I had the opportunity to fly over Jamaica on a local plane and I was taken by the amount of forestation throughout the Island. It was like a Jungle down there through remote areas. I thought it would be interesting to get down and explore, if the opportunity arose.
So the next time we went to Jamaica I decided to get off the normal tourist tourist routes. A cheeky you lad, how we met on a previous trip said that his dad would take be for a tour. He said he was a 'rasta' and I would give me a interesting tour. So off I was on my 1st Jamaican Jungle tour.
When we did head off I didn't know what to expect, or how long I would be away. Was it a walk or a drive ? I didn't know and what the hell was I really doing following this guy. Walk it turned out to be - and a much longer one than I expected and to be honest I was really unprepared. Who walks into the Jungle in shorts - I was itching for weeks. I had several cameras but not adequate batteries or memory and really I did not know if there was going to be anything to video or photograph.
It was the end of a hot day and the guide insisted that I get a free drink from the all 'inclusive' bar for our journey. The two of us wandered down this muddy 'toxic looking' path - ruined my shoes. We came across a local bar and stopped for a while. A lot of patwa was spoken and much as it was all very cool, I was feeling a little out of place and was pleased to get moving again. My guide turned out to be a really interesting man and we had long slow talks throughout the trip - relating our experiences to each other and some how I understood most of what he said. We were both in our 40's and looked at the world from a philosophical perspective.
We went to where my guide lived. I couldn't believe the place. We went to his place over cobbled pathways which risen and twisted dramatically around the dirt that surrounded them. The pathways led up to individual wooden huts. The cobbles must have been bending for hundreds of years. The guide went to his hut and briefly went inside - It was like a very small garden shed and this was home?
It was a long walk and just before entering the jungle proper, we met up with the guide's son who accompanied us. The Jungle noises were deafening, insects everywhere but eventually it was worth the trip. There was no battery left in my video camera but luckily there was enough memory on my still camera to shoot a small video of the weed field at the end.
You can see the result on my Jamaican Jungle movie on Youtube.
At the end of the trip I went back in darkness to the guides hut - he boiled up a herb tea on an open fire - from some of the herbs we found on the journey. In the darkness drinking the tea outside his hut it felt great - but I was exhausted, itching and had to get on a plane back home in 12 hours. I planned to be better prepared for Jamaican Jungle 2 - a couple of years later.
