Since it is the season, I thought I’d just provide you with some great info on Jamaican Christmas tradition.

“Jonkanoo or John Canoe, is a traditional Christmas celebration in which revelers parade through the streets dressed in colorful masquerade. It was the major celebration for the slaves. The parade and festivities probably arrived with African slaves who were brought to Jamaica. Not as popular in the cities as it was 30 years ago, Jonkanoo is still a tradition in rural Jamaica.

Traditionally, the characters are played by men wearing white mesh masks. The Jonkanoo characters include the horned Cow Head, Policeman, Horse Head, Wild Indian, Devil, Belly-Woman, Pitchy-Patchy and sometimes a Bride and House Head, which was an image of a great house carried by the reveler on his head.

Although Jamaica is credited with the longest running tradition of Jonkanoo, today these mysterious bands with their gigantic costumes appear more as entertainment at cultural events than at random along the streets. “

SOURCE:   Island Guide – CLICK HERE FOR MORE

MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY HOLIDAYS from Jamaica My Way!!

I’m posting about Flat Bridge because I’ve gone over it a few times and have since done a little Googling about it. It has an interesting history which dates back to slavery in Jamaica. In fact no one really knows exactly what year it was built but dates into the 1700’s.

Flat Bridge, Jamaica

It connects Kingston to Ocho Rios through Fern Gully, and runs over the Bog Walk gorge. Its a beautiful drive in and around here…tons of lush greenery and winding roads. It amazes me considering what a hurry most Jamaican drivers seem to be in, that this bridge isn’t a constant source of more chaos! It is single lane traffic only and is controlled by stop lights on either end of the bridge.

Here’s a video of us going over the bridge last month. It also shows the various vendors who sell things to the stopped cars on either side. We bought some guinep.

CLICK HERE to link to the Jamaica National Heritage Trust website that gives some of the interesting history of Flat Bridge.

In September I went to visit the town of Nine Mile, in the parish of St Ann Jamaica. Nine Mile is better known as the home of Bob Marley. Its where he was born and grown and is now a famous tourist attraction long after he’s gone. Being in Nine Mile was like being in Marley-ville….everything here is Bob Marley! There is so much to see and experience here, unfortunately the day we went it was raining like CRAZY so we just sat on the veranda of the museum and took it all in.

Rasta Lion rooftop

The drive up to Nine Mile was something else, skinny mountain roads that I couldn’t imagine a tour bus encountering! Although I know several tours come up here all the time. The day we went the rain was so bad we didn’t get to enjoy as much of the scenery as was possible but this next picture is a preview of the breathtaking countryside and mountains we saw.

Countryside on the way to Nine Mile

The attractions in Nine Mile are owned and operated by the Marley family, and up until April 2008 Bob Marley’s mother, Cedella Marley Booker was often on site to greet people who came for the tours. She passed away last year at the age of 81. We managed to find this school named after her in the town though.

We spent a couple hours on the veranda avoiding the torrential rains and just taking in the spirituality of this place. There were several school children on the veranda playing dominos too. We watched them play and gave them a bunch of candy…always popular with the kids!

I think I’d like to go back to Nine Mile a second time and actually do some of the tour there. Its a peaceful and spiritual place and the scenery is amazing!

***Partial photo credits to Erin Cooper***