Jamaica 9 – Treasure Beach 5 – Black River & Pelican Bar
Dec 23 (Sun) – 28 (Fri), 2012
We took a tour to Y.S. Falls on the 27th.
Before leaving for the tour, I had some time and was taking some photos in the garden at our casa. This cactus looks like some kind of jewelry. So beautiful.
Y.S Falls is about 1 hour from Treasure Beach. The owner of the casa, Roger, did a tour and drove for us.
On the way there, we bought pepper shrimp on the side of the road. It was spicy and tasty. We ate the shells and heads as well.
Just before arriving, we encountered some horses and cows.
I’m writing about this trip 6 months later now and I forgot a lot of things…
This day was some holiday somehow. We went there around 10:30am. The waiting time wasn’t bad. But when we returned there was a long line-up, that Roger said he had never seen it before.
From the entrance, there is about 1 km. So the visitors have to take a trolley. We can spend time around the falls and the place also has a souvenir shop, a cafe area, swimming pool and changing rooms. Visitors also can do a rope slide, which costs something like $50 for one time. Too expensive. We didn’t do that.
Nice waterfalls.
David tried the jump! Weeee!
It’s quite scary to see where they stand and jump from.
Fish in the water.
We left there at around 2 pm. Roger took us to Howie’s where we can try some delicious soup. We had conch soup.
So delicious!
It was a fun restaurant that has a lot of paintings inside and out.
Then we drove about 15 min and went to Bamboo Avenue. The bamboo bushes are shaped like a tunnel along the road for many kilometers.
We dropped by at a coconut stand and had coconut juice.
As I get sicker at night, I lied down after we got to the casa and my husband went out for a walk. Seemed to be a nice evening.
We had a light salad and cheese meal at the casa.
After dinner, we were told that we should go to see a house that has Xmas light decorations. The woman who did this was a Jamaican but she lived in Toronto for a while, we heard. The surroundings are so dark that the house was really shining very clearly. Great work!
Jamaica 8 – Treasure Beach 4 – Black River & Pelican Bar
Dec 23 (Sun) – 28 (Fri), 2012
We took a Black River Tour on the 26th.
This tour took us to Black River by a motor boat for crocodile-watching. It’s by luck to see any and sometimes customers can’t (a Czech family we met at the guesthouse couldn’t see any). And then we visited Pelican Bar which is built in the middle of the ocean. It’s a 4-5 hour tour. As a larger group can get a discount, so we decided to go with the Spanish couple who became friends of ours.
Good morning, cutie! Have a good day and see you later!
We got on this boat.
It’s called Why You Ask. When the owner goes to register it, they’ll ask the name of the boat.
“What’s the name of the boat?”
“Why you ask?”
“Because we need to register your boat. So what is it called?”
“So I’m telling you, why you ask.”
The conversation will never end…
The wave sometimes splashed on our faces. It’s refreshing and windy. We got a lot of sun.
We will come to see you later, Pelican Bar!
We saw a dolphin! We were told it’s quite rare here during this season. So we were lucky!
Then we went up the Black River. Here he is! They are the same colour as the branches. It’s hard to find them. Normally, the guides find them for us.
We enjoyed the nice river nature scenes as well.
My husband can’t just ignore a Tarzan rope when he finds one. He has to try it! :
Hello, girls! :
There’s a place on the river where we can have some crabs! They’re not filling, but nicely arranged, easy to eat and tasty!
Now going back to the ocean.
I imagine it’s hard to manage a restaurant like this. You have to bring everything over the water, drinks, gas, food, water…
It’s so windy too as it is located in the middle of the ocean.
We can have drinks here and also order some meals. They have a small section for souvenirs. We bought a redwood carving of dolphins.
This is a lobster dish. Shared with my hubby. It went so quickly! Very delicious.
It was a very enjoyable time.
Had fish & chips at the guesthouse for dinner.
Jamaica 7 – Treasure Beach 3
Dec 23 (Sun) – 28 (Fri), 2012
25th: Christmas Day.
This morning we chatted over breakfast with the Spanish couple for a long time. It was already past 11 am when we finally noticed the time. They were here with their rent-a-car (wow, they drove on the terrible Jamaican roads!). They were going to Great Bay Beach, so we got a ride there. Thank you!
Lionfish:
Lobster:
We walked up a hill near the shore:
We enjoyed the hot weather in the water as well. Late at night, I noticed that I had left my necklace there! Damn!! I bought it in Negril. Too bad…
Lobster:
Lionfish:
When I see this page, lionfish are not sold in markets (at least in Japan). It’s a beautiful fish, when you image-search it, and a popular fish among divers to look at. The notes say it’s not very tasty. I think I had this for the first time, but it was tasty and I liked it as much as lobster! Lionfish was cheaper.
We went to a cafe and then went to another beach.
We were both lying down and reading. Without noticing it, the tide had risen and David’s towel got badly wet!
Dinner at Jerk again.
This night, we just had veggies with potatoes.
We were told that the local community was having a Christmas event at the church, so we dropped by.
No decorations, just a very simple church. It was undergoing renovations and being enlarged. We didn’t even see a cross.
There was a lot of singing. When the kids sang, the adults gave small bills to them. David followed their custom. The money was collected later and the total amount of the donation was announced at the end.
