Avia Ustanny, Freelance Writer
IF YOU HAVE not yet decided which horizons you want to explore in 2003 then you will find, between the covers of the 'Best of Skywritings', a good place to start your prospecting.
The recently published compilation of the in-flight magazine's top stories from the last 30 years offers charming and intriguing tales of places, people and things Jamaican.
For nature buffs, Alan Eyre's account of his Blue Mountain hike in the magazine will have immediate appeal. You may begin the journey from Bath, St. Thomas, and make your way through Corn Puss Pass and on to Millbank in Portland. This, the writer says, is a six-hour journey for those who are physically fit. Note, however, if you are still weighed down with the excesses of the season pass, it may take twice as long.
Miles of valley and hill, some emerging with the dawn, some revealing quaint dwellings in the morning sun, will make you want to keep on trekking, says Eyre.
Up there in the cool mountain clime, our world class coffee berries also flourish. Those who expend the energies to make the hike will pass coffee farms and spectacular views at every rest stop. You may also receive congratulatory handshakes from those who have made the hills their home for generations. Here's an opportunity to meet some of the folks who live and work on these mountains.
The Blue Mountain peak for most Jamaicans is synonymous with beauty and natural pleasures. The hilly area is home to the highest point above sea level, and conquering it gives one bragging rights.
In the very next article, written by Bea Lim, we are introduced to the Mothersills who harvest cool mountain blooms for sale on Kingston's heated sidewalks. Yes, in the upper reaches of the Blue Mountains, Jamaicans grow not only food crops, but also flowers. In Content, Cascase, Guava Ridge and other mountain communities, Asters, Marigolds, Gladioli, Roses and Crysanthemums flourish.
Kingston, hunched over the Liguanea Plain, may not be as
physically appealing as the towering hills. Still, it possesses wealth in its heritage.
Writers Calvin Bowen, Marguerite Curtin and Barbara Gloudon, penning eclectic paragraphs about Kingston, provide an urban history lesson. Prepare to meet quaint characters, to be reminded of buildings that have disappeared, churches that testify to the past and goats that have no need to distinguish between present and past, city and country in their foray for food.
Island gems
Not a history buff? If you want to leave the city behind, there are no shortage of places to visit, as this coffee table book will tell you. There's Treasure Beach, a south coast fishing village in St. Elizabeth, among other island gems.
But, short of taking Air Jamaica Express when the mood for the seaside hits, how will you get out and about? Take a sip of your Blue Mountain coffee and settle down to peruse the article "Transportation Jamdown style', By Barbara Gloudon. This is a review of the days of horse and buggy, travelling by 'chi chi' bus (which by the way, we learn, has nothing to do with anyone's sexual orientation), through to the days of the sardine-style mini bus.
However you choose to travel, Phillip Gosse is a good companion to take with you on your venture into the 'bush'. Gosse's love of the hinterland is reflected in Ian Robinson's article, 'Exploring Phillip Gosse's Jamaica'. Robinson takes us to Bluefields Mountains where he (Robinson) had discovered descendants of the Nagos, a Yoruba tribe from Nigeria, as well as a coffee plantation with a history of slavery. He also finds an old Baptist chapel -- which even the Baptists had forgotten, basks in the sweeping vista and pants for the hot pepper 'shwims' (shrimps) of nearby Middle Quarters, St. Elizabeth.
The 'Sky Writings' tour continues through wealthy Falmouth, Trelawny -- rich in heritage -- and into the cockpit country with unusual place names like Me no sen, Yu no come, Wait-a-bit, Rest and Be Thankful and the district of Look Behind.
Land possessed
Churches are a favourite subject of the Sky Writings travel writers.
If you continue northwards (turn de page), you may go with Jean Miranda to Mount Zion where a certain Rev. Waddell wrote of his first land allotment -- "Thus we took possession of it in the name of the Lord".
Churches, apart from their enduring architectural beauty, play an important role in the history of Jamaica. The role of missionaries in the struggle for emancipation and the Free Village movement is a story, which will be told by any good guide.
Writer Joy Scott unveils St. John's Cathedral in Spanish Town, St. Catherine. For more on the St. Catherine capital itself, you may read Marguerite Curtin's 'Heritage of Spanish Town.'
Back in the east of the island you can examine Port Royal, which is not too far from the Blue Mountains where our journey began, and in Kingston, there is Trench Town to be visited. The community, as you may well know, was the place where Reggae great Bob Marley made his home. It was also the stomping ground, we are informed, by writer Elena Oumano, of musician/singers Joe Higgs, Peter Tosh, and Toots Hibbert.
Trench Town is not a place where the eyes may flirt with lush foliage, scenic views and flowers abloom, but, in the stark compound are stories that reveal the heart of a people and their music.
There is much more in the 'Best of Sky Writings'. If you have not yet discovered Jamaica this guide to the hills, to the people and their habits, is a good place to begin.
