some reason had a sudden interest in chemistry, in creating chemicals, and making glass. It was in this moment he enlisted his friends junior and lemmy to journey through the bushes and into the old factory that had been long abandoned. It was the old reviere factory that once symbolized production in the local rural Jamaican sprawl. Jerk Chicken was the food of choice that day and when craig went to lemmy’s house he found them eating jerk chicken. Jerk chicken is of course one of the more traditional Jamaican foods in that sense and is delicious especially when it is made using an authentic Jamaican recipe.
The boys decided that they would go to the old abandoned factory and set out there. Now this journey is usually very long and filled with a lot of bush and mud. They went through dumpland as it were called where they were chased by a cow. Lemmy being very fat and slow had trouble running from the cow and when trying to climb under the fence, ripped his pants and to make matters worse he tripped over his own legs and fell splat in cow dung. He got up screamed and ran for the local river, which he hurridly jumped into.
The factory was close by and they went to look, however, they soon found that they had encountered. Walking through the abandoned factory the guys stepped in a white substance that they did not know about. Feeling afraid they decided to run away thinking that it would cause their feet to rot and eventually kill them. Little did the boys know it was harmless limestone, but they did think it was a dangerous chemical and set off for the river. This river was at the base of a little and being in a rush the boys did not take the small trail and instead ran directly down the hill.
The boys hadn’t count on a wasp’s nest being hidden in the bushes and on their way down, lemmy being the unlucky guy that he was, got bitten by 3 wasps and junior got bitten by one. Craig being fat and slow lagged behind far enough to see the other boys get bitten by the wasps and was able to avoid being stung. However lemmy was once again at the short end of the stick when he dove into the river landing FLAT on his belly. Both Craig and junior heard the loud splat as lemmy landed. They tried to not laugh as they knew it was a hurtful experience. The boys went home after this arduous affair and learned not to journey into the unknown.
