Archive for March, 2008
Damian Marley and brother Stephen Marley on stage at Smile Jamaica Africa Unite 2008 in Oracabessa jamaica on February 23, 2008
2:06 Minutes
Ziggy Marley performs True to Myself and Into the Groove at the 2008 Smile Jamaica Africa Unite Concert in Oracabessa Jamaica at James Bond Beach on February 23, 2008
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Ok, this is actually old news. I went to the Miss High Times 2008 contest on Negril Beach about two weeks back and I swore I posted the pictures the next day but after looking for them on the site it appears that blog post was lost somewhere in the deep dark internet. I can’t find it so I’m going to repost the pictures her with links to our Miss High Times photo gallery for you.
The contest was fun and it seems everyone enjoyed themselves. There were about a half dozen guys there with the High Times Staff on the official ganja tour of Negril that I met with and they all claimed to be having the times of their lives. Everyone was burning big fat spliffs and laughing it up at the bar for awhile after they crowned the 2008 winner and they all seemed to be having a great time. I did not hang out for much beyond meeting last years winner and conversing with her about how being the first winner was. They went to a ganja mountain and saw some small fields in production but it was a bit of a disappointment to some. I think some still have the idea that ganja grows in huge tall trees in large plantations here in Jamaica and many tourists do not even realize ganja is in fact illegal although tolerated to the point of it being decriminalized to a certain extent.
You can feel safe here in Negril with a small quantity in your pocket and know you wont be getting into any serious trouble if you get stopped with it. We have seen cops here in Jamaica ask tourists to put spliffs out who were caught blatantly smoking in public and I have also seen them stand with a group of rastas who were puffing like kings at a reggae show and never say a word to them. I was not even surprised that the event was held in the open at a bar on the beach and everyone was burning lovely with no cops or anyone around. You’re looking at a fine mos often and you might even be able to pay that directly to your arresting police officer and avoid a trip to the jail if don’t use the wrong words like bribe or payoff. Simply suggest you won’t be here long enough to deal with this thought he courts and if you could settle it beforehand you would be willing to do so. Let the officer take it from there and you may be asked for a small cash donation to the local police department. $20 or less will often do the trick but thats all based on how you handle yourself and you’re attitude towards the police who stop you. Do not be arrogant, do not act scared. Be sure and confident that you’re ok and you will be.
They did not advertise the Miss High Times event locally that I am aware of and I never saw any signs or notice anywhere. I found out about it online but much of the contest coincided with the Smile Jamaica concert so I missed most of the events including the talent show and swimsuit competition. I did get the chance to tell a buddy from the States about the show. My friend was here taking care of business for a few days and I told him High Times would be at For Real Beach for the Miss High Times contest. I told him the luck I have had here in Jamaica with people assuming I am a part of the event staff when I show up places with my camera and he went to the bar one night. He asked where so and so from High Times was and the bartender took him straight in. He hooked up with the crew and by the end of it all had himself a spot as a judge in the contests. He said it appeared to him that High Times was run by a handful of stoners who have been there for quite some time and its not as cool a job as it may seem. They do travel quite a lot and smoke the good buds but its still a job and they work pretty hard at it. Who wants to work hard even for High Times? Not me I prefer to work smart and for myself!
Official Miss High Times Online
I came to Jamaica with the idea I would buy a car or van to take the kids places and to see more of the island during our trip and I am so happy I bought our 6 passenger Nissan Vanette that I already want another one for tours and so I can keep this one for just personal use. It was a little more than I wanted to spend at the time but in the end it worked out perfectly for us. We have been able to tour the entire island and meet some great people while seeing some beautiful places because of that van and we’ll see even more of it in days to come. It drives like a dream with a super smooth ride and the door arrangement is perfect for us as a family or for use as a tour bus and taxi cab. We get lots of folks looking at us for rides when we drive around in it but I rarely take the risk of picking anyone up.
