I didn’t think I had any photos for this week’s challenge, but then I found these.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Windows
Tag: Travel
Jamaica, The Land of Wood and (No) Water
Jamaica has long been known as The Land of Wood and Water. We’re surrounded by water. In addition, more than 60 rivers and tributaries crisscross the land.
But after waking up two mornings in a row, with no water coming from the taps, I’ve been forced to ask, Where’s the water?
Luckily for me, we also have a tank so we were able to switch it on and get water. But this is not a rural area – I’m less than a 15 minute drive outside of Montego Bay, which is known as Jamaica’s Second City. From where we are, I can hear the roar of the Montego River, several yards away.
Interestingly enough, it is also the rainy season. Almost every afternoon, torrential rains pelt the island, turning rivers into streams. Where does this water go? Why isn’t it being caught in reservoirs and catchment areas or harnessed by dams for use in shoring up the water supply? I am baffled.
In many rural areas, people depend on tanks and well water for their needs but in town, rows of locally produced and imported bottled water line supermarket shelves.
The situation in Kingston is probably even worse. For years now, the capital has been plagued with scheduled and unscheduled water lock-offs. Although the city continues to expand, no new reservoirs have been built since the Mona Reservoir began operating in 1959 neither has the storage capacity of the 80-some year old Hermitage Dam been increased from its 400-million gallon size.
Jamaica needs potable water for agriculture, tourism, development and daily living. As we approach our 50th year of Independence, it is important that we re-think our attitude towards water and put measures in place so that we can truly claim that we are the Land of Wood and Water.
Jamaica: Still Searching for the Real Jerk
Getting real jerk pork is one of the things I look forward to when I’m in Jamaica.
What’s Jerk?
Jerk is a style of cooking that originated on the island back in the late 1950-60s. Traditionally, spices such as garlic, mace (the outer shell of the nutmeg), thyme, cinnamon, scallion and Scotch Bonnet pepper were mixed together and rubbed into pork that was then slow-cooked in a pit fire of pimento wood. The pimento gave it its signature flavor.
Jerk pork was very popular when I was a child. As I wrote in an earlier post, I remember the Jerk Man going door to door on his bicycle selling jerk pork – it was only pork then.
Perhaps because of the influence of the Rastafarians and the fact that cooking this way is a complicated and time-consuming process, it almost disappeared.
When it returned in the late 1970s, enterprising chefs had figured out how to approximate the flavor that is derived from the pimento wood. As a result, jerk went international. It also became widely and wildly interpreted. (I’ve even seen it served with ketchup!)
Since my arrival roughly three weeks ago, I’m been on a hunt for real jerk. So far, I’ve visited several establishments, each proudly advertising mostly pork and chicken, but only once have I not left disappointed. My biggest dissatisfaction was with Border Jerk, a little spot on the border of Westmoreland and Hanover, my favorite spot – their rendition is now severely compromised.
By far the worst I’ve had was at the Jerk Center in Ocho Rios – the pork didn’t even look cooked.
To their credit, all these places offer bottled pepper for people, like me, who want it hotter but even the pepper has been watered down.
When I complain, my friends tell me to get away from the North Coast and the places where visitors frequent. They are probably right.
I’m pleased to report that I did get some real jerk on Saturday night in a little joint near Runaway Bay in St. Ann. But by the time I found it, near 11 p.m., I was so hungry I forgot to take a photo of it.
In the meantime, my search for real jerk continues. I just hope they don’t start watering down my rum and coke!
A Jamaican Cherry
I noticed this lone cherry on the tree yesterday and couldn’t resist taking a photo.
I was told that this was the last one of the latest crop but I noticed a few buds of flowers so I imagine there will be another one in a few weeks. I can’t wait.
Jamaica: Honey Bananas
We picked this bunch of bananas from the garden a few days ago and I watch each day as the green outer skin turned yellow.
In no time, each hand was gone – shared with neighbors and friends and eaten one by one.
Friday Focus: Lola Akinmade-Akerstrom
This month, InsideJourneys inaugurates Friday Focus, a series of interviews with writers and travelers.
October’s Focus is on Nigerian born writer/photographer and editor for Matador Goods, Lola Akinmade-Åkerström.
