Thursday, 4 February 2010
Monday, 1 February 2010
Montego Bay, Jamaica. Narrative
1st February
Montego Bay (or Mo Bay as known by the locals) is Jamaica’s second city and has been a mecca for tourists since the 1920’s. Jamaica lies south of Cuba and west of Hispaniola and forms part of the Greater Antilles group and is the third largest island in the Caribbean. With its three counties of Cornwall in the west, Middlesex in the centre and Surrey in the east, the island covers an area about three times the size of Kent in England. It measures 159 miles from east to west and from twenty to fifty miles for north to south with a population of nearly two and a half million.
Located on the south coast, Kingston, the capital, has a population of half a million and is the centre of political and artistic life. The highest point is in the Blue Mountains (do you know the Blue Mountain coffee?) to the east, nearly 7.500 feet, where it is much wetter and cooler than on the 200 miles of Jamaica’s beaches. Ocho Rios, the most popular port of call for cruise ships, lies almost in the centre of the north coast and Montego Bay, up the North West corner is a close second.
Full independence within the Commonwealth was achieved in 1962, after Jamaica had been a British colony for more than 300 years. Now, although life is not always peaceful and was terribly disrupted by Hurricane Gilbert in 1988, at least the Jamaicans have their own land to themselves.
But who are the Jamaicans? “Out of Many, One People” is the national motto, and the ethnic mix of European, East Indian, African, Chinese and Arabic peoples has turned out to be surprisingly harmonious.
Jamaica is the world’s third largest producer of bauxite, the raw material which is smelted into aluminium. It also produces, sandstone and limestone, marble and alabaster, as well as sugar cane, bananas, pimentos, coffee, cocoa, tobacco and rum. Tourism ranks as the second foreign exchange earner.
From December to April, the most popular time to visit the island, the temperature ranges between 75 and 85 degrees. Rainfall averages nearly eighty inches annually. Late spring and autumn are the wettest periods and the hurricane season is late summer. But there’s always plenty of sunshine.
Over a thousand species of tree grow on the island. There are more than 600 varieties of fern (please note John) and 200 species of orchid, 73 of which are unique to Jamaica. Botanist have recorded almost 3000 varieties of flowering plant. Wild animals are practically non-existent, there are a few snakes and they are harmless. Bats and lizards are common and birds and butterflies are particularly varied and colourful.
Today was a lazy day as we had not pre-booked any excursions. So after a leisurely breakfast in the restaurant we made our way to the cruise terminal where we were hit by temperatures of 30 degrees (very hot), and boarded a shuttle transit bus into town. As soon as we left the port, the driver of the bus tried to promote an extended tour around town at $20 per head against $5 for the trip to town. Eventually we persuaded the driver that we wanted just to be dropped at Doctors Cave, a beach in the middle of town. He reluctantly agreed and a few people got off the coach with us and he drove off with the remaining passengers on the $20 tour.
Unfortunately today is a Sunday and being a religious island the main downtown shopping area was closed (Geoff said three cheers). However there were many small boutique type shops in the beach area, which were open and actively touting for business. We wandered the shops for about an hour, comparing prices of tee shirts, coffee, etc, without making any purchases. Geoffrey, by now was gasping for a drink and spotted a small bar, where we retreated to have our first Red Stripe of the day. Lo and behold, there was also a television screen in this bar broadcasting the live game of Arsenal v Manchester United. We did not have time to see the whole game but saw two cracking goals by Man United.
We returned to the first shop we had entered where Doreen further negotiated with the owner and purchased a few items. After which we walked down the road to an Irish pub called The Twisted Kilt and sat at a table with the most fantastic views of the beautiful beach (various shades of turquoise blue) for our second Red Stripe and flatbread (Doreen had a Chicken Jerk and Geoffrey a Pepperoni and Mozarella flatbread – both were delicious). We stayed for over an hour before we wandered down the road to the Margaritaville Bar, apparently a well known bar, we must check on the internet when we get home. After negotiating with the many taxi drivers vying for our business we returned to the ship.
The Montego Bay that we saw seemed rather tired and in need of modernization and we cannot say that we have seen the real Jamaica. However, the people we met were friendly, very laid back and helpful. Possibly worth visiting again sometime in the future……… Nonetheless a great day.
