Sunday, March 07, 2010

REGGAE LAND

JAMAICA - FEBRUARY 2009

The former Spanish colony of Santiago became known as Jamaica when the British took it over. Famous as the land of reggae and Bob Marley, it is nowadays also known as the Usain Bolt's homeland!


"JAMAICA - The clouds were coming with the ship; but in the early morning, the sun was still shining"


"APPROACHING THE ISLAND"


"FISHERMAN"


"MONTEGO BAY"


"BAND"


"REGGAE"


"URBAN JAMAICA"


"PALM TREES"


"GREEN JAMAICA"


"THE LIBERTY AT MOBAY"

47 comments:

Trotter said...

Hi Everybody! After Haiti we headed to Jamaica. Unfortunately, the sun didn’t want to come along (and my pocket sun took the day off…) so the sky in Jamaica was rather grey… This isn’t that bad for reggae and rum, but is definitely a bit depressing for the pictures, namely of the sea… ;)
Anyhow, there was still some chance to see the region between Montego Bay and Ocho Rios, and the green in between! Hope you enjoy and have a great week!
PS: The one year delay in posting will return soon to the track; not because I will post more often, but because I’m travelling much less… ;)

leo said...

Hi Gil, accustomed to ur bright n clear pics, indeed the absence of sun affected these pics but I bet not the holiday. Yeah, Jamaica has a new icon -Bolt and his trademark winning gesture :)) Your previous pics of Haiti beach looks heaven!

alicesg said...

Lovely photos. Nice to see the street scenes and the market place. Very colourful. The sea looked so beautiful.

irinapictures said...

So beautiful.

Nikon said...

Hi Gil, great shots! The island looks like someplace where Hemingway would be comfortable :)
It looks beautiful - & that ship is a wonder to look at!

SusuPetal said...

Cloudy skies make better photos, I think. Clear sun is too hard, on a cloudy day the shades of colors look better.

eye in the sky said...

My favorite in this set: "Fisherman" - a speck in the middle of a vast ocean, surreal! 2nd: the free spirt in buskers in the "Band"! Beautiful!

rochambeau said...

Thank you for the chance to see Jamaica! I'll take gray skies over not having this opportunity. The photo of the woman dancing is a 10!!
The quote you feature on your side bar by Benjamin Disraeli: "Like all great travelers, I have seen more than I remember, and remember more than I have seen" really speaks to me. Obviously most people have not traveled as much and you and Mrs. Trotter Gil, BUT for me, all of the traveling I have done has changed me and absorbed into me and made me a different person. Now even living in a small town I can see things with different eyes and heart.

Hugs to you and your pretty wife!
Constance

Gattina said...

I am very surprised that it is so green ! even with bad weather !

Anonymous said...

awwww Jamaica my dream!!
soooooo Awesome!!
thanks very much for sharing great photo series!

Chuckeroon said...

So, Trotter, Jamaica is also grey and cloudy. I must stop complaining! For a fw moments the sun has started to shine and I'm out with my two sticks walking to strengthen myself and speed up the recovery. Thanks for your regular and encouraging comments. I've got to get myself fit for that 5 minute drink at LHR!!!!!

Emery Roth said...

Gee, for a moment I thought that was you in the motor boat arriving in Jamaica. heck of a way to travel the oceans! Great photos. Montego Bay was my mother's favorite place on earth. My wife went with her once, but she looked at your photos and didn't recognize anything. Well, it was about 35 years ago when she was there.

Regina said...

Wow. Beautiful Jamaica. Thank you for sharing Trotter.

Anonymous said...

I remember being in the islands Gil and dancing in the streets to the reggae music. It's where I learned to do the Electric Slide....right there in the dusty road. ahhh...sweet memories...thank you. :)

Ron said...

Nice pics even though you didn't have the sun.

The Penguins won that game yesterday 6-3 with Sidney Crosby scoring 2 goals. I was in attendance and I will post pics on my blog soon.

BLOGitse said...

Oh boy! Look at the water! Shame on you that colour! LOL!
Lovely, lovely, lovely...
I miss good rum! and great music! :)

BLOGitse

Rakesh Vanamali said...

Wow! Awesome pictures! They are as usual, a world apart!

However, is the sea doing you bad? Sickness?

June (An Asian Traveler) said...

I love the market place. Did you have an awesome shopping there?

Thérèse said...

L'abscence de ciel bleu permet de se concentrer sur d'autres choses.C'est très beau!

A Lady's Life said...

