Tunnel of Love

Tunnel of Love when you raft on the Rio Grande  in Jamaica one of the many opportunities is passing through the "Tunnel of Love" the tunnel is a path hewn through once solid rocks by the ferocious activities of the Rio grande river during tropical activities 30ft bamboo rafts now passes with its guests. Raft captains believe passing through the tunnel of love a great achievement in addition to the rafting on the Rio Grande experience they encourage their guests before entering the tunnel to make a wish, The folklore follows with the "the kiss" as you pass through the tunnel is an affirmation of love, affection and dedication to friendship and your wish will come true.      

Luxury Hotels in Jamaica

Trident Hotel and Villas

Quietly on the Cliffs just outside of Port Antonio is the Trident Villas and Hotel one of the most Luxurious Hotel in Jamaica. The Main building at Trident house 19 luxurious rooms a restaurant bar and lounge with almost 24 hr room service with several of Jamaica villas with outstanding 5 star reviews. A full Spa and fitness center all at the edge of the Caribbean sea are two of the many opportunities toward health and fitness. This is one of the premier places to stay in Jamaica with in house childcare affording a family the vacation of a lifetime this is not a cheap holiday in Jamaica its a luxurious one.

Places around the community to visit includes the blue lagoon and while there the San San and Winnifred beaches. There is also Rafting on the Rio Grande a 2 1/2 hour ride along the Rio Grande river on a Bamboo raft if done at the right time of day take you into the sunset at Rafters rest. 

To do List Jamaica Vacation

Swim the Blue Lagoon

Jamaica has its mysteries foremost its every day 85 degree year round temperature a presumptive laid back population notwithstanding the daily hustles of the communities to make end meet. This proud population is always eager to charm its guests foreign or local to embrace some of the most scenic vacation spots in the world. The Parish of Portland boasts the top 5 destination in Jamaica with the Blue Lagoon #1 and one of the top ten wonders in the world, Blue hole with its natural vegetation unexplained the changes of the water temperature as you swim from one end of the Lagoon to the next the color of the water and mineral springs are just some of the Blue Lagoon Experience.
  
01) "Blue Hole or the Blue Lagoon" Near Port Antonio! Undoubtedly one of the most beautiful places in the world #1 on your vacation, "to do list in Jamaica".

Rafting on the Rio Grande

Lovers Rock along the Rio Grande

When Errol Flynn visited Jamaica on vacation he visited the Parish of Portland, the natural beauty its vegetation, Beaches, the common life of its people captivated Flynn. He spent some time visiting various popular spots in Jamaica the North Coast including Discovery Bay, an undeveloped Ocho Rios and Montego Bay. Errol Flynn returned to Port Antonio and was taken to the Rio Grande Valley where ground provision was transported to market on Bamboo Rafts with great imagination Errol thought if Bamboo Rafts could transport Banana's to the Market those same Rafts could take tourists on the most amazing ride into sunset and the Caribbean Sea. Rafting on the Rio Grande was born and Rafters Rest established, 

Americas Diminishing Influence

Chinese and Jamaica Government Financing.

The new Rio Grange Bridge being Built in Port Antonio, Portland , Jamaica will be two lanes State of the art with side walks morphed into Board walks. Visitors Local residents will be able to comfortably View Bamboo Rafts with Tourists as they complete their Trip down the Rio Grande River into the sunset as they enter the Caribbean Sea and arrive at Rafters Rest.

 This Bridge replaces the one 108 year old one lane Bridge Called the St. Margaret s Bay Bridge, a major infrastructure improvement to this area of Jamaica. Creating the opportunity for Local and Foreign  investment. Existing adjoining Lands will be made available for new Shops and Stores to be constructed including new Gift Shops, Restaurants other indoor and outdoor entertainment and a rest stop. These businesses and the jobs that come with them would not have been earlier possible, giving new Economic energy to this community.

The Major difference, this Bridge is being Financed and Constructed by the Chinese Government and the government of Jamaica. Am sure the financing through Chinese Banks and its Government is as welcomed as was the many Projects over many years Financed by United States Aid Programs and the United States Development Programs. What this does points out though, is the growing influence of of the Chinese Government in the Western Hemisphere and the diminishing role of the United States and its influence in developing Countries.

