Today was the day of Port Royal... We had organised to get a rent-a-car to head out to Port Royal for to see PIRATE HISTORY, more importantly - to see where Captain Henry Morgan lived and ruled etc.
We decided to get a taxi to the rent-a-car place since we couldn't find it on the map. This was a good decision since - it was MILES away. If anyone ever is on Knutsford road, and wants to get to Robert Plaza on Redhill - DON'T even think about walking - it would take forever!
Upon getting to the rent-a-car place, it looked like something out of what you would find in the lower end of Woodstock back in Cape Town. The place looked dodgy - so we got our taxi driver to wait for a bit. The lady there was really disorganised and took forever to do anything. Luckily the Inspector from some Governing body was there, who drew us a map to get to Port Royal, and she sort of helped us communicate with the rent-a-car people. When the Owner rocked up, she then went off and spoke to her... so we continued with the signing of the contracts.. The lady (rent-a-car lady) then said that we had to pay an extra 50 US dollars to drop the car at the airport. We threw our toys out, and the owner guy then stepped in cos the Inspector was there, and that was waived - WOHOO. We also got the car for a reduced rate. The car we got was a Mazda Demlio or something. Its not that great, but it does the job!!
So we headed out - with James behind the wheel since he had his drivers license with him, and my ones expired! Traffic was interesting - we have a LOT of video footage of that, so I'll spare the gory details. We also put in $500 in petrol (Jamaican) which was about 8litres!
The road to Port Royal goes passed the airport, and we stopped on the side to look at a ship wreck - just lying there. If this was Cape Town - it would have been salvaged quickly! This ship was just rusting and rotting away.... quite sad to see. The beach it was lying on was filthy - no one interested to do any form of clean up...
James here, just a bit of Indiana Jones style history about the Port and Captain Henry Morgan :)
In the days before Pirates, Port Royal was like any other Port in the Caribbean, not doing so well for itself with the occasional merchant ship coming in and regularly be plundered by Buccaneers of enemy nations. Buccaneers were basically Pirates operating under a blessing from their King and country and ransacked other countries ships and ports.
The then Governor of Port Royal took it upon himself to invite Buccaneers into the port without prejudice from the law under the condition that they help protect the port, this agreement worked well and the town flourished with the added protection of the buccaneers.
Eventually the buccaneers became to numerous and the town was over run with brothels, taverns and generally bad folk, and yep you guessed it the main man was Captain Henry Morgan! At the same time Port Royal was also home to Edward "Black Beard" Teach and at some stage in its history, Lord Horatio Nelson.
Eventually in the 1600's England and Spain signed a treaty and ordered their buccaneers to cease all hostillities. The bucaneers, now jobless, were unimpressed and the lead bucaneer, Henry Morgan, took no heed of the new treaty and in true Pirate fashion raided and flattened the Spanish port of Panama City in one of his most famous conquests, and so were born the new buccaneers, Pirates!
Shortly after Morgans Panama City raid the English arrested him and brought him back to England for trial. Here the story gets sketchy as soon he is back in Port Royal and is made Governor of the Port by the English King!
Henry Morgan died before the 1692 earth quake that sunk Port Royal and is buried in the old city of Port Royal that was swallowed but the waves.
Before he died Henry Morgan donated three of his personal possessions to St Peters Anglican Church in Port Royal, a Silver Tray, Silver Wine Goblet and a Silver Beer Tankard that he plundered from his raid on Panama.
In the years leading up to the earthquake Port Royal became know as "The wickedest city in the new world" and was over run by lawless Pirates who answered to no one!
Back to Richard
Now - more importantly - when we eventually got to Port Royal, we sort of just followed the one road and ended up at Fort Charles, the main defences of the Port which in its heyday bristled with 104 cannons!. This was cool. We parked right there, and joined a tour immediately. We heard all about the Fort, and the history of Port Royal, and about the two earth quakes. The first one in 1692, and then the second one in 1907. Both of these changed Port royal dramatically by reclaiming new land from the sea and sinking half the town into the sea. Also - some of the buildings were either raised or sunk a few feet into the ground. Eg. - Giddy house (buit in 1888 and where they stored the ammo prior to 1907) - was tipped at about a 30degree angle!