I was prepared for driving in Jamaica with my Florida drivers license and an International Driving Permit valid here in Jamaica and like 30 other countries I think. It was quite the trick learning to navigate the roads of Jamaica and I have discovered lots of new things while getting lost in the bush. I have put quite a few thousand kilometers on the van and I would never have found great places such as Sunset Heal and made new friends like the owner Beatrice without it. I certainly don’t mind traveling off the beaten track to find gems like that and the van has made this happen for us. One piece of advice that has kept us safe was always keep your tank full because you never know just how lost you can get in Jamaica and the next gas station may be along way off.
When I insured the van with NEM insurance they told me I had 6 months to get a Jamaican drivers license so I bought a standard drivers license book and read through it once or twice. The test would be easy or so I thought. Driving on the left hand side of the road was odd at first but I’ve adjusted well and I have had quite a few Jamaicans comment on my good driving skills. My mom would be proud to see such an improvement over my teen driving years 
It must be the added responsibility of parenthood that keeps me more safe and aware on the roads now but learning to navigate this country with little to no road signage in every city was a different trick. My road map of Jamaica that I purchased from Amazon before we arrived has been of great help and of course my favorite guide on Jamaica has some nice maps and helpful suggestions as well. I brought the GPS along and have mapped some locations with it but I’m having trouble with integrating the maps into our blog still.
The paperwork necessary to own and drive a van here in Jamaica took me some time to sort out. After buying the van and clearing up the ownership documents I had to get a signature from a Justice of the Peace who could claim to have known me for at least 90 days. I found a man in Sav willing to do so after having just met me. He did it for free but I tipped him $500 Jamaican for his help and time because he went through and verified all of my documents and even signed off on my four Passport photos which I needed to supply for the drivers license. After the Justice of the Peace I was required to have a medical examination to prove I am physically and mentally fit to drive. I found a doctor in Sav and had a quick examination for $1,000 Jamaican dollars and she signed off on that for me. I guess having the $1,000 was enough proof of my mental state. Once I had the TRN and vehicle documents secured it was a matter of paying another $1,000 Jamaican for permission to take the drivers test and I thought it was to be over. I was wrong and of course in Jamaica things take longer because no one explains themselves and there is such a lack of information available. Most people in any kind of customer service position in this country need some serious job training with a focus on people skills and how to deal with the public. I have never seen so many rude people with the job of dealing with people as I do here in Jamaica and specifically government positions. They must be seriously overworked and underpaid to all have such an abrasive attitude so I pity most of them.
I now know there are two types of drivers license in Jamaica, Private and General. A private license is the basic license needed to operate a car or small personal vehicle. I have a 6 passenger van with the goal to have a red plate tag on it some day so I’ll need the General Drivers license which is more like a commercial drivers license. I asked what tests I would need to take while using my Florida drivers license to qualify and on my first visit for information to the Drivers testing depot in Sav La Mar I was mistakenly informed that I would only need to take the sign test, the yard test and the road test because of my use of my Florida drivers license as the qualifying document.
I was not made aware of what they call the mechanical test which goes in depth into the operation of the van and motor with details on things such as vehicle compression and motor functions and with questions like “On the compression stroke if a four cylinder motor what opens the valves?” or others about crankshaft directions in relation to the camshaft or something like that. I was lost. They showed me the test and I knew I would never pass it but the guy told me to take a chance so I did. I gave it a shot and came out with 14 correct from 22 which is failing. I needed 17 correct to pass. He tossed the test and told me to retake it at a later time. I’m going to have to go back after I have studied my new Jamaican Drivers Mechanical testing booklet which I purchased at Possessions bookstore in Sav La Mar for $250JA.
After taking the sign and mechanical tests I went ahead with the yard test because I could still finish that and the road test at this time. The yard test was pretty easy and consisted of me parking the van on an incline and taking off without rolling off the hill along with a simple reverse maneuver between some cones and parallel parking the vehicle on both sides within 18 inches of the curb. The yard is open to the public almost every day and if anyone needed to practice the course before hand it seems pretty easy to do.