Montego Bay (or Mo Bay as known by the locals) is Jamaica’s second city and has been a mecca for tourists since the 1920’s. Jamaica lies south of Cuba and west of Hispaniola and forms part of the Greater Antilles group and is the third largest island in the Caribbean. With its three counties of Cornwall in the west, Middlesex in the centre and Surrey in the east, the island covers an area about three times the size of Kent in England. It measures 159 miles from east to west and from twenty to fifty miles for north to south with a population of nearly two and a half million.
Located on the south coast, Kingston, the capital, has a population of half a million and is the centre of political and artistic life. The highest point is in the Blue Mountains (do you know the Blue Mountain coffee?) to the east, nearly 7.500 feet, where it is much wetter and cooler than on the 200 miles of Jamaica’s beaches. Ocho Rios, the most popular port of call for cruise ships, lies almost in the centre of the north coast and Montego Bay, up the North West corner is a close second.
Full independence within the Commonwealth was achieved in 1962, after Jamaica had been a British colony for more than 300 years. Now, although life is not always peaceful and was terribly disrupted by Hurricane Gilbert in 1988, at least the Jamaicans have their own land to themselves.
But who are the Jamaicans? “Out of Many, One People” is the national motto, and the ethnic mix of European, East Indian, African, Chinese and Arabic peoples has turned out to be surprisingly harmonious.
Jamaica is the world’s third largest producer of bauxite, the raw material which is smelted into aluminium. It also produces, sandstone and limestone, marble and alabaster, as well as sugar cane, bananas, pimentos, coffee, cocoa, tobacco and rum. Tourism ranks as the second foreign exchange earner.
From December to April, the most popular time to visit the island, the temperature ranges between 75 and 85 degrees. Rainfall averages nearly eighty inches annually. Late spring and autumn are the wettest periods and the hurricane season is late summer. But there’s always plenty of sunshine.
Over a thousand species of tree grow on the island. There are more than 600 varieties of fern (please note John) and 200 species of orchid, 73 of which are unique to Jamaica. Botanist have recorded almost 3000 varieties of flowering plant. Wild animals are practically non-existent, there are a few snakes and they are harmless. Bats and lizards are common and birds and butterflies are particularly varied and colourful.
Today was a lazy day as we had not pre-booked any excursions. So after a leisurely breakfast in the restaurant we made our way to the cruise terminal where we were hit by temperatures of 30 degrees (very hot), and boarded a shuttle transit bus into town. As soon as we left the port, the driver of the bus tried to promote an extended tour around town at $20 per head against $5 for the trip to town. Eventually we persuaded the driver that we wanted just to be dropped at Doctors Cave, a beach in the middle of town. He reluctantly agreed and a few people got off the coach with us and he drove off with the remaining passengers on the $20 tour.
Unfortunately today is a Sunday and being a religious island the main downtown shopping area was closed (Geoff said three cheers). However there were many small boutique type shops in the beach area, which were open and actively touting for business. We wandered the shops for about an hour, comparing prices of tee shirts, coffee, etc, without making any purchases. Geoffrey, by now was gasping for a drink and spotted a small bar, where we retreated to have our first Red Stripe of the day. Lo and behold, there was also a television screen in this bar broadcasting the live game of Arsenal v Manchester United. We did not have time to see the whole game but saw two cracking goals by Man United.
We returned to the first shop we had entered where Doreen further negotiated with the owner and purchased a few items. After which we walked down the road to an Irish pub called The Twisted Kilt and sat at a table with the most fantastic views of the beautiful beach (various shades of turquoise blue) for our second Red Stripe and flatbread (Doreen had a Chicken Jerk and Geoffrey a Pepperoni and Mozarella flatbread – both were delicious). We stayed for over an hour before we wandered down the road to the Margaritaville Bar, apparently a well known bar, we must check on the internet when we get home. After negotiating with the many taxi drivers vying for our business we returned to the ship.
The Montego Bay that we saw seemed rather tired and in need of modernization and we cannot say that we have seen the real Jamaica. However, the people we met were friendly, very laid back and helpful. Possibly worth visiting again sometime in the future……… Nonetheless a great day.
Saturday, 30 January 2010
Cozumel, Mexico
29th January
Today our port is Cozumel, the world’s most popular cruise port. Cozumel is just a small island off Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsular. It has a vibrant, pulsating Latin heart, everywhere is all action and activity from the music-playing downtown bars and cafes and shops. Cozumel is situated in the Caribbean Sea and is Mexico’s largest island at 33 miles long and 9 miles wide, with about 50,000 inhabitants.
