The local community alarm clock went off again at day break; I tried to get back to sleep, only to be woken again and again by his intermittent crowing. A couple of hours later, I got up and sat on the veranda plotting how I might silence the alarm, when no ideas came to mind, I switched my attention to reading my bible, followed by some exercise and a shower, Jackie called us for breakfast. It was callaloo, tomato, plantain and dumplings; it was like having dinner for breakfast. After breakfast we once again sat waiting for information about the arrangements for the day. Jackie appeared with a large bag and said, “So you ready?”
“Yes” I replied, “and it looks like you’re moving”
“Yes we’re going to Kingston; I’ve got some things to drop off for people and some my clothes.”
“Clothes, what for?” we asked looking bewildered
She replied “Where staying with my sister in Kingston until next week, you didn’t remember.”
“I didn’t know we where staying there, I thought we were just visiting for the day,” I said.
“No” she said “we‘re going to stay by my sister until next Tuesday. I did wonder why you didn’t have any bag.”
So we hastily threw everything in to our bag and brought it out on the veranda. Andy a friend or relation of the family arrived introduced himself and went to see Mrs Lena. About forty five minutes later, we put our bags into his people carrier and after saying our goodbyes we left for Kingston.
Andy gave us a running commentary about the different areas as we drove along. We stopped at Black River to see how much an hour’s cruise on the river would be, the prices were reasonable s
o we booked to go on the next boat while Andy stayed with the people carrier. On the boat Crécy and Jackie sat near the boat operator and I sat at the front. Just after we’d pulled away from the bank, he introduced himself as Royston the captain of the vessel and said we were going to visit some crocodiles. As we moved along a little further we saw a croc sun bathing on 
the bank, it looked like moulded plastic, but he assured us it wasn’t, he then took up a cup of water from the river and threw it towards its mouth, the crocs jaws snapped shut, making us all jump. He told us a bit about the crocs and we continued our cruise with everyone on the look out for more crocs. Another 200 metres and there was another one, Royston called him John and threw some pieces of chicken to get his attention saying, “Come, come, come.”
John ate the food and moved closer to the boat, while those who sat on that side of the boat took up fearful positions, one knee on the seat, the other leg straight out, hands inside the boat, resting gingerly on the edge with arms slightly bent in case they needed to launch themselves backwards. Those behind them were standing very close to their seats and peering over the backs and shoulders of the others. Royston told us we had nothing to fear, “there all friendly and because they’re Jamaican, they smoke the best marijuana, so there cool, if we fall in there is “No problem” they will help us to swim back to the bank,” he didn’t help to increase our confidence. A bit further on and we saw three different spices of birds living in the trees, he said, “They need
to be careful or they could end up as dinner.” He then told us about the different rooting system of plants and trees that lives alongside the river, he then picked a beautiful and sweet smelling blue flower called lavender blue and passed it around, so everyone could smell of its fragrance. About 350 yards on, someone spotted a croc sun bathing or doing back stoke, Royston pointed out it was dead. We saw a fisherman in the shade of the trees preparing crab and shrimp traps, Royston stopped and showed us a shrimp trap and explained how it worked and then a crab trap complete with crabs. We moved on to the next spot where George the croc lives, the captain called him, saying, “Come, come, come,” as we stood with cameras ready to snap the celebrity. But the waters didn’t stir, so he called again, but still no stir or no answer, as all eyes scanned the river for any movement.
He said, “George must be out shopping or looking for a date.”
We continued our cruise, he pointed out a tree called Rasta-man’s pipes and a tree with a termites nest, which we could post home to a favourite friend or in-law, as we came to a cal-de-sac and waited for another tour boat to leave. Royston said, “Tom and Jerry lives in this part of the river and I will bring one on board the boat for you all to see how friendly they are” several people asked if he was really going to bring one on board,
“Oh yes” he replied.
“You will see they are very friendly, they only attack when they have young or if they smell blood”, he said.
As Royston manoeuvred the boat into position, we saw a small croc. He called to her, saying “Come, come, come,” and throwing pieces of chicken, as Jerry came along side the boat, he opened the side door and crouched down, everyone looked on fearfully, wondering what he was about to do! To our relief he shook the croc’s hand and invited everyone on board to do the
same. With the exception of one other person, I took this once in a life time opportunity, I must admit I was nervous, so for extra protection, I leaned over Royston who was crouched on the floor and ran my hand across her hard, knobbly, but flexible back and shook her muscular hand, whist Crécy tried take some pictures. A few minutes later Royston shut the side door and said, “I have some freshly squeezed croc juice for you all to taste, its made from crocs, some fruits and river water.”
He poured the delicious looking juice into cups and we passed them round. Whist this was happening another croc surfaced, Tom I believe, he was bulkier and longer than Jerry.
Royston said “look we might see some action, two crocs in the same location means trouble, unless their mating,”
We all watched as Tom came closer and Jerry moved closer to the rear of the boat. I am glad to say Jerry ducked under the boat and swam away. Royston turned the boat around and headed back to the pier, because of the heat, he turned the air conditioning on. Air conditioning on an open boat with only a canopy is to drive at high speed. As we got off the boat, some of the hawkers tried to sell us souvenirs they had hand-crafted from wood.
