There are over 3000 people on board, made up of over 50 nationalities and there is great camaraderie amongst the passengers. Conversation comes easy. Each day that passes the suntans become more intense or the red increases. Yesterday (Tuesday) was my first day off and we left the ship quite early. Those sun tanned faces reflected the happiness that most of us were feeling and it seemed that the entire 3000 people decided to move at once, but it was quite well organized and we disembarked efficiently. Our tour was to leave at 10.00 and we had an hour and a half drive through the Island of Jamaica to the Martha Brae river where we were to experience a raft tour down the swiftly moving river.
The Legend of Martha Brae
The legend tells of an old Arawak witch, who lived on the bank of the River Matibereon.Having heard tales of the Arawak gold, Spanish treasure hunters captured the witch to lead them to the treasure.Pretending to comply she led them into a cave, then suddenly disappeared.Frightened, the Spaniards ran out of the cave but the river engulfed them.The witch then changed the course of the river forever.Passed on by mouth the legend still lives on.
Our tour director Colleen, was slick and well versed, she projected her spiel with clipped deliberate diction and waited for the applause with the timing of a professional speaker. We were taught to say ‘mon’ after every passage of speech. “Thank you mon” “Peace mon”
We observed the remains of the typhoons that have devastated the Islands of the Bahamas over the past few months. Sadly many houses remain in ruins.
On arrival at the river we were given the choice of rum punch or fruit punch…. I chose the rum of course, it was pink and liquid gold…. Just delicious. Around the bend of the river came a number of rafts made of bamboo. The owners mainly with Rastafarian head dress waited patiently for their turn to carry the passengers. Some days they get work, others they don’t. The rafts are made up of 12 bamboo poles, 30 ft in length and about 6” in circumference lashed together to make a crude platform, our guide say they last about 6 months. A rough seat was assembled at one end and the oarsman balanced the weight of the two passengers as he manipulated the raft with a 30 ft pole down the swift flowing river. It was a wonderful experience, very relaxing. One of the oarsmen sang as he rowed and I'm sure he was related to Harry Belafonte.
After our return to the town and in view of the ship we decided to walk into the town, time was limited and we accepted a taxi ride for the sum of two dollars….next thing we find we are being whisked away from the town by a slick driver who decided we could tour all the scenic sights in less than an hour. I began to feel the panic rising. Keith was in the front. The driver turned up the reggae music so loud that I couldn’t be heard if I tried to speak… and he assailed us with his staccato dialogue. We drove for more than 10 minutes and turned up a rough dirt track….. I looked for a way out and was so angry that we had found ourselves in this position…. This doesn’t happen to me, I’m c
autious. How could we be conned so easily. He stopped the car and said, get out…. I questioned him…. Trust me lady….. Keith got out and I followed and it appeared that he had taken us to a private look out that was quite beautiful. We had to walk out on a platform full of holes and perched on a doubtful foundation…. Then pay $2 for the privilege. I felt more comfortable when we turned to go back down into town…. But as we were driving through the slow moving traffic I noticed that there was a commotion up ahead… our friend in the driving seat held his hand on the horn and inched forward and we found ourselves surrounded by angry shouting people who were in some dispute in the middle of the road… crowds milled around our car and I got out the camera and filmed the incident catching on film a few left crosses by some solid young women in the middle of the throng.Obviously we made it back to the ship in time and breathed a sigh of relief as he pulled up by the security guard… he decided the $70 would be a good fee for his services… Keith pulled out a $20 and that was too much but we paid for the experience and will be sure not to get into that sort of a pickle again.
