Arizona...no! Southwest Jamaica

We just returned from the aptly named, Treasure Beach. What a wonderful find for anyone with modest means. Unsullied by commercialism and tourists, this place in the southwest corner of Jamaica is really something to “treasure”. It has a climate and vegetation unique from the rest of the island, hot and arid. Rainfall is low because the Santa Cruz Mountains to the north and east block most of it from reaching the area. There are loads of cacti varieties and relatively little vegetation compared to the rest of the island. Even though it’s hot, there is a constant cooling breeze from the time the sun dawns at about 6 AM until it sets at 7 PM.

We spent 4th of July weekend there to gather with our fellow volunteers for a one year anniversary celebration for those of us who have survived thus far. From the original 52 who arrived with us a year ago (July 3rd) only 63% are left; 33 hardy souls remain.

But, back to Treasure Beach and its wonders: Peace and quiet; no loud music or barking dogs, day or night. Just a few healthy looking dogs wandering the streets, but, like the sheep of Wales; goats wander freely about the community. They all seem to be tagged and owned by someone and each one appears to know to which herd it belongs and where they collectively coalesce. No beggars. No sexual harassment or innuendos. In 48 hours we were only greeted with friendly ‘hellos’, ‘good mornings’, and the Jamaican “good evening” which is ‘good night’. Relatively little litter, probably not more than we see in America. The highlight of Saturday morning was a six mile walk where only three vehicles passed us. One was a small pick-up truck carrying large fishing pots out to the beach (see pix). The walk took us down a peaceful winding road that was above the Caribbean Sea all the way until it gradually made its way down to the sea…as we walked west the sea was on our left; to our right the land rose fairly dramatically with limestone outcroppings all along the way. Great restaurants with affordable prices; we ate at Jakes, probably the most well known, where the tail of a two pound lobster cost $15. Very private beaches and [it seems] beautiful beach front and ocean view properties still available.

All in all it was the first locale in JM (that really looks like Jamaica – and not a US resort) that we both agreed we’d like to go back to. It allows the visitor to simply relax as if they we’re visiting a private island, but at an affordable price. The cost of a round trip flight from NYC to Montego Bay is now $250 and with bus and taxi fares visitors can get to Treasure Beach for under $1,000 JM/person [~$12]. At the lovely guest house where we stayed it was $60 US/night and included an ocean view, a few rides to area locales, king sized bed in a large room, delicious English breakfasts [the gracious owner, Roger, is from the UK] with a Jamaican touch, internet service, and enough DVD’s to keep you entertained for months.

On another front Margaret was in Montego Bay two weeks ago for three days of training on “exclusive breast feeding”. The Jamaican Ministry of Health has made it a priority to get every mother to exclusively breast feed for the first 6 months and to continue breast feeding with complimentary feedings until at least age 2. Their purpose is to improve the health of both mother and child and reduce the ‘Nestle Impact’ which will also save precious $$$. It was three days of intense training with 38 very motivated and knowledgeable health professionals. These people will become the trainers of trainers throughout the island.

On the second morning Margaret went for a run at 5:30, tripped on one of the frequent rough spots in the sidewalks [she’d just picked up her pace in a modest attempt to challenge herself for the impending National Seniors Sports Day Championships], fell with her hands missing the street edge of the sidewalk where she was located, landing face first on the curb edge and rolling into the street. She hit the curb’s corner edge on a diagonal across her face from the right eye to the middle of her mouth. She broke her upper right front tooth, it passed through her lip, she had a knot the size of a golf ball above her right eye and lots of blood. But otherwise she was fine.

The Peace Corps sent her to a private hospital where she got standard American treatment in the emergency room AND THEN she went to a dentist office near the hospital for further care. That was an unbelievable experience! The dentist, John Gordon, had all the highest-end technology. Within minutes of entering the dental chair the doctor took an x-ray with a hand held camera; it appeared instantly on an adjacent computer screen and showed the clear break above the gum line of the twisted tooth. He told her what he could do in the long and short term which would involve seven long 5-6 hour one-way trips to Montego over 6 months in order to replace the tooth with an implant because the break was too high up for him to do a root canal and crown. Then he emailed the x-ray to “the Caribbean Endodontist”, Dr. Shasha Nallapati in Kingston. Three minutes later they were discussing the options over the phone and Nallapati said he’d have no problem doing the crown on a root so short. They decided to push the tooth back in place and splint the tooth using a thin wire [looks like a retainer] and clear laminate to hold tooth in place. The wire and laminate are now placed over the front four teeth until she heals and meets with Nallapati on July 7.

The story gets even better after that. Gordon then sewed up her lip with 8 stitches on the inside and one on the outside. He lasered the outer stitch and all the severely abrased areas on her face. He told her not to expect any scarring. Not only are there no scars, some of her wrinkles and age spots are gone [of course on only one side of her face]. One Peace Corps Volunteer who saw her two days after the accident and then at Treasure Beach a week later said she wants to start doing whatever Margaret is doing to heal so fast.

As a close to this saga, on our way to Treasure Beach Friday, Dr. Gordon called to see how she was doing. Never has a dentist done that for either of us in the USA. As a further example of how caring Jamaican’s are, each of the 37 other conference attendees [who had never met her before], at some point in the remaining day and half [she made it back for the afternoon session that day], made it a point to check on her and let her know how concerned they were about her. So, for a while she looked like a domestic abuse victim [when Gary first saw her the next day his first words were “you look horrible”-in JM they call it Mashed Up]; but with great treatment and lots of ice she’s nearly back to normal.

Wak Gud, Margaret & Gary