Mexico is known for the Aztecs, but it was the Mayas who lived on Cozumel from about 300 AD. On 1st May 1518, Juan de Grijalva and the first Spaniards arrived: life for the 40,000 Mayas was never the same again. A year later, Hernan Cortes put in a brief appearance, ordered the destruction of many temples and left two missionaries to convert the Indians. The usual massacres took place over the next few years and many of the Mayas returned to the mainland. Most of the rest succumbed to European diseases brought by the Spaniards and by 1600 Cozumel was abandoned.
During the 17th and 18th centuries Cozumel was only of interest to the pirates and smugglers. Things changed in the 19th century when Mayan refugees fled from the war of Castes and settled on Cozumel. During World War 2, the Americans built an airstrip (and destroyed a few Mayan temples in the process) and a few wealthy Mexicans began to live here. However, changes really only started after Jaqcques Cousteau filmed part of his famous underwater documentary off Cozumel. Tourism began in earnest, first only 20 years ago, with the keen divers and with the building of several hotels. The island is a port of call for some 500 cruise ships annually, and today there were seven, either berthed or anchored off shore, however P & O had secured the prime berth right next to the downtown shopping area.
There is only one town on the island – San Miguel de Cozumel, a town geared to tourism. It is a hive of activity, and the jewellery here is unbelievable.
Today we had a round trip of the island, first stopping at a museum called Mexico Park, a new building where we learnt of some of the history of Mexico.Here they had displays of Mexican art and a model village showing the ancient Mayan cities and pyramids constructed in 1000AD. From here we drove to El Cedral, the oldest settlement on the island, which was inhabited by the Mayans. The village, unfortunately, had turned into a tourist hotspot with market stalls, etc., but did have a very nice Catholic church around the corner. This made the visit worthwhile.
From here we crossed the narrow island to the north east coast viewing the untouched coastline with beautiful panoramic views. We stopped at El Mirador to view the natural limestone formation and the white coral beaches at close quarters. All too soon we were on the move again to stop at a tequila distillery, where we learnt how tequila was made from the blue Agave, and here we were able to sample various forms of tequila. We all returned to our coach slightly merrier for the journey back to San Miguel de Cozumel, where we chose to be dropped off in the old town area and walk back to the terminal via many shops. These shops were crowded with all the cruise ships in town, especially the Americans. Bargaining was the order of the day, where typically the initial asking price was high and after a few minutes bargaining could be reduced by up to 80% (for example Doreen purchased a small hand painted plate which started at $60, then it went to $50, $40, $30, $20 – I then told the guy I wouldn’t pay more than $10 for it and the guy said OK – but did I pay too much, who knows).
After two hours wandering the shops we returned exhausted to the ship for afternoon tea and a short rest before our evening dinner followed by two shows, the first a Beatles Tribute Group and second The Headliners Theatre Company with “fABBAulous” an ABBA tribute show. Yet another memorable day.
Tomorrow is a day at sea to prepare ourselves for Montego Bay, Jamaica on Sunday.
Today our port is Cozumel, the world’s most popular cruise port. Cozumel is just a small island off Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsular. It has a vibrant, pulsating Latin heart, everywhere is all action and activity from the music-playing downtown bars and cafes and shops. Cozumel is situated in the Caribbean Sea and is Mexico’s largest island at 33 miles long and 9 miles wide, with about 50,000 inhabitants.
Mexico is known for the Aztecs, but it was the Mayas who lived on Cozumel from about 300 AD. On 1st May 1518, Juan de Grijalva and the first Spaniards arrived: life for the 40,000 Mayas was never the same again. A year later, Hernan Cortes put in a brief appearance, ordered the destruction of many temples and left two missionaries to convert the Indians. The usual massacres took place over the next few years and many of the Mayas returned to the mainland. Most of the rest succumbed to European diseases brought by the Spaniards and by 1600 Cozumel was abandoned.
During the 17th and 18th centuries Cozumel was only of interest to the pirates and smugglers. Things changed in the 19th century when Mayan refugees fled from the war of Castes and settled on Cozumel. During World War 2, the Americans built an airstrip (and destroyed a few Mayan temples in the process) and a few wealthy Mexicans began to live here. However, changes really only started after Jaqcques Cousteau filmed part of his famous underwater documentary off Cozumel. Tourism began in earnest, first only 20 years ago, with the keen divers and with the building of several hotels. The island is a port of call for some 500 cruise ships annually, and today there were seven, either berthed or anchored off shore, however P & O had secured the prime berth right next to the downtown shopping area.