We left Black Water and continued on our planned journey to Kingston. In St Elisabeth there is place called Lovers Leap, which Jackie wanted to visit but had never got round to, even though she grew up in JA, so we took a detour.
After parking the car, we made our way to the viewing balcony; which is about 1500 feet above the sea. When Crécy and Jackie stepped out on to the balcony and saw the height and steep fall, they moved to back to the safety of the building. From the balcony you had a good view of the leap, you could also see were people have craved the names on the top on plants and tree stumps that they could reach without failing, to the right you get a clear view of Treasure Island. 
It is called Lovers Leap because Jerome a slave and Anita the plantation owner daughter were in love, knowing their secret was about to be discovered, they leapt to their death or so folk-lore says. We went into the main building and looked at some museum pieces related to the plantation, during which we had some drinks from the bar, outside we took some pictures in the grounds and then continued our journey towards Kingston.
Half an hour into our Journey and another stop; this time to see Andy’s sister Mercy. She was house, sitting in a place called Chocolate Valley. She offered us some water melon and stringy mangoes, which we ate on the rear veranda, they were cool and refreshing and threw the skins into the over grown garden as instructed. As we talked, I heard a rustling coming from the garden, as I looked a goat appeared from behind a bush, walking towards the veranda. It was Mercy’s goat and it came looking for food. We gave it the peel of the fruits we had eaten. Mercy went and picked about nine green gauge mangoes from the trees in garden and the goat followed her around the garden. At the front of the house, there were okra and tomato plants, the tomatoes were growing on the ground and because the crop was so large, they were left to rot. We said goodbye to Mercy and continued our journey.
About a ten kilometres out side of Kingston there was a lay-by, full of stone huts (about 15) and they all sold roast yam. As we pulled in and slowed down, the people carrier was suddenly surrounded by three, maybe four men, with roasted yam (in foil) in their hands, waving it in front of us, through the open windows and pleading with us to buy from them, we let Andy take care of negotiations. No sooner had they disappeared and we were approached by women wanting to sell us drinks. We sat in the lay-by and enjoyed the roast yam with some roast salt-fish.
Once we refuelled we continued on our way to Kingston. As we approached the city, some s
even hours later, we could see the industrial mist above it, it was also much warmer (33c-36c) and more densely populated than Hopewell. We could see the ghettos and the makeshift homes dotted about as we drove on the outskirts of the city. Within minutes we arrived at Marion and Andre’s home, Jackie’s eldest sister and nephew.
After the introductions, we spoke to Andy about the arrangements for D-day; after which we had a lovely meal and were shown our bedroom with on suite at front of the house.
“Yes” I replied, “and it looks like you’re moving”
“Yes we’re going to Kingston; I’ve got some things to drop off for people and some my clothes.”
“Clothes, what for?” we asked looking bewildered
She replied “Where staying with my sister in Kingston until next week, you didn’t remember.”
“I didn’t know we where staying there, I thought we were just visiting for the day,” I said.
“No” she said “we‘re going to stay by my sister until next Tuesday. I did wonder why you didn’t have any bag.”
So we hastily threw everything in to our bag and brought it out on the veranda. Andy a friend or relation of the family arrived introduced himself and went to see Mrs Lena. About forty five minutes later, we put our bags into his people carrier and after saying our goodbyes we left for Kingston.
Andy gave us a running commentary about the different areas as we drove along. We stopped at Black River to see how much an hour’s cruise on the river would be, the prices were reasonable s
o we booked to go on the next boat while Andy stayed with the people carrier. On the boat Crécy and Jackie sat near the boat operator and I sat at the front. Just after we’d pulled away from the bank, he introduced himself as Royston the captain of the vessel and said we were going to visit some crocodiles. As we moved along a little further we saw a croc sun bathing on 
the bank, it looked like moulded plastic, but he assured us it wasn’t, he then took up a cup of water from the river and threw it towards its mouth, the crocs jaws snapped shut, making us all jump. He told us a bit about the crocs and we continued our cruise with everyone on the look out for more crocs. Another 200 metres and there was another one, Royston called him John and threw some pieces of chicken to get his attention saying, “Come, come, come.”John ate the food and moved closer to the boat, while those who sat on that side of the boat took up fearful positions, one knee on the seat, the other leg straight out, hands inside the boat, resting gingerly on the edge with arms slightly bent in case they needed to launch themselves backwards. Those behind them were standing very close to their seats and peering over the backs and shoulders of the others. Royston told us we had nothing to fear, “there all friendly and because they’re Jamaican, they smoke the best marijuana, so there cool, if we fall in there is “No problem” they will help us to swim back to the bank,” he didn’t help to increase our confidence. A bit further on and we saw three different spices of birds living in the trees, he said, “They need
to be careful or they could end up as dinner.” He then told us about the different rooting system of plants and trees that lives alongside the river, he then picked a beautiful and sweet smelling blue flower called lavender blue and passed it around, so everyone could smell of its fragrance. About 350 yards on, someone spotted a croc sun bathing or doing back stoke, Royston pointed out it was dead. We saw a fisherman in the shade of the trees preparing crab and shrimp traps, Royston stopped and showed us a shrimp trap and explained how it worked and then a crab trap complete with crabs. We moved on to the next spot where George the croc lives, the captain called him, saying, “Come, come, come,” as we stood with cameras ready to snap the celebrity. But the waters didn’t stir, so he called again, but still no stir or no answer, as all eyes scanned the river for any movement.He said, “George must be out shopping or looking for a date.”