This is not the only Project in Jamaica that is now being financed by the Chinese Government, others include the expansion of the Highway to the Norman Manley Airport, and the construction of arterial roads infrastructure adjoining communities and creating commerce. The financing provided by the Chinese Government comes at more favorable terms than those traditionally provided by the United States through their Aid and Loan Programs, with Chinese investors given the same Tax incentives given to American investors in Jamaica.

Rio Grande Bridge, Port Antonio, Portland

Jamaica like most developing Countries remains grateful to the United States for years of support through their Aid programs but, wonders how the Politicians in Washington is taking their eyes off the Ball and ignoring the spread of the Chinese Power. One of the Major concerns is that Law Makers who does not favor Foreign Aid Programs does not have a clue to what these Programs do in developing countries. Some members of Congress before they become Law Makers have never been to Washington DC. or traveled to a Foreign Country and see how America influence the world through Aid Programs.

In the future, individuals who run for congressional Office should be given a  Litmus Test that include, owning a Passport for at least five years, and have traveled to at least five foreign Countries and have a clear world view.Congress men should represent their districts needs but also know how the world works, or America's influence will continue to diminish.

Rio grande Bridge when complete

Through the tunnel of Love

Tunnel of Love

Rafting on the Rio Grande

Tunnel of Love, "Passing  through is the memory of a lifetime".

Rafting in Jamaica like so much else, is largely chill. You are taken on a trip of a lifetime serenely downstream on the same kind of 30-foot-long, bamboo-lashed rafts that Farmers once used for transporting their sugarcane and bananas to market. This ride enchanting gives you a chance to loose your mind in the vegetation that surrounds and wonders that surrounds you.

The Beautiful Tropical Bamboo Palms bunched as they Grow to 40 ft- 60 ft and clustered on the side of the mountain.The Sky that always seem to be blue with the yellow sun piercing at your body baking it to a golden tan. With birdlike whisper the water rippling over the uneven smothered riverbed rocks. The experience does not lend itself to verbal conversation but an  imagination a selfish ride through another of natures true experience.

Tropical Bamboo 

Beautiful rocks carved by the ferocious river into monuments that changes over time. There's the," lovers rock", once a huge solid Rock over time Hew through by the ferocity of the Rio Grande River now called the Tunnel of Love the story told by your Raft Captain who remain silent throughout trip only to answer questions or point out wonders you may may have missed, "Passing  through this Tunnel is the memory of a lifetime".  The Rio Grande River Experience is like none other of the four River rafting trips you can take in Jamaica.

This Rio Grande River ride should not end without a break at the midpoint to enjoy a swim in this Natural tropical water pouring from the Blue mountains of Jamaica twirling its way through the John Crow Mountains into the Rio Grande Valley and finally into this awesome lifetime experience. What feels like cold water as you enter will embrace and clench your body into a romantic fervor, relaxing and refreshing. After a 30 minute swim and frolic, your body would have absorbed natural minerals that makes the skin like velvet.

The final leg of this trip 2 miles to Rafters Rest in St. Margaret's Bay, Portland, a slow ride into the Sunset, (best time to start Rafting 2:00 pm with stop and 4:00 pm without stop) as your trip ends so does the day as the amazing sun sink into the western skies and into the Caribbean sea.

The Rio Grande Rafting experience is like none other of the four rafting opportunities in Jamaica. Rio Grande rafting begins 8 miles out of Port Antonio and can be booked through River Raft Ltd.Tel: 876 952 0889, the Jamaica Tourist board and Rafters rest in St. Margaret's Bay.

"Passing  through is the memory of a lifetime".

Blowing of the Abeng

Abeng, Bull Horn Primed with liquid for Sound.

Blowing of the Abeng, Ambassabeth Cabins in Bowden Pen, Portland The blowing of the Abeng, the traditional "war horn" of the maroons and the beating of the Gumbay drum, highlighted activities at the annual celebrations of the maroons in observance of Emancipation day 2011.