When it came time to take the road test I was not aware that I had to bring a a licensed Jamaican driver with me but some fine Jamaican drivers are conveniently waiting there to ride with us for another $1,000 Jamaican dollars for their valuable time and skill set. I reluctantly paid the $1,000 to have a guy sit next to me as my driving instructor while the examiner sat in the back seat for the test. My instructor and I jumped in my van and drive down to the Mannings School entrance in Sav La Mar which is just up the road from the Driving Depot where the tests are administered and where they also do vehicle inspections. While we sat out front waiting for the examiner to arrive we talked some and the instructor told me I would most likely be asked to do the more difficult road maneuver from the handbook which was to turn around on a two way street using a minor road junction for the turn around.
It’s a pretty dumb move in my opinion because it forces you to reverse down a road in the right lane and turn in reverse into the minor road right hand lane before proceeding forward and turning left onto the major road from the left lane but I made sure to study the diagram provided in my manual before he arrived to be sure I understood the move. While executing my turn correctly another car turned into the minor road and stopped about 8 feet in front of me. After completing my reverse turn I came to face the driver in front of me and we both kinda sat there in a pause. Rather then sit still in the wrong lane facing the wrong direction about 40 feet before a road junction I chose to move around the car and proceed with my turn. My examiner told me to stop and then asked me what I was doing. He told me the other driver had the right of way and it was upon me to wait. I told him that it made little sense to sit there waiting for him to move when it was apparent he was waiting to see what I did. My examiner told me I failed on the spot and asked me to return to the garage. I was hot. I could not understand his logic in requiring me to sit in the middle of the right lane facing the wrong direction at a road junction while waiting for another car to move. I told him for safety sake it was best for me to get out of the road and if faced with that situation again I would act in the exact same way.
When we got back to the depot it took him about 5 minutes before he called me into his office and told me I failed and I would have to come back. I told him that was unacceptable and I wanted to speak with a supervisor. I told him I wanted to retake the test with some other more sensible person. I also accused him of splitting the $1,000 paid to his selected instructor and that brought a few others into the argument. Apparently even many Jamaican citizens are unaware of the requirement and they get caught up in it as well. I was given the chance to speak with a supervisor and the examiner in the room and after some pretty little drawings on a scrap of paper the supervisor called the instructor into the room. My driving instructor earned his $1,000 and told the supervisor he felt he would have done the same exact thing as I had done in my situation. He said we were at a stalemate of sorts and he felt it was on me to get out of the other cars way and on with my business. The supervisor called it a mistake in judgment by both parties and my only mistake in the test and passed me without really completing the driving test.
I went back and took the written mechanical test and got a receipt for my Jamaican Drivers License about 2 weeks late after memorizing the pre test questions to pass the mechanical portion of the test. The book and test were last updated in 1976 and there was little in there that actually related to my van or driving in Jamaica but I now have a General Drivers License which allows me to drive cars, trucks or vans anywhere in Jamaica. It took me over 4 months to receive my Jamaican drivers license and it has really helped me to understand just how screwed up things in this country can be. The bureaucracy, rigmarole and ridiculous red tape necessary to conduct any sort of business here really makes a mess out of things and must be the cause of some of the frustration amongst the Jamaican people.I understand that many drivers here never actually take the test and a large percentage of Jamaican drivers are forced to buy their license on the black market because some of them cannot read to take the tests and others simply don;t have the time or patience to take all these mundane steps to be able to drive.
I made it to the 2008 Smile Jamaica | Africa Unite Concert in Oracabessa at James Bond Beach on February 23rd and it was a great show for me in many ways. I met some super cool people and made it all the way backstage with the artists. I shook hands and held a short conversation with some of the Marley brothers. I made some new friends and learned a lot about Jamaica and her royal family as well as myself in the process. The concert was big and a drain on me in more ways than one. I have not written much about my experience but I’m finally putting some reviews together now.