There is only one town on the island – San Miguel de Cozumel, a town geared to tourism. It is a hive of activity, and the jewellery here is unbelievable.
Today we had a round trip of the island, first stopping at a museum called Mexico Park, a new building where we learnt of some of the history of Mexico.Here they had displays of Mexican art and a model village showing the ancient Mayan cities and pyramids constructed in 1000AD. From here we drove to El Cedral, the oldest settlement on the island, which was inhabited by the Mayans. The village, unfortunately, had turned into a tourist hotspot with market stalls, etc., but did have a very nice Catholic church around the corner. This made the visit worthwhile.
From here we crossed the narrow island to the north east coast viewing the untouched coastline with beautiful panoramic views. We stopped at El Mirador to view the natural limestone formation and the white coral beaches at close quarters. All too soon we were on the move again to stop at a tequila distillery, where we learnt how tequila was made from the blue Agave, and here we were able to sample various forms of tequila. We all returned to our coach slightly merrier for the journey back to San Miguel de Cozumel, where we chose to be dropped off in the old town area and walk back to the terminal via many shops. These shops were crowded with all the cruise ships in town, especially the Americans. Bargaining was the order of the day, where typically the initial asking price was high and after a few minutes bargaining could be reduced by up to 80% (for example Doreen purchased a small hand painted plate which started at $60, then it went to $50, $40, $30, $20 – I then told the guy I wouldn’t pay more than $10 for it and the guy said OK – but did I pay too much, who knows).
After two hours wandering the shops we returned exhausted to the ship for afternoon tea and a short rest before our evening dinner followed by two shows, the first a Beatles Tribute Group and second The Headliners Theatre Company with “fABBAulous” an ABBA tribute show. Yet another memorable day.
Tomorrow is a day at sea to prepare ourselves for Montego Bay, Jamaica on Sunday.
Thursday, 28 January 2010
Santo Thomas de Castilla, Guatemala Narrative
27th January
Today our port was Santo Tomas de Castilla, which is a major port on northeastern Guatemala.
The Maya people lived in southern Mexico, northern Belize and Guatemala as early as 1500 BC and began building magnificent cities. However, the Maya people declined very rapidly and were already a spent force by the time the Spaniards conquered the region in the early 16th century (1524). Antigua was the capital city of Guatemala until it was virtually destroyed by an earthquake in 1773. Guatemala City then became the new capital.
From 1839 to 1997 Guatemala had more than its fair share of coups, human atrocities, revolutions, brutal military rule, and powerful and corrupt dictators. The wealthy aristocracy became more powerful and influential; the downtrodden Maya suffered particularly badly.
Attempts were made in the early 1950s by more liberal and benevolent leaders to improve the lot of the ordinary people, including land reforms and providing some form of education for the masses. However, such revolutionary ideas, at least in the eyes of many rich and powerful people, were not acceptable and were abandoned. The situation in the country went from bad to worse; military-led governments did little for the people and guerrilla groups created a campaign of terror and violence. By 1960 civil war raged between military governments, right-wing death squads, vigilante groups and leftist rebels. As a result, many thousand of innocent people were killed and murdered.
Finally, in December 1996, a peace treaty was signed by the government and the warring factions, including the National Revolutionary Unit. Hopefully the people of Guatemala will benefit from the changes to the economy and the electoral system. Corruption and high crime rates remain a serious problem and marked contrasts still exist between the powerful landowners and the Maya Indians of the mountains.
Fewer than 14 million people live in the mainly mountainous country of Guatemala (42,042 square miles), which is slightly smaller than England. Guatemala is bordered on the north and west by Mexico, on the northeast by Belize and on the southeast by Honduras and El Salvador. It has coastlines on the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. Coffee, sugar and bananas are the main exports.
Today’s excursion entitled Castle and Countryside did not indicate the thrilling day we were in for. Although the first 1.1/2 hours coach trip through the lush tropical vegetation was interesting, the real excursion started when we arrived at Lago de Izabal. Lago de Izabal (228 square miles) is the largest lake in Guatemala, fed by the Rio Dulce. Here we decamped the coach and boarded our new transport for the next two hours, being a lightweight fibre glass boat powered by huge Yamaha outboard motor. Each boat holding about 18 people. We left the quayside and sped at great speed to our first destination Castillo de San Felipe, a small fortification on the side of the lake in scenic surroundings. After a short stay we again boarded our boat and sped back up the lake under the Rio Dulce Bridge to a small island, where we saw the nesting ground for cormorants and white egrets, populated in their hundreds. We then travelled further down the Rio Dulce River past luxury property and yachts to a shore side hotel, where we disembarked and received some light refreshments. Whilst Doreen explored the few market stalls Geoffrey explored the hotel area, which consisted of thirty five riverside chalets all air conditioned and with their own berth. A very nice location for a holiday. Doreen, in the meantime was negotiating hard with the local crafts people, where they were weaving beautiful tapestries. All too soon we were on the move again for another thrilling ride on our boat back to our coach for 1.1/2 hour trip back to our ship.
