Traveller Ian Wright begins his Jamaican
journey in the once famous hippy hangout and renowned beach
resort of Negril. He travels through the
centre of Jamaica to visit a plantation  house, then heads
down the south coast.
At Black River Ian travels through the swamp
with a crocodile expert and feeds a crocodile himself, before
heading further along the south coast to Treasure Beach, a
hideaway paradise.
Up through the centre of Jamaica, Ian catches a bus from
Mandeville to Bob Marley's mausoleum and
arrives in Hope Bay, where he stays with
rastas who run a guest house and a school for orphaned kids.
Ian's payment for staying at the guest house teaching a few
lessons at the school - a common arrangement.
Ian visits Port Antonio, an old fashioned
resort full of colonial buildings. Jamaica has more churches
per square mile than any other country in the world, so Ian
attends a lively, traditional service. He is invited to share
a typical Sunday lunch with a Jamaican family.
Between Port Antonio and Kingston are the Blue Mountains,
a relatively unexplored part of Jamaica. Ian hires a motorbike
and rides up to visit a Maroon Village. Maroons
are descendants of runaway slaves who made their escape to
the hills of the interior and hid out for centuries. Their
culture is more African than Caribbean. This is where the
famous Jamaican jerk chicken was invented.
Ian attends their drumming ceremony and visits the headman
or colonel.
Early in the morning Ian climbs the Blue Mountain Peak to
watch the sunrise, and catches a glimpse of Cuba. He ends
his journey in Kingston, where he celebrates Jamaican Carnival. |