James here again, I have edited the next paragraph to be more dramatic :)
After the Official Tour, we got our Tour Guide to give us a rundown of who Henry Morgan was, and what he did while he was the head honcho at Fort Charles, We then enquired about St Peters Church - where Henry Morgans Goblet was used for communions. She told us that the church was closed and only open on Sundays but if we go down the road and look for a lady named Patty who lived next to the Church she might open the church for us. Needless to say, we did, and found patty sitting in her yard. She took us to the Church and opened the door with the biggest key we have ever seen! Inside the church was amazing. There were plaques on the wall for several old sailors that had passed away. We looked for a glass display cabinet that might still hold the possessions of Henry Morgan, but alas we could not see one.
We asked Patty about the goblets etc and we were not prepared for what happened next. She took us to the side Rectory office, opened a cupboard and removed all three items! The tray, goblet and tankard that were pillaged from Panama City by Captain Henry Morgan and used as his personal utensils until donated to the church, were right there in front of us! (insert suitable "holy grail" music here) The man must have been a serious drinker, (well he was a Pirate!) as I have never seen such a massive tankard in mt life! 2Litres easy! Needless to say we had pictures taken and paid our respects to The Captain and Patty before leaving.
Back to Rich :)
When we left the church and drove around for a bit, but there wasn't much else to see. We stopped in at the Morgans Warf Hotel and that seemed nice and had an Appletons VX Jamaican Rum on the rocks. VERY SMOOTH!!!!
Now - one of the reasons we went there was to find Pirate stuff and in particular - a PIRATE FLAG! There were no shops there let alone PIRATE shops! We were directed to go to the Harbour in downtown Kingston to the Craft Market... So off we went!
Now the craft market was basically just into stuff that said Jamaica on it. We bought a bottle opener and some playing cards. This was after walking around the whole thing, and going through almost every stall. I started to get tired of this - since every store sold basically the same stuff! We were there for a little while, then headed off.
Next we took a drive into the Blue Mountains in search of world famous coffee and a look out over Kingston, but you will get that story next time along with the pics of Port Royal and Strawberry hill in the Blue Mountains.
Wednesday, 14 March 2007
Post Match report
Firstly I have to say - it was a good game - Windies posted a good score and then kept the Pakkies down nicely! The fact that the pakkies were were "resting" some of their players probably didnt help much...
So - after waking up fairly early - around 7:30ish, we left for the game on foot and followed what we thought were the right directions. We got to the game in good time, and found our seats fairly easily. The only problem was - they were in the sun, and weren't getting any shade till at least 4ish - so we were COOKING!!! After re-applying sunscreen - we looked right to see an empty block of seats with some free ones that would be in the shade in the next little while, so we moved - BRILLIANT! Now everything was good.. James tied the SA flag around some fencing... and we got settled!
A guy came round with some sugar cane, and we decided to get a bag. This was a very special experience - not terribly pleasant - cos you have to suck and chew sugar cane to get the juice, then you are left with what feels like a tree in your mouth! YUMMY!!! I will just say - there is no substiture for beer and BILTONG!
We were lucky enough to be seated close-ishly behind some Pakkies who seemed cool and festive, except for the fact that they wanted to do the mexican wave ALL the time. At first the crowd wasnt interested, but then they caught on.. and after the 503rd time - they got tired of it, but the Pakkies insisted on trying again and again and again... - eventually - they lost interest - and we could continue watching the game.
Now behind us were some Windies people - who had other ideas. Aside from having the super cool accent, EVERYTIME the Pakkies tipped the ball, they shouted "RUN RUN MON, COM'ON RUN!!!" even though their was no chance of them being able to make it. Of course - the Pakkies weren't listening to them. Would have been good if they were...
At the game there were 2 potential hat-tricks while the Windies were bowling - they crowd went off at this. The Jamaican people sure know how to cheer!!! This is something everyone should see...
We also chatted to 2 UK guys, the one guy out here staying with his buddy who workd for the British Consulate, so he was staying here for next to nothing. We thought they were normal people until - in true Pommie style - they only put on sunscreen AFTER they had turned pink! James and I just smiled.... THey also left the game before it ended, and missed some awesome overs....
Anyways, when the game had ended, and we were packing up, we stopped at the concession stand to get some RED STRIPE cups (which we wanted to use in our hotel room) - they looked at us funny. I then told them we wanted to keep them as souvenirs... they then giggled and laughed, probably thinking "Those damn tourists!!!" It was cool though - we got our cups!