"The Emancipation Act was read to the slaves on the 31st of July in 1838, so there was a Proclamation which was read at midnight by the then Governor, which said to slaves: 'you are now free' and so the vigil is a re-enactment of that day,"

With 176 years since slavery was officially abolished in Jamaica, the celebratory atmosphere that existed, in the hours leading up to Emancipation Day (August 1) is still kept alive through the yearly staging of Emancipation anniversary vigils island-wide.

 Come out and visit our recreational areas in Blue and John Crow Mountains, National Park such as Holywell, Blue Mountain Peak Trail and Portland Gap as well as Upper Rio Grande Valley. Deeply rich in both natural and cultural heritage, a visit to BJCMNP will allow you to experience the true beauty of Jamaica's natural flora and fauna as well as reflect on the unique traditions and cultural practices of the communities who live and work around the park.

Indulge in a number of different activities including guided tours, hiking trails, bird watching, camp grounds and even picnicking spots to learn about Jamaica's wildlife and understand what it is that we strive so hard to protect!

Bowden Penn is at the foot Hills of the John Crow mountains between Portland and St Thomas.The Ambassabeth Cabins is a privately owned Bed and Breakfast or long term accommodation. Cabins are made of Authentic wood and Bamboo designed to replicate the original huts of the Maroons but with some modern facilities.

Guide To Family Re-Union

Family Rafting on the Rio grande

Most Families discuss family reunions when they Gather at Funerals, Christmas Dinners or thanksgiving those soon become only discussions that never happen. In this global community the logistics involved in getting all Family members together always appear impossible. The truth is,  it is impossible to get all the relatives in one place all at he same time.

To overcome these obstacles I have discussed this in a lengthy article at at my website www,bloggerythmjamaica.com ,my family since 1984 have had a family reunion the last week July through the first week of August. It is always difficult for everyone to be there at this by-annual event however this event has never been postponed since its inception.

In its 27 years this re-union has only helped us to strengthen and hold our family together. Our Celebrations this year will be the biggest in its history family members will travel from all over the world to be there at our Family Home in Islington, Portland, Jamaica one of the most beautiful places in the world.

Our website facebook.com/carr.allenreunion  reflects our extremely proud family the,"celebration of our Past and the optimism of the future".

Edna Manley Jamaican Heritage

Biography

Bamboo Rafts along Rio grande

Born in Yorkshire England, Edna Manley's mother was Jamaican, from the prominent Shearer family. In 1936 she met her cousin Norman Manley who had come to England as a Rhodes scholar to study at Oxford. He was later conscripted and fought in (WW1) World War 1, while Edna studied at St Martin's School of Art. They married in 1922 and moved to Jamaica where Edna was to pursue her career as a sculptor creating images that reflected Jamaica's struggle for nationhood. During the 1930's Edna Manley continued to exhibit in London but increasingly her focus was Jamaica where she exhibited and supported the development of the arts.

Edna Manley's Negro Aroused (1935) aptly reflects her stylistic and social interests during that era. Hewn intentionally from dark mahogany, its naked black torso supports a head thrust upwards in search of a new dawn. Stylistically, Negro Aroused' is linked to William B lake's romantic imagery of a renovated or resurrected man (Boxer, 1990), but conceptually it wrestles with edenic and primordial thinking closer to the primitives Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth. Yet, in spite of its idealism, Negro Aroused is a constrained and even pained figure. Even without chains, its movement is frustrated by its rooted akimbo posture, suggesting that the black man's future is not born out of freedom but an irrevocable recognition of place. Norman Manley considering how the black man might triumph over this adversity wrote,

There is a tremendous difference between living in a place and belonging to it and feeling that your own life and destiny is irrevocably bound up in the life and destiny of that place. It is that spirit which is the most hopeful thing in Jamaica today. It is that spirit which alone encourages the development of our national consciousness...

Sculptures such as Negro Aroused (1936) became icons for this era and much of the work that she created in the run up to Jamaica's independence such as Into the Sun (1954), Growth (1958) and I Saw My Land (1960) featuring the same heroic black figure, bear this weight of representing the nation's vision.

