I used to feel a little envious when my aunt would talk about the island hopping she and her friends did when they were at the University of the West Indies. Back then, the best way to travel among the islands was by boat. The trip she talks about often took place the year she graduated. She and some of her class mates decided to accompany those from different islands who were returning home. Whenever they reached the island home of a member of their group, they disembarked and did that until they arrived at their last stop, Port of Spain in Trinidad & Tobago.
My aunt never revealed what they did while they were on board or after they disembarked, but from the smile on her face when she tells the story now, I know they had a blast.
Unfortunately, that service ceased operating in the 70s.
Now, a new service, announced by Trinidad & Tobago’s Transport Minister Devant Maharaj is set to launch later this year and will be based in Port of Spain. It will be operated by a Barbadian consortium, Fast Ferry Ltd.
The first phase would connect the islands of Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Lucia, Trinidad & Tobago and Barbados. Ferries would leave Port of Spain, at 6:00 a.m. and arrive in Bridgetown, Barbados, its last stop, at 6:00 p.m.
The proposed average price of tickets for Trinidadian citizens would be between US$25 and US$35, however, 100,000 seats, priced at $10, would be available annually.
The company has announced that additional routes will be added when they achieve commercial viability.
Photo from the Internet
The service will join already established ferry services that make travel within the US and British Virgin Islands, and the Bahamas possible. There is no ferry service connecting the larger islands – Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
Marcia Griffiths was born in Kingston in 1949. She started singing professionally in 1964 but became an international sensation in 1989 when a deejay in Washington, DC began playing a little song she recorded seven years earlier. The Electric Boogie, with its infectious, feel-good rhythms, spawned a new line dance, the Electric Slide, which still draws young and old to dance floors at weddings, family reunions and parties. It was featured in movies, The Best Man (1999), and on the Oprah Winfrey Show.
Marcia Griffiths, photo from the Internet
Griffiths was also part of the I-Threes, the trio of accomplished women, Judy Mowatt and Rita Marley, who provided back-up vocals for Bob Marley from 1974 until the singer’s death in 1981.
Griffiths has sang with the legendary band, Byron Lee & the Dragonaires and had a long collaboration with another gifted Jamaican artist, Bob Andy, with whom she recorded, Young, Gifted and Black.
In recognition of her contribution to reggae music, the Jamaican Government awarded Griffiths an Order of Distinction in 2002.
Griffiths, who has 14 albums to her credit, continues to perform. She recently performed on opening night at this year’s Jamaica Jazz & Blues Festival.
One of the things I look forward to each week is watching the cruise ships as they pull into Montego Freeport. On Wednesdays, its usually a ship from Carnival’s fleet. On Thursdays, it’s one from another fleet, like Royal Caribbean or MSC Cruises.
To my surprise today, two Carnival ships, the Conquest, and the Magic – the newest Carnival ship to stop in Montego Bay – have come in. The Magic can accommodate 6,000 – 4,500 passengers and 1,400 crew; the Conquest 2,974 passengers and 1,150 crew.
Carnival Magic and Conquest, Montego Freeport
One of four cruise ship ports on Jamaica’s north coast, Montego Freeport was built in the 1960s on what was known then as the Bogue Islands. It has berths for 2 cruise ships. Ocho Rios, Port Antonio and Falmouth, which opened in 2011, are the other three ports.
Carnival Magic and Conquest, Montego FreeportCarnival Magic and Conquest, Montego FreeportCarnival Magic and Conquest, Montego Freeport
This is my submission to this week’s Budget Travelers Sandbox Travel Photo Thursday series. Be sure to check out other photo and story entries on their website!
This week, all roads will lead to the Jamaica Jazz & Blues Festival which is set to start tomorrow, January 26th and run until January 28th at Greenfield Stadium in Trelawny.
Headliner Celine Dion, who’s performing for the first time in the Caribbean, The Voice’s Cee Lo Green, Earl Klugh, The Temptations Review, featuring Dennis Edwards, Heads of State (Bobby Brown, Johnny Gill, Ralph Tresvant), Shaggy, Etana, Marcia Griffiths, John Holt, Yellow Man, Destra and Damian Marley are among those who are scheduled to perform
In tribute to the celebration of Jamaica’s 50th anniversary of independence, general admission tickets on opening night will be $50 for a single event. On Friday, $100; $80 on Saturday. Weekend passes are $175. The $250 season pass ticket gets you in for all events.
Getting There:
Greenfield Stadium is located about an hour’s drive from Montego Bay. Jazz Shuttle & Taxi Service is available from most hotels.
The Jamaica Jazz & Blues Festival, Greenfield Stadium, January 26-28, 2012.