The walk back to our hotel seemed long. And I kept getting dust and stuff in my eyes which wasnt too pleasant. There were definately a lot more tourists on the "strip"on Knutsford road. We decided to go to Wendys for dinner - was rather good, and I was stuffed! I think I passed out shortly after that. The music from the celebrations DEFINATELY didnt keep me awake. I think if it was back home - I'd probably have been upset as I would have had work today. BUT NO - I'M ON HOLIDAY!!!!! :) WOHOOOOOO
So - after waking up fairly early - around 7:30ish, we left for the game on foot and followed what we thought were the right directions. We got to the game in good time, and found our seats fairly easily. The only problem was - they were in the sun, and weren't getting any shade till at least 4ish - so we were COOKING!!! After re-applying sunscreen - we looked right to see an empty block of seats with some free ones that would be in the shade in the next little while, so we moved - BRILLIANT! Now everything was good.. James tied the SA flag around some fencing... and we got settled!
A guy came round with some sugar cane, and we decided to get a bag. This was a very special experience - not terribly pleasant - cos you have to suck and chew sugar cane to get the juice, then you are left with what feels like a tree in your mouth! YUMMY!!! I will just say - there is no substiture for beer and BILTONG!
We were lucky enough to be seated close-ishly behind some Pakkies who seemed cool and festive, except for the fact that they wanted to do the mexican wave ALL the time. At first the crowd wasnt interested, but then they caught on.. and after the 503rd time - they got tired of it, but the Pakkies insisted on trying again and again and again... - eventually - they lost interest - and we could continue watching the game.
Now behind us were some Windies people - who had other ideas. Aside from having the super cool accent, EVERYTIME the Pakkies tipped the ball, they shouted "RUN RUN MON, COM'ON RUN!!!" even though their was no chance of them being able to make it. Of course - the Pakkies weren't listening to them. Would have been good if they were...
At the game there were 2 potential hat-tricks while the Windies were bowling - they crowd went off at this. The Jamaican people sure know how to cheer!!! This is something everyone should see...
We also chatted to 2 UK guys, the one guy out here staying with his buddy who workd for the British Consulate, so he was staying here for next to nothing. We thought they were normal people until - in true Pommie style - they only put on sunscreen AFTER they had turned pink! James and I just smiled.... THey also left the game before it ended, and missed some awesome overs....
Anyways, when the game had ended, and we were packing up, we stopped at the concession stand to get some RED STRIPE cups (which we wanted to use in our hotel room) - they looked at us funny. I then told them we wanted to keep them as souvenirs... they then giggled and laughed, probably thinking "Those damn tourists!!!" It was cool though - we got our cups!
The walk back to our hotel seemed long. And I kept getting dust and stuff in my eyes which wasnt too pleasant. There were definately a lot more tourists on the "strip"on Knutsford road. We decided to go to Wendys for dinner - was rather good, and I was stuffed! I think I passed out shortly after that. The music from the celebrations DEFINATELY didnt keep me awake. I think if it was back home - I'd probably have been upset as I would have had work today. BUT NO - I'M ON HOLIDAY!!!!! :) WOHOOOOOO
Tuesday, 13 March 2007
Windies Vs Pakkies
Well my prediction was correct, the Windies won! After all THEY had a good nights sleep, unlike the poor Pakkies who, like us, had to deal with a full volume concert in the park until midnight! It wouldn't surprise me if they lodged a formal complaint to the ICC about the concert, it looks as tho its going to be going all week.
Its blasting away again tonight, celebrating the win!
Its late now I'm going to hit the sack, its been a long hot day at the cricket and we have another busy day tomorrow at the old haunt of Captain Morgan, Port Royal!
Till then.
Its blasting away again tonight, celebrating the win!
Its late now I'm going to hit the sack, its been a long hot day at the cricket and we have another busy day tomorrow at the old haunt of Captain Morgan, Port Royal!
Till then.
Sights of Kingston
Our home in Kingston, The Liguanea Club (lig-an-ee) a hybrid of Kelvin Grove and a Hotel
SA wine at the local supermarket
A street vendor selling coconuts and sugarcane
The CWC Head Quarters
Hmmm.... not to sure what to say here!
I wonder what he is smiling about!
Soup anyone?
Im not so sure what to make of these Jamaicans anymore, Cok for life, Cock Soup, and condom ads during the CWC opening Ceremony!!
Opening Ceremony
Watching the ceremony with a few cold Red Stripes
We are not alone!
We are not alone!
An on-screen add during the ceremony, look carefully in the bottom left corner....
SLAM CONDOMS!!
The local newspaper the next day
Bob Marley Museum
So as you know we went to the Bob Marley Museum yesterday, we decided to walk there and take in some sights on Kingston instead of zooming past them in a taxi. On our way we stopped in at a few car hire places to enquire about renting a car for our trip to Port Royal tomorrow, we were unsuccessfully as they were either too expensive or had no cars! Incidentally since then we have found a place and will be picking to up tomorrow. We also walked past Devon House which I will write about in a separate post.
