Goodbye Jamaica!!

Arion's West Indian Adventure
Hermione & Douglas Pattison
Wed 25 May 2016 20:27
We loved being here in Port Antonio for a week. A very beautiful, jungly, tropical place. A little enclave of paradise.

The wee marina we were in, with only 10 boats, was a lovely community with a group of fabulous cruisers who were immensely helpful and friendly. Here, there is a little swimming pool, so after doing many hundreds of miles with Uncle Michael it was a welcome break from the boat and I was in the pool at least twice per day with Arthur and Alice!!! Outside of the marina was different…… The locals are very aggressive and constantly hassling white people for money, or trying to sell you drugs. Against all our instincts and upbringing, we found a way to survive the onslaught when it was necessary to go into town. Don big shades and a large hat. Keep your head down and do not engage with anyone in the street!!! I cannot believe I am writing this, but it is true that this seemed to be the only way to handle the situation. Everyone without fail was on the take. People would offer to show you the supermarket, and then expect money afterwards. We realised this pretty quickly so were careful to say that we were not interested in paying for a ‘tour’ service!!

A real highlight of the week was going down the Rio Grande on a bamboo raft. These are traditional rafts which were, and still are used to transport goods up and down the river. The River is absolutely stunning, surrounded by jungle and high sides. The birds and wildlife were breathtaking. We had a very refreshing swim in a calm, wide section of the river, then stopped for lunch which was cooked on open fires by a lady who has a one hour commute on foot with her donkey carrying all of the pots and pans!

We were sad to say goodbye to our friends who we had made here in Port Antonio. Some, we hope to see again ‘oop North’ . Sorry about the recent lack of photos. We are sending these updates via sat phone and it is text only. Pictures will follow when we have a chance.