Apart from the 1.1/2 hour coach trip each way this turned out to be an exciting excursion. Even Doreen enjoyed the thrill and speed of the boats as they raced each other down the lake. Continuing Doreen’s fixation on snakes we found out there were some 200 different types of snake, many of them venomous and one with a French sounding name even feared by the local population.
Tomorrow we go to Roatan.
Today our port was Santo Tomas de Castilla, which is a major port on northeastern Guatemala.
The Maya people lived in southern Mexico, northern Belize and Guatemala as early as 1500 BC and began building magnificent cities. However, the Maya people declined very rapidly and were already a spent force by the time the Spaniards conquered the region in the early 16th century (1524). Antigua was the capital city of Guatemala until it was virtually destroyed by an earthquake in 1773. Guatemala City then became the new capital.
From 1839 to 1997 Guatemala had more than its fair share of coups, human atrocities, revolutions, brutal military rule, and powerful and corrupt dictators. The wealthy aristocracy became more powerful and influential; the downtrodden Maya suffered particularly badly.
Attempts were made in the early 1950s by more liberal and benevolent leaders to improve the lot of the ordinary people, including land reforms and providing some form of education for the masses. However, such revolutionary ideas, at least in the eyes of many rich and powerful people, were not acceptable and were abandoned. The situation in the country went from bad to worse; military-led governments did little for the people and guerrilla groups created a campaign of terror and violence. By 1960 civil war raged between military governments, right-wing death squads, vigilante groups and leftist rebels. As a result, many thousand of innocent people were killed and murdered.
Finally, in December 1996, a peace treaty was signed by the government and the warring factions, including the National Revolutionary Unit. Hopefully the people of Guatemala will benefit from the changes to the economy and the electoral system. Corruption and high crime rates remain a serious problem and marked contrasts still exist between the powerful landowners and the Maya Indians of the mountains.
Fewer than 14 million people live in the mainly mountainous country of Guatemala (42,042 square miles), which is slightly smaller than England. Guatemala is bordered on the north and west by Mexico, on the northeast by Belize and on the southeast by Honduras and El Salvador. It has coastlines on the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. Coffee, sugar and bananas are the main exports.
Today’s excursion entitled Castle and Countryside did not indicate the thrilling day we were in for. Although the first 1.1/2 hours coach trip through the lush tropical vegetation was interesting, the real excursion started when we arrived at Lago de Izabal. Lago de Izabal (228 square miles) is the largest lake in Guatemala, fed by the Rio Dulce. Here we decamped the coach and boarded our new transport for the next two hours, being a lightweight fibre glass boat powered by huge Yamaha outboard motor. Each boat holding about 18 people. We left the quayside and sped at great speed to our first destination Castillo de San Felipe, a small fortification on the side of the lake in scenic surroundings. After a short stay we again boarded our boat and sped back up the lake under the Rio Dulce Bridge to a small island, where we saw the nesting ground for cormorants and white egrets, populated in their hundreds. We then travelled further down the Rio Dulce River past luxury property and yachts to a shore side hotel, where we disembarked and received some light refreshments. Whilst Doreen explored the few market stalls Geoffrey explored the hotel area, which consisted of thirty five riverside chalets all air conditioned and with their own berth. A very nice location for a holiday. Doreen, in the meantime was negotiating hard with the local crafts people, where they were weaving beautiful tapestries. All too soon we were on the move again for another thrilling ride on our boat back to our coach for 1.1/2 hour trip back to our ship.
Apart from the 1.1/2 hour coach trip each way this turned out to be an exciting excursion. Even Doreen enjoyed the thrill and speed of the boats as they raced each other down the lake. Continuing Doreen’s fixation on snakes we found out there were some 200 different types of snake, many of them venomous and one with a French sounding name even feared by the local population.
Tomorrow we go to Roatan.
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