Lola holds an MSc in Information Systems from the University of Maryland and has a solid background in Geography. She specialized in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for 10+ years and her affinity for the geosciences and maps meant she was born to travel.
Her work has appeared in Vogue, National Geographic Traveler, BBC, San Francisco Chronicle, Travel Channel’s World Hum, Forbes Traveler, Sherman’s Travel, Fodors.com, ISLANDS Magazine, United’s Hemispheres, Guardian UK’s Been There, Smithsonian.com, CITY Magazine, Pology, GoNOMAD, Away.com, Transitions Abroad, Matador Network, amongst others.
Some of her articles and photography have been syndicated on MSNBC, Yahoo, New York Daily News, Chicago Sun Times, Huffington Post, and Time Warner.
She has also worked as a field journalist on the web team during Eco-Challenge’s Expedition Race in Fiji and currently volunteers as a photojournalist with the Swedish Red Cross and World Hope International, documenting their projects in countries such as Nicaragua, Sweden, and Cambodia, and C.H.I.E.F – an NGO based in Nigeria that promotes grassroots health development, HIV/AIDS awareness, and the empowerment of women.
Lola describes herself as fiercely passionate as well as compassionate and has a generous heart. She is also guided by her faith.
Here’s Lola Akinmade-Akerstrom on writing, traveling and her approach to both.
What do you find most challenging and most fun about being a travel blogger?
I actually consider myself a writer/photographer and blogging is just one of many platforms I use to share work. What I find the most invigorating in terms of blogging about travel is that I can bring people alongside me and provide a ground-level perspective of where I’m journeying through.
There are various challenges based on what type of travel blogger one is. There are many bloggers whose main goal is to make money through advertising on their site so their challenge is trying to get traffic and viewers. There are others who want to score free trips so their challenge is showing PR companies that they’ll get some return on investment.
For me personally, I earn most of my income from freelancing and so my own challenge is to always have a fresh pool of ideas and a steady backlog of work.
What does it mean to you to travel?
Travel is two-fold for me, and I consider it a part of my life. As idealistic as I am, I also try to keep a balanced view on life. I can’t make travel so consume my life that without it, I feel helpless. Yet, travel is an integral part of my life because I’ve been traveling overseas ever since I was 1 year old.
In terms of travel being two-fold, for me travel is not only about traversing the world, counting countries, and absorbing every other culture while losing yours in the process. Travel also requires that I be an ambassador for my own culture, sharing it and educating others I meet along the way as well.
I see travel as an investment and I wrote about my views here.
What places are on your bucket list and why?
Though I’ve been blessed to visit so many countries (roughly 40 so far), I’ve actually chucked out any bucket lists I had. Because my attitude and philosophy towards travel has changed with time, I’ve stopped looking at life as a checklist and more as a moment by moment experience. If I never get to go skydiving off Kilimanjaro in my lifetime, I won’t have regrets because it wasn’t on some bucket list that defined my life.
That said; I really want to go to the North Pole. It has always been a childhood dream of mine and I know someday it will happen. I also want to visit Mongolia as well as travel through and spend some time in a lot more West African countries.
Describe your dream trip.
I’ve been drawn to the South Pacific for some time now. Though I’ve visited Australia and New Zealand as well as spent 3 weeks in Fiji, my dream trip would be to spend 3-6 months in the South Pacific, island hopping and visiting every single one of those remote islands.
Tell us about a place you visited that you didn’t like.
Brussels was the one place I really didn’t dig. I’m always open to giving it another chance.
What’s the most important thing you’ve learned about yourself through traveling?
There’s a certain down-to-earth vibe that comes with being a traveler. One thing I’ve learned is to never take anything or anyone at face value. I’m very open-minded and always give everyone the benefit of doubt. I’ve also learned through my travels just how versatile and flexible I can be.
What gadgets do you have to have when you travel?
I still don’t own a smartphone mostly because I want to balance working on my travels with actually experiencing each moment. This may change within the next few months, but right now, I don’t miss having one. I always have a travel netbook as well as a DSLR camera when traveling. I often use my camera to capture what I call “visual notes” which I then piece together into an article (in addition to traditional note taking) when I’m back at my desk.