I have over 1200 photographs from Reggae Months biggest concert event from backstage before and during the show to front and center of the VIP area and even some shots from underneath the stage I have lots of pictures of 2008 Smile Jamaica to load to the photo gallery and some great video as well but the force has been against me. My website server was hacked and another one of my sites has been causing us troubles. You may have noticed some considerable downtime for us recently and I have been working hard on that. I’m uploading video and pictures now and I will update some new articles and links later this week but here are some pictures to give you an idea of how it went.
I got to the event very early in the day and was able to watch the setup crew from three different production companies at work as they got ready for what they all said was one of the largest concerts of the year. It took them 3 days with over 60 guys running around to setup for a show that was supposed to last about 12 hours but ended up running much longer. Things were a bit slow and in between set changes made the night drag on but the show was worth the effort.
I walked right into the park with my camera on my neck and past all sorts of security and staff. I had been at the same facility two weeks earlier and did basically the same thing that I did for the Bicycle Bash and walked around taking pictures all day long. I met up with the Musical Director and Drummer for John Legend and we hit it off quick. My new friend Swiss Chris arrived early and we hung out for quite some time while he and the band went through setup and sound check. Chris asked me to video him during his performance that evening and I jumped at the chance to hang out on stage with permission. I got some great shots of Swiss Chris on drums and also Sharif Simmons on guitar. Someone told me Sharif was one of the youngest Marley brothers and it took me some time to figure out that was not true. I spent some time with both and had a great day on stage learning a lot about the music business in the process. It really was cool to just sit and watch as things went on. Chris is an amazing drummer and watching him do his thing was incredible. I have a new found respect for musicians and the talent it take to put on a major show. Chris and John are Grammy winning artists and you can see they earned their place in the industry through hard work and real talent.
Swiss Chris on pre show sound check for Smile Jamaica 2008
Sharif Simmons on guitar at Smile Jamaica for John Legend
On stage with John Legend band at sound check
I hung out with Chris, Sharif and some others backstage until the crew came on stage to setup for the Marley family. There were guys tuning the drums, guitars and making adjustments to the mic stands. I sat on stage and took photos and no one ever said anything. I was enjoying the opportunity to watch a show take place from the other side of the chain link fence out front of the stage and it was all very exciting. I think things got a little to exciting for me as Stephen, Damian and Julian all appeared on stage an began to rehearse just 30 feet before me on the very same stage. It was one of the coolest moments in my life to watch the three of them walk out on stage as they casually puffed on big fat spliffs and sipped Guiness beers and begin singing some of their fathers music that has become so familiar to me.
The Marley brothers mean a lot to me and I did not handle this situation well at all. I will leave that up to another article soon come. Suffice it to say that I know of the 100 people the Marley brothers may have met on this day I know I am one of the few they will remember meeting
Marley sound crew prepares for Smile Jamaica 2008
The Marley Brothers on stage pre show at Smile Jamaica 2008
Once the Marley brothers were finished with their sound check I disappeared under the stage with some of the production guys where I tried to live blog some photos using their wifi connection but my sites were down and I was happy enough to get them back up as I went on with the show. I stayed under the stage for much of the beginning of the concert and hung out with my new rasta friends as we discussed music, politrix and life in general. I hung out with them for quite some time until some of the larger acts of the evening started to hit the stage in preparation for Ziggy and the rest of the Marley clan.
The shows theme is of course Smile Jamaica Africa Unite so they had to have some African artists on stage as well and they did. African poet and philosopher K’naan put on a great show and is a very talented young artist. He is from Mogadishu Somalia and you can hear in his lyrics that he has seen some horrible things. I met with him backstage after his performance with the Marley clan later that evening and we had a great conversation about the effects of media on youth. I have noticed a very disturbing effect on Jamaican youth from the movies and music they pickup from America and it gives them a heavily distorted view of what goes on “a farrin”. I won’t get into some of the stereotypes that exist here about and our sexual preferences and perversions. Suffice it to say when a 5 year old asks you if you want to rape him as he runs away from you it knocks you for a loop.
