Jamaica mon!

[kgd]

I'm just relaxing on my last night in Barbados before flying back to Canuckland tomorrow. Last week, I spent working in the University of West Indies - Mona chemistry department helping them get one of their new instruments running and a method for pollution analysis validated and set up. It was a pretty demanding week, mostly 10 h days in a lab. On Sat., my hosts did take me to the countryside on a drive and to see some of the falls off of Black River by the Appleton's Estate.

Opening shot - Blue Mountains off of Kingston Harbour, arriving from the airport.

A shot of the UWI-Mona campus from the chemistry building stairwell. Nice campus! I stayed at the visitor's lodge at the university which was quite a bit more enjoyable and safer than being in Kingston proper.

Yes - I am a geek!!!

Some cool herps

They call these fruit - Jamaican apples. You don't see them in North America. Apparently the fruit all over the island rippens within one week and then spoils after a few days. It is quite delicious, reminding me of a very ripe bartlet pare.

Another fruitstand we drove by. There are 100's of these little stands and jerk centers as you get out into the countryside.

This 1.5 mile stretch of road is known as the bamboo highway, as it is lined with bamboo trees.

Some of the bamboo leaves

A market area of one of the little towns we passed through

more coming...

 

[kgd]

A cools seafood/jerk centre we stopped by. This place specialized in river shrimp, which look exactly (and taste like) crayfish. The crayfish critters were lacking big claws though. The river shrimp was good. Unfortunately, I was so busy stuffing them in my mouth, I didn't take a picture of any.

Just some of the countryside houses. Notice the bright red soil. This is characteristic of the boxite rich soils that Jamaica mines for its aluminum content. The aluminum is then shipped to Canada or China for further smelting.

Some shots of the black river falls.

more coming....

 

[kgd]

Mid-afternoon thunderstorm forced us to wait it out in the canteena. I bided my time with some curried goat stew.

Last stop of the night was at a really cool seafood restaurant. You pick the fish you want out of a cooler from fish that were caught that day. Then tell them how you want it prepared - jerk, grilled, curry - and they bring it out to you. I had a jerked grouper and 1/2 lb of grilled conch. Oh I love conch!

 

[hector81]

very nice pictures!!
thanks for posting "mon"
can i ask you about the backpack that you're using in the pic in the waterfalls?

 

[stingray4540]

Awesome! Looks like a great trip, so jealous...

 

[seth]

hey i live in barbados !

what you call river shrimp, i think we call jumpers down here, a species of crayfish that do taste rather good.. we dont usually bother with catching them though, we go for the bigger (8-10 inch long at times) crayfish here.

how do you like those parrotfish? (last pic of the cooked fish in the plate) ive never developed the taste for them, even though i catch a lot of them, i usually just sell those. conch is one of my favorite things from the sea, right up there with octapus and lobster

 

[mneedham]

KGD,

Love that area. I worked on St. Croix for a while at a Bauxite refinery.. My colleague down there was a PhD. Botanist, we used to walk around the isle with a bottle of dark rum, me learning.. Good times!

 

[kgd]

can i ask you about the backpack that you're using in the pic in the waterfalls?

Hector - its a maxpedition falcon II pack. Awesome backpack. I will likely do a review on it in a couple weeks now that I have field tested it.

hey i live in barbados !

what you call river shrimp, i think we call jumpers down here, a species of crayfish that do taste rather good.. we dont usually bother with catching them though, we go for the bigger (8-10 inch long at times) crayfish here.

how do you like those parrotfish? (last pic of the cooked fish in the plate) ive never developed the taste for them, even though i catch a lot of them, i usually just sell those. conch is one of my favorite things from the sea, right up there with octapus and lobster

Very cool Seth. I'm hanging in Bridgetown at this very moment. I fly out tomorrow afternoon. Barbados has some really nice beaches. I ate two lobsters for dinner today. Can't complain about the lobster!

 

[HikingMano]

Always love your travels KGD :thumbup: That patch of red ginger growing next to the falls is beautiful. Not to mention that cooler full of fish .

 

[seth]

if i didnt have to work, id offer to show u some of the island, but im deadlining a job.

 

[cuphead]

ggreat pics... those waterfall pictures look heavenly.....

 

[bearthedog]

Great pics, wow. Thanks for sharing with us.

-RB

 

[hector81]

Hector - its a maxpedition falcon II pack. Awesome backpack. I will likely do a review on it in a couple weeks now that I have field tested it.

thanks for the info KGD, i just got myself a condor II and couldn't get some time off from work to test it in the field, those damn guitars don't get build by themselves. hahaha.
enjoy the rest of your time there man!

 

[koyote]

Where's my COFFEEE?????


Nice, wonderful looking pics there. That has to be a fun trip.

 

[koyote]

Where's my COFFEEE?????


Nice, wonderful looking pics there. That has to be a fun trip.

 

[pitdog]

Great pictures buddy, I wish I coulda been there !

For future reference though....shorts good,shorts with shoes and socks pulled up...not good !!!!!

Take care buddy, only yankin ya chain !!!!!!!

 

[fujita yuji]

So nice to look at these beautiful pictures.
Love the lizard spreading the throat and looking at camera lens proudly (doesn't he ?).

 

[kgd]

Great pictures buddy, I wish I coulda been there !

For future reference though....shorts good,shorts with shoes and socks pulled up...not good !!!!!

Take care buddy, only yankin ya chain !!!!!!!

Thanks Pit - ha I was raised to be a proud sock wearer. Not one to relish those little socklets that kids wear today that cutoff right at the shoe. Why boys today like wearing women's socks so much is beyond me. I suppose next generation of boys will be wearing pantyhose.....

Now if I would have been wearing black socks like that, I'd agree it'd be a bit awkward

Mneedham - very cool about St. Croix. I remember you saying you lived there before.

Koyote - I'm lugging a pound of blue mountain coffee with me right now. $30 US/pound - and worth every penny!

 

[hung-solo]

Thanks Pit - ha I was raised to be a proud sock wearer. Not one to relish those little socklets that kids wear today that cutoff right at the shoe. Why boys today like wearing women's socks so much is beyond me. I suppose next generation of boys will be wearing pantyhose.....

Now if I would have been wearing black socks like that, I'd agree it'd be a bit awkward

Mneedham - very cool about St. Croix. I remember you saying you lived there before.

Koyote - I'm lugging a pound of blue mountain coffee with me right now. $30 US/pound - and worth every penny!

great pics bud. my fiance and i are going there in december for our honeymoon. we had a great deal on it. wasnt my first choice but the price is right. i may need some tips on what to look for and what not. can you pm me your email address? also i figured you would be able to find the blue mtn coffee much cheaper there or did you really pay 30 USD for that pound of the very best coffee around? lol

 

[Billy516]

Thanks for the pics and you can really see from that first pic why they call them the Blue Mountains. I love Jamaica but haven't been there in quite a few years.