As someone who makes several trips a year, I’ve never thought twice about or been concerned by the fact that I can’t swim. That is, until now. Two incidents over the past few weeks have me thinking that I need to learn.
First, was the report of the Australian visitor to Victoria Falls who swam to safety after her bungee cord snapped. Then reports surfaced last week that some passengers on the Costa Concordia had to swim to shore when the ship ran aground off Giglio Island.
It wasn’t difficult to imagine myself in both situations — I had contemplated taking a similar jump when I visited Victoria Falls a few years ago and have been twice aboard ship — but it was difficult to imagine how I’d fare.
Except for the very minimal (travel insurance, and copies of my documents and itinerary that I leave with a family member), and the need to learn to swim, I don’t have an emergency preparedness travel plan. These two events underscore, at least for me, the importance of having one. Do you have an emergency plan?
The Emergency Preparedness Travel Plan
Buy travel insurance: For a fraction of the price of your ticket, travel insurance can cover trip cancellation, baggage insurance, health insurance – including medical evacuation, and coverage in the case of injury or death.
Leave copies of passport, visas, credit cards, itinerary – including the telephone number/s of airline/s and hotel/s, and if there is one, the name of your travel agent, with a friend or family member. Someone should know where you’re going to be and should you lose your documents, you can expedite their re-issuance.
Check in with someone – a family member or friend – by email, phone or text message at regular intervals.
If you are a U.S. citizen, register your travel itinerary using the Smart Travelers Enrollment Program (STEP), a free service for Americans who are traveling to or living in foreign countries that allows the U.S. Department of State to provide assistance in case of an emergency. ** Also available as an app from Apple. If you’re a citizen of another country, have the number of the nearest consulate, embassy or honorary representative handy.
Pack a travel first aid kit with needle and thread, antihistamine, antacids, aspirins, pain killers, condoms, water purification tablets, band-aids, Neosporin, etc.
Pack a change of clothes in your carry-on luggage so that if you arrive at your destination before your checked luggage does, you’ll have clean clothes to wear.
Whether you’re on a plane or a ship, pay attention to safety instructions. Know where to locate your personal flotation device and life vests. On a ship, note where lifeboats are located.
Whether you’re on a plane, a ship or in a hotel, take note of the entrances, and the location of exits nearest your seat, cabin or room. In a hotel, check whether your window opens to the street, the sea or the ground in the event you have to use it as a means of egress.
Have in mind a plan of escape should you have to evacuate.
If you have to leave quickly, forget the ‘stuff.’ Get to safety then worry about your stuff later. We’ve all heard the tragic story of the Costa Concordia’s violinist who went back to retrieve his instrument.
If you’re traveling with others, designate a meeting spot, be it a coffee shop or a park and make sure everyone knows how to find it.
Disaster can strike in an instant. Being prepared, especially when we’re in unfamiliar territory, can help us stay remain calm and focused and that can certainly save lives.
What’s in your Emergency Preparedness Travel Plan?
This week, we received news that Grammy award winning singer, Etta James, had passed away five days before her 74th birthday. I was ‘introduced’ to Ms. James when I was a student at university. Back then, as I’ve written in previous posts, my friends and I would share the music of our favorite artists. Etta James was one of my friend’s.
Born Jamesetta Hawkins in Los Angeles in 1938, Etta James began singing in her church at age 5. She is best known for her signature song, At Last, which was recorded in 1960. It brought her renewed interest when it was featured in the 2008 film, Cadillac Records.
Etta James, photo from the Internet
During a career that spanned nearly 60 years, Ms. James recorded more than 35 albums. She won six Grammy Awards and 17 Blues Music Awards. In 1993, she was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame; the Blues Hall of Fame in 2001 and the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999 and 2008. She also received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003.
Ms. James has been a musical influence to artists such as Diana Ross, Christina Aguilera, Joss Stone, Adele, the Rolling Stones, Amy Winehouse and Rod Stewart.
She is survived by her husband, Artis Mills and her sons Donto and Sametto.
Take a listen to this selection from Ms. James, I’d Rather Go Blind, and my absolute favorite, Sunday Kind of Love.
I don’t have a green thumb but I love flowers, especially orchids. Unfortunately, they don’t seem to love me. Each time I buy one, I think it will be different, it will last more than a few months. Each time, I’ve been wrong.
Now that I’m in Jamaica, where orchids are plenty and grow wild, I’m tempted but I’m gun shy. So for now, I’m satisfied to take photos of the ones I see.
Jamaican orchid
Over 30,000 species of orchids can be found worldwide. Approximately 230 are found in Jamaica. Of that number, about 70 are endemic to the island.