Edna Manley

Her message promoted black self-dignity, but never at the expense of personal and autobiographical details. The Moses images from the 1950's suggest how her personal and public life were entwined once her husband Norman Manley became Jamaica's Chief Minister. Edna Manley's images of the prophet Moses bear strong resemblance to her husband Norman, while the narrative imagery of works like I Saw My Land (1960) boldly signal his role as deliverer of the nation. The designation 'Moses' was an appropriate one in a society that saw itself as being freed from bondage and colonialism and set on a path for Independence. As part of her efforts to support the national development Edna taught art classes and helped to establish the Jamaica School of Art and Crafts (1950) through which she influenced later generations of artists. Her husband became Chief Minister of Jamaica in 1954 and although he lost the national elections in 1961, he was instrumental in leading Jamaica to Independence in 1962. Norman Manley died in 1969, but was succeeded by their son Michael who became Prime Minister in 1972. Edna continued to play an active role in cultural development as a founder member of the National Gallery of Jamaica and as one of the countries foremost artists winning numerous awards and national commissions and sculpting an enormous body of work, right up until her death at age 86.

Source

Edna Manley College: http://emc.edu.jm/?q=artlibrary/artist_bio/171

Errol Flynn and Port Antonio Jamaica

Patrice Wymore Flynn (Right)

Errol Flynn's love affair with Port Antonio began in the 1940's while he was on a sailing trip destined for the Galapagos. Back then, a storm blew his boat the Zaca off course to Jamaica and soon he discovered the island's northeast treasure. Port Antonio became Flynn's home for many years and as he wrote in his memoir, "After thirty-seven years of wandering I had found my Grecian isle."

Now, the Marina at Port Antonio has been renamed the Errol Flynn Marina, in tribute to the town's most famous resident. "It's amazing that even today Flynn's presence remains an undercurrent in Port Antonio," said William Tatham, Vice President of Cruise and Marina Operations. "The renaming of the Marina is merely an affirmation of what residents and visitors have known for a long time, and that his mystique is still very much a part of the fabric of this part of Jamaica. The Jamaica Yacht Club Host the annual Port Antonio Blue Marlin fishing Tournament from the Errol Flynn Marina. The Tournament is held between September and October each year. The Tournament is  over 40 years old and attract Anglers from all over the world.

Clipper Round the World Yacht Race 2014

After his initial visit to the island, Flynn would return to Port Antonio and his 2000-acre Errol Flynn Estate at Castle Comfort on hiatus between films. While here he would go rafting on the Rio Grande,on shopping trips to the Port Antonio marketplace, picnicking at the nearby Navy Island, and swimming at Boston Beach. For a time he was the proprietor of the Titchfield Hotel, then Port Antonio's grandest hotel. Errol Flynn's mother and father would also join him in Jamaica.

"This endearing tribute to Errol is perfect in so many ways; he loved the sea, and he adored Port Antonio, so this is a wonderful union of his passions" said Flynn's widow Patrice Wymore Flynn, who continues to live at the Estate.

The Errol Flynn Marina is a 32-slip yacht complex that accommodates vessels up to 350 LOA with a maximum depth of 17 feet. It also boasts single and three-phase power and shore storage and is an official Port of Entry with 24-hour Jamaica Customs and Immigration. Boat repairs and maintenance are available at the full-service boat yard, which features a 100-ton boat lift, the only one of its kind in the Western Caribbean.

Some of Errol Flynn movies include Captain Blood (1935). Quickly typecast as a swashbuckler, he followed it with The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936). After his appearance as Miles Hendon in The Prince and the Pauper (1937), he was cast in his most celebrated role as Robin Hood in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), his first film in Technicolor. He went on to appear in The Dawn Patrol (1938) with David Niven,Dodge City (1939), The Sea Hawk (1940) and Adventures of Don Juan (1948).

Working throughout his career with a cross section of Hollywood's best fight arrangers, Flynn became noted for his fast-paced sword fights as seen in The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Sea Hawk and Captain Blood.

Flynn co-starred with Olivia de Havilland in eight films: Captain Blood (1935), The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936), The Adventures of Robin Hood(1938), Four's a Crowd (1938), Dodge City (1939), The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939), Santa Fe Trail (1940), and They Died with Their Boots On (1941) these films are a part of the Errol Flynn Biography.