Our first weekend away from Chapelton!

We finally decided, at the urging of our Safety and Security Coordinator, that we would take a weekend off and start to explore Jamaica outside our work and home site. We checked the Lonely Planet Jamaica and decided to travel to Falmouth which is located about 18 miles east of Montego Bay and about 60 miles from our apartment in Chapelton. Found a small hotel that was close to rafting and not too far from Rose Hall Mansion and a couple golf courses. We ventured out and planned to meet our roommates from training (Matt and Karen Towne) early Friday evening. We headed to downtown Chapelton around 2: 45 and arrived at 3:10. The place was teeming with school children who were waiting to go home via the taxis and mini-buses…the same form of transportation we use. There do not appear to be school buses in Jamaica…as we know it in the states. Finally, after standing around for about 25 minutes jockeying for a spot we got on a mini-bus at 3:35 [capacity 15- # of riders 23]. The adventure began while we headed straight north; our first stop to change to a taxi was Trout Hall 8 miles north on probably the worst road we’ve ever traveled. We were in the standard Toyota Corolla taxi with four passengers in the front and four in the back. Yep, you read it right, four in the front, two in the passenger seat and two in the driver’s seat! The driver had to reach over the female passenger’s leg to shift. Eight miles should take the “Grand Prix” taxi drivers about 10-15 minutes on these roads….but not the 8 miles to Trout Hall…it took over 30 minutes…the driver could not get up enough speed because of the huge potholes and the weight in the car. Next stop, Cave Valley, another 8 miles or so which was equally as slow not only because of the road (which was not quite as pot-holed as the previous leg) but because we were heading over the peak of the Bull Head Mountains…with a lot of hair pin turns and close to the road cliffs (not a guard rail to be seen); however that did not seem to phase the driver who was driving between 35-45 miles an hour on these treacherous roads…only about 5 feet from the taxi in front of him. We were starting to squirm. At Cave Valley we jumped into another taxi that would take us about 16 miles to Brownstown. The road started to get better, NOT GOOD, just improved. Traffic was heavy (Friday night get-a-way?) so the driver had to drive slower than the previous Mr. Andretti - wannabe! At Brownstown we boarded an SUV taxi…with relatively more space but still cramped, and headed for Discovery Bay and our first view of the North coast and the Caribbean. The roads changed significantly…no potholes, wide (not eight lanes) but wide and not nearly as busy as the narrow mountain roads. At Discovery Bay we boarded a taxi that ate up the next 20 miles of road in about 13-15 minutes…at least we were on good roads and there were only three of us in the car versus the usual 7-8. We arrived at our destination (Fisherman’s Inn at Glistening Waters), 3 km east of Falmouth at 6 pm…met our friends at poolside (they had left their home site three hours earlier than we had), and I immediately consumed a scotch on the rocks…whew! We had dinner, more drinks and then a relatively early retirement…10 pm seemed like midnight compared to our usual lights out routine around 9 pm.

At breakfast on Saturday morning we made plans to take a 90 minute raft trip, called the number(s) listed in the Lonely Planet…but were unable to reach anyone. Plan B had us travel west toward MoBay past, Falmouth to Rose Hall where we took in the guided tour of the Great House Mansion, located on a former 6000 acre sugar cane plantation which was built starting in the 1750’s and completed in the 1770’s. Slaves destroyed the house in the 1831 Christmas Rebellion (for good reason I might add)…it was then left in ruins for the next century. In 1966 a couple from the US started and completed the restoration in 5 years. There is folklore, some true, some untrue about the young woman who was married to an early owner of the place, John Palmer, who supposedly practiced voo-doo…killed three husbands and then was herself killed by her slave lover. Anyway she was known as the “White Witch”….hence the name of one of the golf courses which is on part of the original 6,000 acres…White Witch Golf Course. I drooled for most of my time on the grounds…our time constraints and mixed company (not all golfers) overrode my desire to rent clubs and take off on a course where there were only three foursomes playing.

After flagging down a shuttle bus that was heading to the Ritz Carlton, a resort about a mile down the road from Rose Hall and partners in the whole track (hotel, golf, and mansion), we headed to the pool bar/restaurant for lunch. Up until the moment that we stepped into the Ritz, Margaret and I have mentioned that 99% of US visitors never see the Jamaica we’ve seen. Well….we left that Jamaica for about 2 hours during our visit to the golf course and Ritz for lunch. Felt like we had flown back to a US resort (including prices) and stepped out of our PC existence for a while.

On Sunday, after some morning pool time we packed up and headed back to Chapelton…the pace was somewhat less hectic [Margaret asked each driver if they tek taim? And each nodded affirmatively], the roads were still bad, and the frequency of taxis was less. But after 59 miles and four hours we arrived back safe and sound….oh and tired…because about 100 yards from our hotel on Saturday from about 5:30 pm until 4:30 am there was reggae, reggae, and more reggae that shook the doors (the base was so loud) to our room. The air conditioning, tv, and extra pillows were unable to squelch this “music.” We were told by the waiter on Saturday evening that they always have a party on the last Saturday of the month…Great!!! Just what we needed for our R & R.