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| Honorary Citizen of Jamaica, Pirate Henry Morgan |
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| Caribbean Fate - Slavery for 300 years |
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| Usai Bolt, Olympic Gold Hero of Falmouth |
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| Vendor stall in front of decrepit old building |
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| Tourist vendor stalls outside of Cruise Terminal |
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| Main Street in Falmouth |
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| Smoking kills.... |
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| Falmouth Fountain, where the very first city water system of the Americas was born |
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| Bob Marley, long dead but not forgotten |
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| Falmouth Finest keeping watch |
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| Parish Church in Falmouth, one of dozens of churches here |
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| Invitation to service by St Peter the Apostle Parish Church |
1494 and Columbus sights Jamaica, in 1503 he is stranded for a while on its north shore. Only 10 years later, in 1513, African Slaves arrived in Jamaica. Twenty years after that, trade was booming with slaves arriving from Africa, and valuable loot and produce going out. Pirates realized pretty quickly that this was fertile ground for their activities, and they settled on the island around 1535.
Only in 1769 the present town of Falmouth was founded. It quickly became the world's largest sugar port, and more than 100 rich plantations exported sugar and rum to England.
However, one leg of the lucrative trade triangle (slaves from Africa to the New World, sugar and other goods to England, and slave purchasing 'currency' goods to Africa) collapsed around 1840, when slaves were set free in Jamaica - after more than 300 years of one of the longest lasting holocausts on the planet. Slave trading ended and economic decline started.
What stayed behind together with the descendants of slaves who worked the old sugar cane fields, is the typical architecture of the bygone era: intricate gables, balustrades, louvered windows and churches upon churches. Market street is lined with Georgian style homes, now barely hanging on to faded grandeur, which made Falmouth in its heyday the 'Paris of the Indies'.
Market Street was used as a location for the filming of 'Papillon'.
Falmouth is said to have the most churches of any community in the world - a Guinness Record. Falmouth also prides itself of another record, that of having the first public fresh water system (another Guinness record) in the new world, earlier even than New York.
After the sugar business collapse, the port's importance declined, especially when deeper draft vessels could no longer enter and used Kingston or Montego Bay instead.
No matter, the 21 Century fixed that little problem. Royal Caribbean Cruise Line with its floating cities of the sea - the 5000 and more passenger cruise ships - constructed a passenger cruise terminal to end all cruise terminals, using some of the old warehouses, stately mansions et al to convert the port area (with appropriate landfills, dredging, dock construction) to a shopping complex in which 6000 people can get lost quite easily. Well, if one parks two of these monsters there at the same time, it may get a little crowded. The port area seems to be the only district of present day Falmouth, that is not falling apart or sinking into jungle greenery covered masonry or corrugated tin structures. It is vast...and not yet finished. Work is underway to expand 'Margaritaville' even further by adding a giant swimming pool (inclusive of bars and wave machine) and a few fake beach areas (inclusive of bar).
One can enjoy hamburgers and hot dogs, visit Margaritaville, or eat some local delicacies....however, if one expects to find any fish in the cruise terminal fish fritters - forget it. Spiced up corn flour in the shape of dumplings is what you get.
Jamaica's most well known citizen of today may well be the Olympic Gold Medal winner Bolt, the fastest man on earth - for now. One of the most famous of its chequered past was Captain Morgan, who not only was a prolific and ruthless privateer and pirate, but actually held the honorable office of Governor of Jamaica for a while.
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| Bamboo raft parking lot |
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| Raft Captains... |
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| River Side souvenir store |
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| Floating down the River.... |
I enjoyed a little detour onto the River Martha Brae, which slowly winds through verdant and lush tropical rain forest, ideal for a leisurely ride on a long bamboo raft. One reclines on a low bamboo bench, upholstered with a plastic cushion, and watches the forest glide by in silence, with nothing but a little gurgling of water each time the rafts man lifts and inserts his long bamboo pole into the stream to propel the raft forward and past any obstacles. The little journey lasts about 1 1/2 hours and transports the traveller for a short while into a more peaceful and gentle environment than that of noise and commercialism of the terminal or the contrasting poverty of Falmouth proper.
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| Colourful scenery floating quietly along... |
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| Watch your head - and your raft... |
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| One man power motor - it works |