We continued our cruise, he pointed out a tree called Rasta-man’s pipes and a tree with a termites nest, which we could post home to a favourite friend or in-law, as we came to a cal-de-sac and waited for another tour boat to leave. Royston said, “Tom and Jerry lives in this part of the river and I will bring one on board the boat for you all to see how friendly they are” several people asked if he was really going to bring one on board,
“Oh yes” he replied.
“You will see they are very friendly, they only attack when they have young or if they smell blood”, he said.
As Royston manoeuvred the boat into position, we saw a small croc. He called to her, saying “Come, come, come,” and throwing pieces of chicken, as Jerry came along side the boat, he opened the side door and crouched down, everyone looked on fearfully, wondering what he was about to do! To our relief he shook the croc’s hand and invited everyone on board to do the
same. With the exception of one other person, I took this once in a life time opportunity, I must admit I was nervous, so for extra protection, I leaned over Royston who was crouched on the floor and ran my hand across her hard, knobbly, but flexible back and shook her muscular hand, whist Crécy tried take some pictures. A few minutes later Royston shut the side door and said, “I have some freshly squeezed croc juice for you all to taste, its made from crocs, some fruits and river water.”He poured the delicious looking juice into cups and we passed them round. Whist this was happening another croc surfaced, Tom I believe, he was bulkier and longer than Jerry.
Royston said “look we might see some action, two crocs in the same location means trouble, unless their mating,”
We all watched as Tom came closer and Jerry moved closer to the rear of the boat. I am glad to say Jerry ducked under the boat and swam away. Royston turned the boat around and headed back to the pier, because of the heat, he turned the air conditioning on. Air conditioning on an open boat with only a canopy is to drive at high speed. As we got off the boat, some of the hawkers tried to sell us souvenirs they had hand-crafted from wood.
We left Black Water and continued on our planned journey to Kingston. In St Elisabeth there is place called Lovers Leap, which Jackie wanted to visit but had never got round to, even though she grew up in JA, so we took a detour.
After parking the car, we made our way to the viewing balcony; which is about 1500 feet above the sea. When Crécy and Jackie stepped out on to the balcony and saw the height and steep fall, they moved to back to the safety of the building. From the balcony you had a good view of the leap, you could also see were people have craved the names on the top on plants and tree stumps that they could reach without failing, to the right you get a clear view of Treasure Island. 
It is called Lovers Leap because Jerome a slave and Anita the plantation owner daughter were in love, knowing their secret was about to be discovered, they leapt to their death or so folk-lore says. We went into the main building and looked at some museum pieces related to the plantation, during which we had some drinks from the bar, outside we took some pictures in the grounds and then continued our journey towards Kingston.
Half an hour into our Journey and another stop; this time to see Andy’s sister Mercy. She was house, sitting in a place called Chocolate Valley. She offered us some water melon and stringy mangoes, which we ate on the rear veranda, they were cool and refreshing and threw the skins into the over grown garden as instructed. As we talked, I heard a rustling coming from the garden, as I looked a goat appeared from behind a bush, walking towards the veranda. It was Mercy’s goat and it came looking for food. We gave it the peel of the fruits we had eaten. Mercy went and picked about nine green gauge mangoes from the trees in garden and the goat followed her around the garden. At the front of the house, there were okra and tomato plants, the tomatoes were growing on the ground and because the crop was so large, they were left to rot. We said goodbye to Mercy and continued our journey.
About a ten kilometres out side of Kingston there was a lay-by, full of stone huts (about 15) and they all sold roast yam. As we pulled in and slowed down, the people carrier was suddenly surrounded by three, maybe four men, with roasted yam (in foil) in their hands, waving it in front of us, through the open windows and pleading with us to buy from them, we let Andy take care of negotiations. No sooner had they disappeared and we were approached by women wanting to sell us drinks. We sat in the lay-by and enjoyed the roast yam with some roast salt-fish.
Once we refuelled we continued on our way to Kingston. As we approached the city, some s
even hours later, we could see the industrial mist above it, it was also much warmer (33c-36c) and more densely populated than Hopewell. We could see the ghettos and the makeshift homes dotted about as we drove on the outskirts of the city. Within minutes we arrived at Marion and Andre’s home, Jackie’s eldest sister and nephew.After the introductions, we spoke to Andy about the arrangements for D-day; after which we had a lovely meal and were shown our bedroom with on suite at front of the house.
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