The outside of Bobs Museum
We arrived and got in the Q to get tickets for the tour, there were only 2 people ahead of us so we ended up in a small group of four. We also bumped into two South African hanging out with the enemy, Australia! We were told we were not allowed to take any photographic or recording equipment inside to to various trademarked and copyrighted items we would see.
Bob also had a new '75 BMW there were not many in Jamaica at the time and everyone thought BMW stood for Bob Marley and the Wailers!! The first room we visited was around the back of the house and is called the "Shot Room" this is where Bob Marley had an assassination attempt on his life. Gunmen approached the house from the back through the bush (there was no back neighbour in those days) and opened fire with automatic weapons, Bobs manager wash shot several times in the pelvic area, his wife had a bullet graze her head and it was said that it was her dreads that saved her and caused the bullet to miss! Bob was hit in the elbow and went on to play a live show 2 days later with the bullet still in his arm. I'm sure he smoked enough to cloud the pain! The room still has holes in the walls from the bullets.
After the Shot Room we went into what is now the Awards room that is full of Silver, Gold, Platinum and even Diamond selling record awards! The rest of the tour included his bedroom, kitchen, lobby (with framed clothing, concert tickets, back stage passes and awards) a study, a research library (that is open to the public though appointment) and guest rooms which are now wall to wall in newspaper clippings of Bobs life, one article had photos of a concert in Italy during the 80's with over 100 000 people in attendance! We could not go into Bobs old recording studio because it is now a new recording studio used by his three sons and they are the only ones with keys!
After the house we went out back to what they call The Factory, this is where all his records used to be pressed, they did not say but I'm sure this was before he had Platinum selling albums and was only printing a few hundred! The room is now full of photos documenting his life, his original Gibson electric guitar and his old studio Sound Desk. The tour also included a 20min documentary film of is life highlights. All in all it was very interesting and informative, after the tour we walked around and took Pics.
James and a statue of Bob Marley, the portrat of the three woman is of his back up singers.
Street Art and James
The outside of Bobs Museum
We arrived and got in the Q to get tickets for the tour, there were only 2 people ahead of us so we ended up in a small group of four. We also bumped into two South African hanging out with the enemy, Australia! We were told we were not allowed to take any photographic or recording equipment inside to to various trademarked and copyrighted items we would see.
The outside of Marley's house and Recording Studio
We started our tour on the outside and were introduced to Bobs old Land Rover that he purchased "out the box" in 1975.
Bob also had a new '75 BMW there were not many in Jamaica at the time and everyone thought BMW stood for Bob Marley and the Wailers!! The first room we visited was around the back of the house and is called the "Shot Room" this is where Bob Marley had an assassination attempt on his life. Gunmen approached the house from the back through the bush (there was no back neighbour in those days) and opened fire with automatic weapons, Bobs manager wash shot several times in the pelvic area, his wife had a bullet graze her head and it was said that it was her dreads that saved her and caused the bullet to miss! Bob was hit in the elbow and went on to play a live show 2 days later with the bullet still in his arm. I'm sure he smoked enough to cloud the pain! The room still has holes in the walls from the bullets.
After the Shot Room we went into what is now the Awards room that is full of Silver, Gold, Platinum and even Diamond selling record awards! The rest of the tour included his bedroom, kitchen, lobby (with framed clothing, concert tickets, back stage passes and awards) a study, a research library (that is open to the public though appointment) and guest rooms which are now wall to wall in newspaper clippings of Bobs life, one article had photos of a concert in Italy during the 80's with over 100 000 people in attendance! We could not go into Bobs old recording studio because it is now a new recording studio used by his three sons and they are the only ones with keys!
After the house we went out back to what they call The Factory, this is where all his records used to be pressed, they did not say but I'm sure this was before he had Platinum selling albums and was only printing a few hundred! The room is now full of photos documenting his life, his original Gibson electric guitar and his old studio Sound Desk. The tour also included a 20min documentary film of is life highlights. All in all it was very interesting and informative, after the tour we walked around and took Pics.
Bob Marley sitting in his favourite part of the garden under a tree.
James sitting in Bob Marley's favourite part of the garden under the tree.
Richard sitting in Bob Marley's favourite part of the garden under the tree!
James and a statue of Bob Marley, the portrat of the three woman is of his back up singers.
Richard and the statue of Bob Marley
James and a Rasta that was painting murals
How flattering!
or not!!!! (Richard insisted I put this one in!)
Street Art and James
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