K’naan at Smile Jamaica 2008
Javaughn on Ghetto Youths Label
The last time I saw Bunny Wailer was 2003 in Fort Lauderdale Florida and I swore he was dead and propped up on stage for a show that was more sad then anything. I went because I felt I had too and I regretted it. It was not a good show. When they said Bunny was playing for Smile Jamaica I was hopeful he would not be dead again. Was I surprised to see as this old man hoped and scooted around the stage and gave one of the best performances of the show. He was even nice and respectful of Bob although he did make mention of some of their differences and sounded like he took a sarcastic jab or two at Bob and the Marley family during his speeches in between songs. Bunny has a real funky jerk chicken kinda dance he does and he seemed to put all he had into the show and the crowd appreciated it. I think Bunny was a highlight of the early evening performances and far better than some of the big name acts to follow.
Bunny Wailer on stage at Smile Jamaica 2008
I made it backstage after Bunny was on to meet up with my buddy Swiss Chris before he went on stage with John Legend. We walked on stage as the stage crew was moving around set pieces and the crowd was being kept calm by Mutabaraka from Irie FM. There is a lot of commotion and action on a stage during a show and even under the best conditions things are hectic. I watched these guys for much of the day and I can say that all of them were complete professionals but having never worked together on such a diverse setup caused them some long delays and members of the crowd were getting tired of it after long. I’ve been backstage at a number of concerts and I have met and worked with a lot of musicians and artists but standing on stage and watching John Legend perform at Smile Jamaica 2008 was awesome. The energy and feedback from the crowd was amazing. Sadly the whole thing goes by rather quick and the amount of preparation before the seems a bit much now that I see how quick the performance was but these guys are devoted to putting on the best show they can and I was glad to be able to watch them do so.
Setting up for John Legend at Smile Jamaica 2008
John Legend performs at Smile Jamaica 2008
The Crowd viewed from the stage at Smile Jamaica 2008
After John was finished I went backstage to hang with Chris and the other artists and VIP guests. This was the artist area and there are supposed to be no cameras allowed. I did notice that really hot chicks were allowed to ask guys like Sean Paul for a picture but most everyone else had to stash their cameras per orders of the security staff. I left mine in the bag and hung out with lots of well dressed and important looking people. I can say that Sean is a lot shorter than I thought but who gives a crap when you’re covered in hotties like he was. He won’t smoke a spliff in public but I know for a fact he smokes with cool people
The artist area was cool but I’m not really a celebrity chaser and watching everyone get silly over these guys got old fast. I decided to get back out front so I could score a decent spot in the VIP area before the big show started. I was able to get pretty close to the stage actually because I came in from under the stage unlike everyone else who came in from the sides. I was probably a bit to close for some of the better shots of the entire stage but I was in a great location for up close pics of the artists and I spent much of the rest of the evening in pretty much the same spot for the main show.
This was a Marley show as far as I was concerned and none of the acts to follow them mattered to me. I left the show as soon as the Marley Brothers left stage and went back to my van were I crashed until about 10AM when I got up and drove home. I’m writing up another article about the Marley bothers and my experiences at the show with each of them. It was very strange meeting them and a true pleasure in watching them perform together. In my last post I wondered how they would handle a commercial event like this with their father and I was very impressed by they way everything was handled. I watched as they performed songs made famous by their father and it was obvious they were having fun and truly enjoying the experience. It must be very difficult to live in the shadows of such a great man and I feel almost proud of the way they conduct themselves in his legacy.