Anything else you’d like to add?
I would like to point readers to a couple posts that I think might be helpful. I always get questions about breaking into travel writing and photography and I’m always open, honest, and realistic in my responses. Here are a few articles/posts worth reading.
- Baby steps towards living your passions
- Letting go of past lives
- A to Z of Pitching Outlets
- In Pie-charts: The realities of freelancing
Thank you, Lola, for sharing your insight and your articles with us.
Read more about Lola Akinmade-Akerstrom or follow her blog by visiting her here.
Staying Connected While on the Road
One of the issues we face as we travel from developed to developing world is matching the ‘always on’ level of connection we’ve come to expect and enjoy. It becomes particularly critical if you plan to be away for longer than a week and you’ve committed to post everyday.
Prior to leaving the US, I researched connectivity options available through the major providers in Jamaica – Digicel, Lime and Claro – and felt confident that the only difficulty I’d have is deciding which company to use.
Last Monday, I set out to get a new phone and SIM – I had misplaced my Jamaica SIM and the professional I paid in London to unlock my Nokia phone damaged it instead. Getting the phone was the easy part.
When I told the sales person that I wanted to purchase a wireless modem, she asked where I lived. She might have seen the look on my face and quickly added that she had to check to see what service was like in my area. I was surprised. According to Digicel, their 4G service was available everywhere.
She tried the modem on their laptop and it fired up instantly. I’d learned from previous experience that getting anything done with a Mac in Jamaica was problematic so I had her try it on my laptop.
Just as I thought, the modem failed. She recommended another, which at about $100, was almost twice the one I wanted to buy. I was ready to buy but they had none at her location.
We drove to the store she said would have it. When I got there, I decided to check with computer technician at a computer store what modem he’d recommend for the Mac. It wasn’t Digicel’s, the one I was trying to find, but Claro’s, the Mexican company that is reportedly eyeing Digicel for purchase.
Luckily for me, Claro was on the floor below but their Mac expert was out and the modem resupply had not yet arrived. It’d be here in about an hour, I was told.
Since I hadn’t eaten since breakfast and it was getting closer to 2 p.m., I decided lunch was my priority. After lunch, I called – the modem and technician were both there. But he was doubtful their modem would work properly in my location. The signal would most likely fade or drop entirely, he said, so he advised me not to buy.
I thanked him and made my way to the Digicel store. The modem was in stock. The sales person (and Mac expert) to whom I was directed was there. Again, the modem that was supposed to work with a Mac, didn’t. She tried three different devices and called their technicians to assist but no joy. I left the store near 5 p.m. — no modem and no way to get connected.
When I told my cousin, she said I should use her DSL service. I was able to hook my laptop up but the connection is so slow, it drops every few minutes.
So, unfortunately, I haven’t been able to be online long enough to keep up with all your posts. I do hope to get this sorted out soon as I do miss my ‘always on’ connection.
I guess the best part is that I’ve been reading more and getting to bed earlier!
A Taste of Jamaica in Photos
The Taste of Jamaica, a display of local foods and culinary contests, was held over the weekend at the Convention Center near Montego Bay. Here are some photos of the event.
I’m still trying to sort out my internet connection, which is spotty at best. As a result, I haven’t been able to spend much time online. Please bear with me, I promise to get to your comments and catch up on all the posts that I’ve missed.
Random Travel Images: New York City
As I’ve written previously, one of the things I love about New York is the variety of foods to be had.
Mama Mexico is a restaurant near work that I go to frequently for lunch, especially when we have a large group or colleagues visiting. A few weeks ago, I had dinner there with a group of friends. I wouldn’t normally have ordered the paella but one of them insisted. The presentation alone was enough to fill up my stomach. The taste was absolutely divine!
Random Travel Images: Stellenbosch
Vineyard, Stellenbosch, South Africa - Vineyard, Stellenbosch, South Africa
Whether or not you like or drink wine, you shouldn’t go to Cape Town without visiting Stellenbosch, which, along with Paarl and Franschhoek, make up the wine growing region of South Africa. Only about 35 miles outside of Cape Town, it is well worth the drive to see the landscape, visit some of its many vineyards and sample its wines and brandys.
