Just returned from Treasure Beach - and will blog re last weekend, Gibson Relays and Barrington Watson art tour, in a few days.
Treasure Beach is on the south shore and far from the tourist track, about 3 hours drive from Kingston. It has wonderful black sand beaches and delightful cottages and guest houses. We rented a car and left Kingston late on Friday afternoon, arriving in TB about 7 pm. Kim and Erin were with me and, thankfully, Kim had been there before and she was invaluable re directions - I'd have been seriously lost re lack of road signs and inadequate map. Hey, I'm in Jamaica, mon!
Delphine and Shalini joined us on Saturday - for some unexplained reason they decided to stay in Kingston for a "sunrise meditation" on Saturday morning. After which, they jumped a coaster and in mid-afternoon met us in Treasure Beach. We will not go into the complexities and vagracies of coaster riding in this blog . . . it deserves its own. Enough said that they had a long and arduous journey. We were so pleased that they could share the back seat of our wee rented Yaris for the return trip on Sunday!
Wonderful weekend on beach, much reading, resting, swimming, eating, and a wonderful time out of the city. The story is in the pictures . . .
Black sand of Treasure Beach. Taken from the front of our place at the Golden Sands at about 6:30 am just as the sun was rising. I am an early riser.
Fishing boats beside our place and just in front of the restaurant where we had daily breakfasts and dinners.
The restaurant was call thus. No idea why.
Fishing boats.
More fishing boats.
Rose Cottage. We had the cottage to ourselves, with three bedrooms each with own ensuite, communal kitchen and living area, patio and right on the beach.
Beach Cottage next to Rose Cottage.
Impatiens grow wild. And they grow in every available possibility of nurture.
Those three lumps under the palapa (this is taken from the door of Rose Cottage) are (left to right), Shalini, Delphine, and Erin. They were unrecognizable for hours.
Near sunset on Saturday, the local boys played football on the beach.
Kids and a ball. It does not get better than this.
My favourite.
Lucky and Lewis. Lewis owns Golden Sands and his grandson, Richard, (who mostly lives in England) runs the place when he is in Jamaica. Lewis shows up every day to talk to the guests and share is his love of Treasure Beach, and sits in the "lounge" from almost dawn to dusk. He also loves "Lucky" (on the left) who he rescued about 6 months ago as an abandoned kitten, just a few weeks old, on the side of the road. The feeling is mutual and Lucky is never more than a few feet from Lewis, who feeds him sardines.
Office at Golden Sands.
Waikiki by the Sea. Best callaloo omlettes that I have ever had - my favourites and I will greatly miss callaloo when I return to Canada. On Saturday night the curry lobster was delightful. This little shack, with four tables, was a 5 minute walk down the beach from the Golden Sands. And great coffee in the mornings!
Erin in the hammock.
Bubbling Springs
On our drive back to Kingston from TB, the plan was to stop at "Bubbling Springs" in Lacovia and then on to the Appleton Rum Estate for a tour. Off we went with a driver (moi) and four navigators. Despite a map and a few signs on roads, some of them of questionable assistance, we found ourselves a little more west than anticipated and when we thought we should heading into hills someone in the back seat expressed interest as to why the ocean was on our immediate left a few metres away. Through no design of our own, we had found our way to Black River which was very beautifutl.
Delphine had recommended that we go to Bubbling Springs and we were all very keen, with images of fern covered grottos, fresh water springs, all beautifully tucked into the Jamaica hillside.
As noted earlier, we were not really lost: we knew exactly where we were, though it was not necessarily where we wanted to be. Rather suddenly, far from Lacovia, we came across these guadily painted premises and the equally gaudy sign announcing "Bubbling Springs". Screeeeeech!
After a bit of negotiating by Delphine, we were in. The price of admission was worth the laughs and the pictures. Not sure if we all left completely cured of our collective ills - as promised at the entry - but we did leave with great humour and memories.
We never made it to Appleton -:( Next time.
Delphine (l) and Shalini (r) entering the cool waters. If you are thinking that this looks like a touristy, fun park with go-garts and no trace of a natural spring (or natural anything!) you would be correct.
These three Jamaican ladies were readying for the springs. I particularly liked the fetching outfit on the right. I resisted taking pictures as they entered the water; it would have been unkind.
We were quite taken with this couple, each wearing plastic bags tied to their heads. Hey, you would not want to wash your hair too often.
Who knew?
Even the palm trees and cars were painted in stripes!
We stopped for sustenance at the Pourus jerk centre. You cannot even get out of the car! The vendors don't wait for you - they swarm your car and it is difficult to even get out.
Many choices and much competition at the Pourus jerk centre.
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