Bob Marley lives on in his sons and it appears to me that each of them has taken a part of their father and made it theirs. Ziggy is the eldest son and most resembles his fathers kindness in person and in music. Ziggys music is uplifting and full of the life inspiring spirit of some of Bobs biggest hits. He believes everything will be alright with one good spliff and so should we all. Julian shares some of this but it appears less defined in him. Ziggy
Ziggy Marley performs at Smile Jamaica 2008
Kymani Marley at Smile Jamaica 2008
Julian Marley at Smile Jamaica 2008
Stephen Marley is the 2007 Grammy Award Winner for Best Reggae Album for his release “Mind Control” and is one of the favored sons in Jamaica for certain. The crowd was on fire when Stephen hit the stage and the energy in the place was invigorating. It was 4M and I had been on my feet since 9AM and I was a dancing fool for much of his entire set. Stephen has quite a bit of Bobs hard side to him and is known as ragga muffin to many in Jamaica for being one of the toughest of the Melody Makers but his history as a child carries on with him and he has a sweeter side in some of his songs you won’t hear on younger brother Damians music.
Stephen Marley performs at Smile Jamaica 2008
If any one of the brothers picked up more of their fathers militant side it has got to be Damian. He’s the real ragga muffin in this clan and his hard hitting lyrics and machine gun toasting are crowd favorites here in Jamaica. His “Welcome to Jamrock” is an anthem for much of the Ghetto Youth in Jamaica today and Jr Gong is by far the more popular of all the Marley brothers for most Jamaicans. When he hits the stage the crowd goes crazy and when he goes of in a rant at 100 miles per lyrical mile he brings the entire place to their feet. It was a high energy show as soon as Damian hit the stage and stayed like that throughout his performance.
I have more picture and video from the show that I am uploading now. I’ll add links to those soon.
Damian Marley on stage at Smile Jamaica 2008
The Circle B Farm was my first choice for accommodation on our first night in the Ochi area because they were one of the few places we spoke with that still offered camping when we called them. Sadly that all changed when we arrived on site and were informed that the owner no longer offered camping because the bathroom and shower facilities outdoors were non functioning and all they had to offer us was a room for rent. The room was clean and simple and only cost $1500 for a nights stay so we took it and were glad we did. I liked the place so much we spent a second night there and enjoyed the place for another beautiful morning.
Circle B Farm is a hostel and farm operating on 140 acres of surreal beauty and lush tropical landscaping. The farm is predominately a banana farm with many other fruit trees on site such as the variety of mango and even a Giant Lemon which I have never seen or heard of before. The farm is busy but quiet for most of the day and if you stay at the rooms up front you may never know what lays in the property around you if you don’t take a walk. There are cows, goats, pigs, dogs and a donkey on site but the domestic animals are less important than the natural flora and fauna found surrounding the place. The farm has a small man made river which runs from the hillsides along the southern border and actually circles the entire facility. This running water and all the sweet smelling fruit trees keeps the area covered in butterflies, birds and insects of all sorts. The bats swirl around at night feeding on the flying insects trapped in the beams of light around the buildings at night for a pretty cool night show.
The stream runs in front of the hostel rooms for rent and around almost every building on site you can sit and peacefully enjoy the sounds of rushing water all day long from just about anywhere on the property. The running water and numerous fruit trees means that early mornings at Circle B are filled with the sounds of a dozen songbirds as they sing praise to the new day before us. One both mornings we were there it was true pleasure to stroll through the banana and pineapple fields and listen to the kingfisher and mockingbirds try to out sing each other. I’m going to need a much better camera in order to catch photos of many of the birds of Jamaica as I simply cannot get close enough to most of them for a decent shot but trust me when I tell you the air was thick with the sounds of birds and nature and it was beautiful.
Circle B is a great location to begin a number of eco tours of the area and central to the many attractions of the North Coast and Ocho Rios area. You can make it to Dunns River, White River Valley, the Bob Marley Mausoleum and much more in an hour or so from this place and its a great place for anyone interested in a youth hostel or camping vacation on the North Coast of Jamaica. For those budget minded travelers interested in tours of the North Coast and Ocho Rios but not wanting to spend more for a place to sleep then you will on the days activities then consider Circle B as a place to stay in your Jamaica travel planning.
