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5:00 am start to make the two-hour drive east into the John Crow Mountains. The area boasts all of the endemics, so a chance to pick up some we are missing. It's rainy today (!) and rains for most of the drive. Once in the mountains, walking along a one-lane road, the rain comes and goes as several endemics make an appearance. The Ring-tailed Dove has a striking turquoise stripe on back of its head, contrasting with the pinkish-grey body. The Arrowhead Warbler has an intricate black and white pattern undulating all over its body. Then there are the Parrots: Black-billed and Yellow-billed.
We're exhausted from walking all morning by the time we hit Boston Bay for lunch at the Boston Jerk Shop. Jerk pork/jerk chicken were invented in this town supposedly; the seasonings and slow cooking being the most authentic. The Maroons, escaped slaves from the 17th c. British, had a settlement in the area and used slow cooking because it produced less detectable smoke.
Our jerk is served with mixed vegetables (cabbage, carrots, greens), fried plantains, "bammies" (fried yuca cake). The restaurant "kitchen" consisted of two wood pits. One had pork slices over the fire, weighted down with wooden planks. The other one was for the chicken, weighted down by a corrugated metal sheet. Lunch was good, surrounded by locals!
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Sue Brandehoff Happy Thanksgiving to you two adventurers!