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As soon as we got off the boat (Malcom safely tacked away in a box in my bag!) all we heard is "Rasta!" and "Bob Marley!" mainly aimed at Matt... all the locals were very impressed with his, and my, dreads and wanted to give us "respect" and shake our hands. Once we worked our way through our rastafarian onslaught and hoards of taxi drivers offering us lifts, we found a quietish area at the dock to release Malcom, who was at this point getting very agitated and trying to escape from his box. After a bit of hesitation, Malcom finally took flight from Matts hand and flew off into sky and off into the distance! Hooray!!
Then we went off to find the east bus station, Simon leading the way, and caught a bus to Long Bay, a beach on the other side of the island, about an hours drive. Played a bit of volley ball in the sea, and had our first delicious Caribbean meal of red snapper at the local beach bar that played reggae! It did rain on and off during the day, but it was so warm that we didn't mind.
As the rain eased off, we decided to walk to a nearby landmark Devil's Bridge, a literal bridge formed out of rock over the sea. A notorious suicide area as the sea is very rough and rocky and if you fall in (or jump), you're pretty much a goner. However it did continue to rain as we were walking and we got completely soaked, but we still enjoyed it and it was worth the walk when we got there.
Up by the bridge we met a lady called Shemaine who was there trying to sell souvenirs, but told us that there hadn't been any tourists all day because of the rain, so she offered to give us a lift back to our ship for 5 dollars each, which after an hours soaking walk and not knowing when the buses were running, we were very pleased to accept. On the way back, Shemaine told us that she had just recently lost her fiancee to Devils Bridge, who was a lifeguard who dived into the waters after someone who had fallen in, and drowned along with the guy he had tried to save. It turned out that the gut he had tried to save was actually already dead as he was shot and murdered and then thrown into devils bridge. Now she is left with a 2 year old son that she has to raise by herself, sellling hand made souvenirs... although it's very hard to make money as most shops get their souvenirs from China and sell them much cheaper than the locals can afford to do. We actually met her son, named Lyfe, as we picked him up on our way to the boat.... a very sweet little boy who had no problem being put on Simon lap and smiling for the camera!
One of Shemaine's other jobs was as a tour guide, so on he way she she gave us some info on the island... it was used mainly in the past as a sugar cane plantation, all food is imported including fresh water! The main thing they import apart from water is chicken as that is their favourite meat. On the island the ratio of women to men is 5-1. All the islands are very religious, all the different areas are named after different saints, and it's much easier to tell people you are a Christian if they ask or you will get a preachng session.
Next stop: St Martin
- comments
Badge Knew they'd love your dreads! And a dread couple I'm sure is a hit! Definitely the right place to start your adventures! xx
David What an interesting start indeed.