E-mail them at: info@circlebfarm.com
or call them at: 1-876-913-4511
You can write to them at: Priory P.A., St-Ann, Jamaica W.I.
Make sure to tell them Alfred @ JamaicaMax sends his love and maybe you’ll get a special tour.
There is a yellow boa in the mango tree outside and the locals are having a fit. Jamaicans DO NOT like snakes and this one was almost dead if I had not told them they could be fined up to $100,000 jamaican dollars for killing it. They want it out of the mango tree and I sent an email to SOS Wildlife Jamaica and they called me back to say they had no one in Negril that could come and catch the snake but they might have a person here on Wednesday. If they do then they will send him over and he will assist us in relocating the snake to a safer place.
The Jamaican Yello Boa is endemic to Jamaica and a Protected Species. The yellow boa in the tree outside looks to be about 6 feet long and 4 inches in diameter. The snake guy I spoke with said it was probably a female and she had eaten some rats in the tree and was sunning to digest them. This guy may make a trip all the way from Mobay to make sure the snake is unharmed and he said its vital we save all the females we can.
Anyone live in Negril want to climb this tree and catch a 6 foot snake?
Here is a video of me hand feeding the Red Billed Streamertail Hummingbird which is better known in Jamaica as the Doctor Bird at the Rocklands Bird Sanctuary outside of Montego Bay. We stopped in for a feeding session in the late afternoon and were blessed to catch the birds at a feeding peak. There seemed to be hundreds of birds in the trees surrounding us and we even noticed a heavier concentration of birds leading up to the park in the outlying neighborhoods.
The park is located in the mountain village of Anchovy in hills of St James Parish and was founded by Lisa Salmon in 1958. Miss Lisa Salmon or “Miss Lis” as she was known was born in Kingston Jamaica and a lifelong advocate for the protection of birds and an avid birdwatcher. She began working for bird protection in 1952 when she took to writing articles against bird hunting. In 1959, primarily as a result of her efforts, the bird hunting season was reduced from 6 months to 6 weeks. Miss Salmon passed away in 2000 at the ripe old age of 96 leaving the Rocklands Bird Feeding Station as it is also known to many in the control of trusted associates who still run the park today. I think it’s become a bit more commercial and the keeper was offended when I offered him $500 JA as a tip when I did not even take a tour. All I really did was sit and take some pictures with the family. I coughed up another $500 for a total of $1,000 Jamaican Dollars or about $15 US to spend a half an hour with the birds. In the same time I watched him collect the same figure from two other couples and it seemed he had been at it for some time. I think the new caretaker is making more money from this than Miss Salmon ever did.
The park lies about 3.5 miles outside of Montego Bay down the A1 highway which runs to Negril through Lucea. You will make a turn South at Reading which leads to Anchovy about 1.5 miles up a pretty steep and poorly maintained road. When we visited we drove in from the Ocho Rios side of Mobay and actually grabbed the B2 highway all the way over to Sav La Mar and on to Negril. We passed a number of other natural attractions such as Animal Farm and Nature Village which I understand are must see Jamaica attractions as well.
This is my wife Elise hand feeding the Doctor Birds. There where so many birds at Rocklands that it was distracting and difficult to get any really good pictures because they kept in motion. I was able to grab some decent video clips and we plan a return trip soon for better video. I would like to go a bit earlier and see if we can’t get a sunny day with better lighting so we can really bring you the variety of colors in the birds here.
An afternoon at Rocklands Bird Sanctuary makes a wonderful Day Trip from Negril or just about any city on the island. It’s a little over an hour from Negril on a decent enough road with other places to visit along the way. Pack a lunch if you’re picky about foods as there are few commercial eateries in the area other than an occasional jerk barrel, fruit stand or convenience store.
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