A former fishing village set upon by
Christopher Columbus in 1494, Jamaica’s northern port of Ocho Rios exports
sugar much as it has for centuries. But today the town’s most celebrated
commodity is the carefree spirit that has come to embody the entire Caribbean.
Reggae music spills from cafés where visitors linger over a cup of Blue
Mountain coffee, grown and roasted in the shadow of the island’s azure-hued
peaks. Curry, allspice, garlic and other tantalizing aromas waft from
restaurants; here, goat and seafood with rice and beans find inspiration from
the island’s Spanish, British and African past. The seaside haven was a favored
retreat of Winston Churchill and home to Ian Fleming, creator of James
Bond.
Here we took a tour
called the Bob Marley Zion Bus.
This was a trip to renowned singer-songwriter
Bob Marley’s hometown. Marley was instrumental in popularizing reggae
worldwide, and became a symbol of Jamaican identity. We listen to renowned
classics such as "Redemption Song," "One Love," "No
Woman No Cry" and more as we toured through rural Saint Ann Parish’s
winding roads to Nine Miles.
Our bus driver, tour guide, and the bus were
the best. The guides name was Gary.
We left the port and within two minutes we
pulled over to the side of the road for rum punch. We then preceded down the
road to our first rest stop. Here are some pictures of the scenery. All while
listening to music and our guide.
In 1740 Jamaica built aqueducts to get water to
run the sugar mills. About 5% of the electricity today comes from water.
We stopped at Bumper Lawn Bar and Rest Stop
where they gave us a meat pie. It was spicy and very good.
Bob Marley was born at Nine Mile on 2/16/1945 and
at 13 went to live in Kingston, Jamaica. At 18 he went to Delaware for two years
and then back to Jamaica. We arrived at Nine Mile and the bus driver escorted
anyone who wanted to smoke to go outside the get to purchase it. So, the air up
there was rare and we were high in the mountains. Our tour guide for the tour
of Nine Mile was Crazy Curtis.
His mother was 16 when he was born. They lived
in the house with her parents for six months and then they moved to another
house on the property till he was thirteen. These pictures are of his grandparents’
house.
On the way to Mt. Zion to see where he was raised
we stopped and listened to some music. These pictures show his house where he
lived till 13.
We saw the tomb where his mother was buried and
the mausoleum where he was buried. His mother preceded him in death. He died in
1981 at the age of 37. The history books say it was cancer and the locals say
that he was poisoned. He was a very big political activist in his country and
if you listen closely to the lyrics you can hear the political overtones. We
could not take any pictures of the mausoleums, but do have a picture of the
Meditation Stone that is featured in his song Redemption.
On our return trip, after having more rum
punch, we stopped for an authentic local meal, including jerk pork, chicken and
peas, at the same place we had stopped on the way up. Apparently, we did not
take any pictures of lunch. The ride down was very thrilling as it was a narrow
winding road down the mountain and when we would get to the turns he would honk
his horn so no one would come around the corner and hit you. At one point,
another bus was coming up and we had to back up the mountain to a wider spot
for the other bus to pass. Here are some pictures of the countryside.
Fantastic tour!!
Jamaica looks very cool! Love Bob Marley!
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