I was wondering what people in Jamaica were thinking about this beautiful ship from the mainland.
She is indeed majestic looking, passing through this calm inlet.:)

joo said...

Terrific series! must be fun to listen to reggae in this particular place!
Greetings:)

Cloudia said...

Ya Mon! Green tea...



Aloha from Hawaii my Friend!


Comfort Spiral

Rajesh said...

The shots of island are beautiful. Amazing greenery.

magiceye said...

that was a superb virtual tour of jamaica! thank you so much!

Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

Jamaica still looks warm and inviting even though the sun stayed hidden, Gil. Nice photo of the cruise ship in harbor and the market and people and greenery!

Pietro Brosio said...

Gil, I've enjoyed all the wonderful pictures! Very interesting the images "Band", "Reggae", the collages "Urban Jamaica", "Green Jamaica"! Thanks for sharing this nice tour!
Happy new week!

Unknown said...

That looks like an awesome place to visit. So much flair and fun :)

Daniel Chérouvrier said...

Bob, tu nous manques !

Olivier said...

beaucoup de couleurs et une ile très vivante (danse, musique, fête....)

Jen Laceda | Milk Guides said...

Thanks for sharing these Jamaica photos!!

hpy said...

Luxuriant - partout.

PeterParis said...

Well, the green indicates that the sky cannot always be blue! ... and also the sugarcane needs water! I'm sure you enjoyed despite some grey skies!

Oman said...

it is really dissapointing when the sun hid in a known tropical paradise but we really had to make the most out of every situation. these are still great images and another great trip. :)

RNSANE said...

I was in Jamaica ( Radiance of the Seas ) at Montego Bay, a few years back. Had a great cruise with three nurse colleagues and one of my favorite captains, Richard Brearley, who has been working in the Miami office now, for awhile. He is one terrific guy and I miss seeing him on board a ship.

RNSANE said...

I was in Jamaica ( Radiance of the Seas ) at Montego Bay, a few years back. Had a great cruise with three nurse colleagues and one of my favorite captains, Richard Brearley, who has been working in the Miami office now, for awhile. He is one terrific guy and I miss seeing him on board a ship.

Light and Voices said...

Breathtaking island photos!
Joyce M

Cergie said...

Comme une impression d'être assise dans mon fauteuil et d'assister à des images d'un film d'action : la croisière s'amuse, tout est luxe, calme et volupté ; soudain "vroum vroum" un petit avion survole le navire, une barque accoste et cela tourne au cauchemar.
Heureusement, Trotter 002 est là avec Trotter 002 Girl et tout va bien se terminer dans les danses et les chansons !

Unknown said...

What an interesting place and one that I can only dream of going. Happy week ahead Gil.

[G@ttoGiallo] said...

Seem that when landing in Jamaica you can immediately smell mj's perfume !
(Gil, you're mixing things up in yr comments on PPG).

indicaspecies said...

Gil, thank you for sharing a lovely part of Jamaica through these superb photographs.

S-V-H said...

You have seen (almost?) everything already in this world. Will you be missing your traveling?

Florida is still a nice destination to capture some sunshine :)

Great post, Manuel.

diane b said...

It looks a colourful place with colourful people even if the sun didn't come out. My nephew lives on St Lucia Island.

Trotter said...

Hi Folks! Jamaica was probably best known for Bob Marley and reggae, rather than for its natural beauties; and many years ago, rum and drugs were added to the catalogue... More recently, however, it was Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell, Shelly-Ann Fraser and their teammates of the 4*100m that made history and brought the name of the country back to the front page. Most of the T-shirts seen in the previous post were dedicated to Usain Bolt and his incredible 9.58 seconds for the 100m race!!! Well, hope you enjoyed the tour and thanks for keeping this blog running; with an average of ten to twelve visitors a day, it’s the miracle of your comments that keep it alive!! Thanks!

Leo,
It’s true that this time my pocket sun didn’t work in Jamaica, but still there was some sun at the end of the day for an amazing sunset, as you may see on the next post!! As for Bolt, there wasn’t a shop without the T-shirts honouring the new champion!! And the Haiti pictures truly have an awesome blue... at least from my point of view... ;)

Alice SG,
The street scenes and the market come in a collage, which doesn’t allow great views of the stuff; and we actually didn’t have much time for the urban tour... Anyhow, it still shows a little bit of everything around... ;)

Irina,
Welcome back! Great pleasure to read you again here!! It didn’t appear to be as beautiful as some other Caribbean isles, probably because the sun was absent, but we still enjoyed the trip...