The main threat to Jamaican orchids is from the destruction of their habitats caused by land clearing for housing, hotel and agricultural development, bauxite and/or limestone mining, harvesting of forest products for timber, fuel wood, fish pots, yam sticks and fence posts.
Jamaican OrchidJamaican Orchid
The second greatest threat to the species is believed to be collection by orchid enthusiasts for local and international trade. The government has enacted legislation to protect their habitats and regulate the orchid trade. Sanctuaries have also been established to relocate orchids that are found in areas under threat.
These orchids are from the gardens of friends and family.
This one is known locally as Poor Man’s Orchid. It sure looks like it could be.
Poor Man's Orchid
This is my submission to this week’s Budget Travelers Sandbox Travel Photo Thursday series. Be sure to check out other photo and story entries on their website!
Speaking of today’s observance of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day with a friend, I was reminded of the time before there was an actual holiday.
It took approximately 18 years from the campaign for a federal holiday began after King was assassinated in 1968 to the signing into law by President Reagan in 1983 to the first observation in 1986. During that time, countless people lobbied and worked tirelessly for the day.
Sometime in the 1980s, I attended a Stevie Wonder concert where he got the crowd all fired up about the efforts that had been underway. He ended the show with a rousing sing-along to the Happy Birthday song (lyrics below). I remember that my friends and I left the concert singing the song and on the drive back to Canada, discussing ways we could get involved.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial
My friend reminded of the people, like herself, who before the day became an official holiday took the day off and made silent prayers that they’d have a job when they returned to work the following day. I was living in the States by then and was lucky enough to be working with a company that gave us the day off long before it became a recognized holiday.
There was a feeling of elation that year of the first observance. I remember the discussions. Everyone I knew wanted the day to live up to the ideal that Martin Luther King, Jr. embraced and espoused – that of service to others. We knew without an emphasis on service, it would be easy for the day to become just another shopping day. In fact, earlier today, I heard a commercial on television that went something like this: Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream. We at (name of company) also have a dream…I couldn’t believe it.
After some resistance, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is now observed in all 50 states.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial
Happy Birthday, Dr. King (January 15th). Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
“Happy Birthday”
You know it doesn’t make much sense
There ought to be a law against
Anyone who takes offense
At a day in your celebration
Cause we all know in our minds
That there ought to be a time
That we can set aside
To show just how much we love you
And I’m sure you would agree
It couldn’t fit more perfectly
Than to have a world party on the day you came to be
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday
I just never understood
How a man who died for good
Could not have a day that would
Be set aside for his recognition
Because it should never be
Just because some cannot see
The dream as clear as he
that they should make it become an illusion
And we all know everything
That he stood for time will bring
For in peace our hearts will sing
Thanks to Martin Luther King
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday
Why has there never been a holiday
Where peace is celebrated
all throughout the world
The time is overdue
For people like me and you
Who know the way to truth
Is love and unity to all God’s children
It should be a great event
And the whole day should be spent
In full remembrance
Of those who lived and died for the oneness of all people
Without a doubt, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy’s current role as the first lady of France has dwarfed her singing career. Until she married and her name became known internationally, few of us knew anything about her.
I confess, I didn’t put much stock in her singing ability. But a few weeks ago, I watched a documentary on Ms. Bruni-Sarkozy (Somebody Told Me About…Carla Bruni) and was forced to change my tune. I was taken by her voice, and impressed by the lyrics she’s written for herself and others.
Born Carla Gilberta Bruni Tedeschi on December 23, 1967 in Turin, Italy, Ms. Bruni-Sarkozy is an heiress to the fortune created by the CEAT tires company. According to Wikipedia, the family moved to France in the 1970s when Ms. Bruni-Sarkozy was 7 to escape the threat of kidnapping by terrorist groups who targeted the wealthy.
Following a successful career in modeling, Ms. Bruni-Sarkozy quit in 1997 to devote herself to her music. She has recorded three albums, Quelqu’un m’a dit (2003), No Promises (2007) which comprises poems by Yeats, Dickinson, Auden, Dorothy Parker, de la Mare, and Christina Rossetti set to music, and Comme si de rien n’était (2008). She’s recorded with Harry Connick, Jr., and in 2009 sang for Nelson Mandela’s birthday party at Radio City Music Hall.
Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, image from the Internet
Ms. Bruni-Sarkozy’s been married to Nicholas Sarkozy since 2008. Last October, she gave birth to her second child, Giulia, in Paris.
In addition to her musical career, Ms. Bruni-Sarkozy’s also been involved in the movies — she played the museum guide in Woodie Allen’s film, Midnight in Paris – and humanitarian efforts. Her foundation, launched in 2009, promotes access to culture and knowledge for everyone.