We usually spend Christmas in another country traveling. It’s a valuable experience.
Jamaica 6 – Treasure Beach 2
Dec 23 (Sun) – 28 (Fri), 2012
We stayed at Nuestra Casa in Treasure Beach for 6 nights.
They served breakfast and each day we had a different one. A lot of variety: Jamaican and Western! I liked them all.
Every day, we got nice portion of really fresh fruits. So energizing.
This leaf veggie is called callaloo. I think I had this for the first time. This one was mixed with salted pieces of fish. It seems to go well with a lot of things like rice or omelettes. I like to eat a lot of veggies. It’s going to be my regular order at restaurants in Jamaica, I think.
Another day, we got served poached eggs:
Another day, scrambled eggs with beans:
With the owner, Roger, and our Spanish friends, X and S.
Another day, Ackee and a young banana (they are not sweet! They are like potatoes):
Usually baked sweet banana and avocado came with the dish and sweet potatoes were often there too. Quite filling and healthy.
This guesthouse has a nice rooftop with some nice shade. We spent time there and on the beach as well.
We had dinner at Roger’s. This is pumpkin soup.
The staff was digging the pumpkin this afternoon. They made it from scratch.
We really loved this tasty thick soup!
Lobster, mashed potato and beans:
Thank you for making the table romantic!
24th was the Christmas Eve.
We took it easy this day as well.
We had dinner at Jerk again. The chef was there and cooked meals for us. Swordfish and shrimp dish:
Dessert was baked banana with ice cream. Yummy!
Jamaica 5 – Treasure Beach 1
From Montego Bay to Treasure Beach Dec 22 (Sat, 2012)
Bye bye Montego Bay!
Now we are moving from Montego Bay to Treasure Beach.
We paid for a pick-up from the next hotel. One way takes about 2 and a half hours.
We were imagining that a Jamaican driver would come to pick us up, but the hotel owner, Roger (a Brit), came for us.
We chatted a lot and he told us interesting stories, tips and info. That was great.
The road condition got worse. The roads are asphalt, but they have a lot of holes. You have to be paying attention all the time, otherwise it could lead us to have some accidents or punctured tires. The government takes a lot of tax from people but no improvements on daily infrastructure.
Roger asked us if we wanted to go and visit Peter Tosh‘s grave and his home. My husband wanted to very much, so he got really excited! Roger said he’s never seen a guest who got that excited. That was lucky for David!
David has been playing Peter Tosh’s music on the car often around that time, so I was getting familiar with his music also. He was in the band, The Wailers with Bob Marley and other members. If Bob is a figure like Paul McCartney, Peter is a figure like John Lennon. Roger and David agree with the idea and that definition gives me a good idea about them! Peter used to be called Stepping Razor. He was short tempered but had direct political messages in his songs.
Peter Tosh: Equal Rights:
This page has the song’s lyrics and its Japanese translation with notes. It’s great!
I don’t want no peace.
That sounds a bit shocking, but when it’s explained, it’s really understandable. If you don’t fight for equal rights and justice, there is no peace to begin with.
From Montego Bay to Treasure Beach, if you go via a town called Savanna la Mar, you’ll find his grave and home where his 96-year-old mum still lives. It’s there along the seashore. We were able to see her and took some photos with her.
There is no fixed rate, but a donation would be required.
Getting there, but the roads are getting worse as well.
The name of the guest house is Nuestra Casa (Spanish “Our House”). People call it Roger’s place.
Dogs are so cute. A father and a daughter.
The house was designed by Roger. Wow! He and his mother also live here. It catches the nice breeze from the ocean and it’s really nice.
He, himself, was teaching drama before. Now he is managing this guest house. After Lonely Planet listed this place as a recommended one, it seems to be keeping him very busy.
We hadn’t had lunch yet, so we asked for it, and had an easy afternoon this day.
The beach in front looks like this:
We walked and spent some time here and then went to an early dinner @ Jerk.
Jerk is the best restaurant around here, Roger said. You can have 5-star meals with the 2-star prices. The chef here usually is usually cooking in Cape Cod in the US (that’s where we were 5 months before and had great seafood there!) comes back to his hometown and cooks here.
We were there a bit too early, I guess, and he wasn’t cooking at this moment. A staff cooked for us. The dish was tasty, but the fish was a little too hard. I know this swordfish is quite hard, but it wasn’t too great.
* I didn’t know this, but after we came back from this trip, my doctor said I should avoid eating this fish as it contains a high-level of mercury. I also checked on the web later and the Japanese gov also warns not to eat more than twice a week. If pregnant, we should avoid it as much as we can…. Oh no! I had this fish twice in 3 days…
Back in the guesthouse, David asked for coffee and I asked for Christmas cake & ice cream. I think I haven’t had ice cream for a year or more. I can not remember the last time when I ate it. Even in the hot New York City last summer, I don’t think I ate it even once! I didn’t realize that. Wow. I don’t hate it, but we just don’t eat it at home. I don’t eat parfaits and sundaes any more since I don’t know when.. I guess I have no more interest in them. I’m getting old and tastes are changing, I guess. I still love cakes and sweets though.
The cake is home-made and Jamaican style. At a glance, it looks like a chocolate cake, but it is a fruit cake. It was yummy!
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