Paul,
Papa would certainly be comfortable in most Caribbean islands; but in Jamaica, with lots of fish, music and rum, it would be almost perfect. He would probably be just missing a «torada»... ;))
As we’ll see in a future post is amazing how much larger the «Liberty» is compared with other large cruise ships; I wonder how the Oasis would look like... ;))

Susu,
I’m not that sure that the cloudy days make better shades... Actually, the green looks rather misty and the sea is far from being blue... ;)) But I understand that for experts, probably a full sunny day won’t be the perfect occasion for photography!!

Eye,
Also like that one a lot. It was amazing and I would love to see the effect from the other side with the tiny little boat in front of the huge cruise ship!! It must have been a terrific photo opportunity... ;))
That band was bit weird, to say the least... ;))

Constance,
That was a perfect timing for the shot; she was pure reggae dancing...
I fully agree with you: any travel is a discovery and it certainly marks you, even when you didn’t notice... And if the eyes (and mind) are open, the benefit is guaranteed!!
xoxo

Gattina,
It’s green because they also get their nice share of water falling from the skies... ;)). But this was supposed to be the dry season, so the clouds and some rain we got in the road from Montego Bay to Ocho Rios was a bit disturbing and annoying... ;)

Niki-san,
Wow! So great to have you back at Blogtrotter after such a long time!! I’m sure there are also other dream islands in your catalogue... ;). My pleasure to show it to you...

Stuart,
Great to see you around. Things are surely improving!! You know, it seems that the anti-cyclone of the Azores has moved south and that is affecting badly the weather here. We are catching some storms from the Atlantic that were previously reserved for the British Isles... So, no need to complain... ;).
Look forward to seeing you fit for our drink... wherever... ;)

Ted,
I would love to have the perspective from the other side, though I wouldn’t be so excited to travel in such a tiny little boat... ;))
Actually, I don’t have many pictures of Montego; just on arrival from the boat and some in the city... and furthermore, they are in collages, which doesn’t help much to recognize sites... And, of course, there are thirty five years in between the trips!! ;)

Regina,
My pleasure! I’m glad that you liked and please feel free to enjoy as much as you wish... ;)

Trotter said...

Replies, Part Two!

Lynn,
Those look like great memories; dancing in the streets, learning the Electric Slide... You surely had a great time in the Islands... ;)). The roads don’t look that dusty now and the atmosphere isn’t probably the same, but definitely I didn’t have much time to catch the feeling and the mood...

Ron,
I’ve seen the pictures! You both look perfect Penguins for that game!! And the game was repeated on TV on Sunday, so I had the chance to see Sydney Crosby scoring twice during that match... I think it was the first time I watched an ice hockey game in full; and the reason was only that the Penguins, which I wouldn’t surely know they exist if you were not mentioning them on your blog, were playing. See the responsibility... ;))

BLOGitse,
That water colour seems to have some resemblances with a certain river that runs near your previous home in Cairo... ;)). As for the rum and music, I don’t think that the move to Morocco will help; except that you’ll be just one hour away from Lisbon... ;))

Rakesh,
Thanks for the compliment, but I think I’ve already seen some better pictures, even in this blog... ;)
Sea sickness is something I hadn’t experienced, having been born in an island and having travelled by sea since an early age; but your post on «déjà vu» was raising some troublesome medical questions, further to the philosophical... ;))

June,
I was suspecting you would be highly interested in that market... but that isn’t my particular field of experience... ;)

Thérèse,
C’est vrai que, quand il n’y a pas du soleil, tu te rends compte d’autres choses qui existent ; mais, normalement, ces choses ne sont pas trop attrayantes, ce que, peut-être, n’est plus le cas en Jamaïque… Au moins, je n’ai pas remarqué des types en essayant de vendre «gold», comme le mentionne Carmen (RNSane) dans son commentaire à mon récent post… ;))

Lady,
That’s a very good question and I wonder how the fisherman in the middle of the sea would have seen that huge ship coming by... ;). The Liberty is colossal; I wonder how the Oasis would look like; truly floating cities, that’s what we have there...

Joo,
Reggae on the spot? It’s like listening to «fado» in Portugal or watching flamenco in Spain... But, all in all, it was depends on the mood and, much more important, the company... ;)

Cloudia,
Green tea? Amazing what you made me search; and look what I found at www.Jamaican-recipes.com: «Jamaican Breakfast would not be complete without a hot beverage called “tea.” Now the teas are divided into two categories, “bush tea” (herbal)and the other canned or dry packaged drinks called by their commercial names such as, Milo, Horlicks, Vita-Cup, Cocoa, Green Tea, Ovaltine, and Caafi (Coffee if you are from Upper St. Andrew, usually Dark Roast Coffee , sorry no decaf). “Bush tea” is, Cerasse, Lime Leaf, Black Mint, Pepper Mint, Soursop Leaf, Donkey Weed, Fever Grass (Lemon Grass), and Cinnamon Leaf». See what I learned with your Aloha comment? ;))

Rajesh,
I was wondering how that green would be in a decent clear and sunny day… It must be much different of this misty, pastel green I’ve caught in my camera that day… ;)

Magic,
There was still some more to come in the next post, which was also dedicated to Jamaica; so keep your breath and enjoy!! ;)

Pat,
Warm, it surely is... Inviting, is more questionable; for instance, some fellow travellers, who sat at our table for dinner at the main restaurant, went for a raft journey in a river and got a downpour of rain on them... Don’t think they felt it quite inviting... ;))

Pietro,
Thanks for your kind words. I’m thinking on how to improve the quality of those collages, but it’s not an easy task; in particular for an amateur photographer and a less than amateur software expert... ;))

Nicole,
Thanks for your visit and first time comment on Blogtrotter 2! There are many interesting places to visit in this not so small world, but Jamaica, like many others, also has its charm... ;)

Trotter said...

Part Three!

Daniel,
C’est vrai qu’il est parti trop tôt… Mais au moins la musique reste…

Olivier,
Ce n’est pas la gigue en Provence, mais c’est vrai qu’il y a de la musique, de la fête et… du rhum, partout… ;)).

Jen,
My pleasure!! I’m sorry I couldn’t show pictures of some awesome venues they surely have over there, but I’m sure I’ll find some incredible views of wonderful hotels in Jamaica one day in your blog...

Hélène,
Luxuriant c’est vraiment un terme adéquat pour décrire ce qu’on voit là-bas… Un jour je visiterais aussi Guadeloupe et Martinique; ça sera aussi luxuriant, j’espère… ;)

Peter,
That’s true; so much green couldn’t grow in the dry desert... but I always have this weird idea that rain could chose night, when most of us are sleeping, to fall... ;)). And of course, sugarcane needs water... I truly miss chewing some sugar cane as I used to do when I was a young kid in the Madeira Island...

Norman,
You’re an expert on tropical paradises and also on photography, so you know how tough it is to get something decent under a cloudy sky, when everything looks just grey around you... I’m glad I managed to get some decent shots, but imagine how it would look like in a sunny, clear day...

Carmen,
That story is absolutely amazing: trying to sell you gold and it turns to be marijuana... ;) We didn’t have much time there, so we had no experience of the city life, but it seems things have not changed a lot, though I haven’t heard anyone complaining to having been annoyed in the streets with that kind of stuff selling!!
You always dine at Captain’s table, for sure... ;)

Joyce,
Thanks! I’ve seen better, but ok, these pictures were the ones we managed to get on that grey day... ;)

Lucie,
Tu racontes toujours des histories magnifiques!! Alors, je te donne les photos et toi, tu fais le script… Après on essayera de le vendre à quelqu’un qui mettra sur scène, disons… avec Brad et Angeline… Sauf si, en regardant bien le panorama, ça va mieux avec Trotter 2 et Trotter Girl… ;))

M.Kate,
I know it’s a long journey for you, but awaken dreams are supposed to be fulfilled; so, better start packing!! ;)

G@tto,
More Bob Marley than MJ... ;)
I was deliberately mixing your House for sale in Sardinia with the Japanese experience; not funny, but still... ;)

Celine,
Great to see you back here!! I’m always thrilled with your adventures, which, to me, seem much more exciting than these slow travel escapades of mine... ;)). The area between Mobay (Montego Bay) and Ocho Rios is the touristier of the island; it seems that life in Kingston, the capital, isn’t that interesting. But I haven’t seen it...

Sue,
It’s not such a small world, so there is still a lot to see. Unfortunately, I’m a bit stuck for the time being (of course I miss travelling already...) and I’m feeling that some places are starting to get out of reach... We’ll see how we can manage that... ;)

Diane,
It’s surely much more colourful in sun light... ;)
I think Santa Lucia is much more beautiful than Jamaica; at least of what I’ve seen from both... You may find some of my pictures of St. Lucia here. Enjoy!!

juka14 said...

Jamaica looks very green, good to know there's still some nature left.

Trotter said...

Juka,
True; but there is also nature somewhere else in this world... ;)