Panama 2008

Montego Bay, Jamaica

24 March 2008

General Information

Local Map

Photographs and Commentary

We are in Jamaica mon! The ship arrived at Montego Bay at about 7am and by 8:30 we were in the terminal building waiting to board the bus for our shore excursion. We had selected the Black River Safari. Black River is on the other side of the island and the bus ride takes roughly two hours over narrow, winding roads over the mountains that cover central Jamaica. I suspect that several of the passengers on board the bus (Susie among them) kept their eyes closed during portions of the ride. On the ride to Black River we had some near misses which the bus driver and guide dismissed as "no problem mon." That statement seems to reflect the philosophy of life on the island.

One of the values of taking the kind of excursions we have taken is you see how the real people live and Jamaica was not an exception. Driving through the rural areas of a country and away from the more developed big towns and cities, you see what seems like high levels of poverty. The same is true in the areas around some of the ports. At the same time, in the midst of all of the poverty you see some very large and expensive homes and resort areas. On the way to Black River we passed one of the Sandals resorts.

At Black River we boarded a pontoon boat for a trip up the river to view wildlife. The starting point is at the mouth of the river where it enters the Caribbean Sea. Most of the river in the area we covered is brackish. The main predator in the river is the crocodile. The native crocodiles are not as aggressive as those found in the Nile River or in Australia... I still wouldn't go for a swim with one. The guide on the boat seemed to be very comfortable reaching out and grabbing a crocodile that was about 5-6 feet in length. But then again, he declined to swim with the crocodiles. We passed a nesting area of Cattle Egrets where some of the nests had young birds who have not yet gotten their flight feathers. The nests are built on the Mangroves on the edge of the river and the crocodiles hang out in the area to grab a quick snack if one of the young birds fall in the water. Other birds we saw were Night Herons and Snowy Egrets. As we learned previous trips of this nature, the local fauna don't always operate at the convenience of the tourists. I think we had relatively good luck seeing a number of different animals and birds.

After a Jamaican lunch, we got back into the bus for the ride back. We followed the same route in reverse and had some close calls that even the driver did not dismiss as "no problem, mon." We got back on the ship at 3:30pm.

Within minutes after we got on board, heavy rains came and we left Montego Bay in a rain squall around 4:30. Since this is our last port of call, the rain doesn't bother us too much because we won't be going anywhere. Tonight the ship will follow the southern coast of Cuba into the Windward passage between Cuba and Haiti. Tomorrow will be a day at sea and the weather forecast is good for the last day of trip... we will see.

EXTRACT FROM THE DECK LOG BOOK

March 24th 2008, Montego Bay, Jamaica


At around 03:00 the coast lights of Jamaica were sighted on the starboard bow, Coral Princess commenced to make landfall and after rounding the south west tip end of Jamaica we followed various easterly courses along the northern coast towards Montego Bay, at 06:52 we embarked the local pilot to assist us in berthing operations. On the approach to the· buoyed channel we started to swing the bow to port and than proceeded astern alongside our berth where we were all fast alongside by 07:43.
Noon Position:                    Alongside - Montego Bay - Jamaica
Temperature:                       27.5°C / 81°F
Wind:                                      Light Airs.
Barometer:                           1016.6 hPa
Weather conditions: Partly Cloudy, Occasional Showers Once all passengers had returned, we let go our lines at 16:18 and using the ship's side thrusters we moved away of the berth, proceeding out of the harbour. Once clear of the shallows we set a north­easterly track toward the "Windward Passage".

morning arrival in Montego Bay

Sunrise approach to Montego Bay

Safari Tour Boat

Black River Safari tour boat

Birds

birds waiting for a meal

Food line... These birds are waiting for the scraps remaining after local fisherman clean the fish. At right is a Great Heron, at center is a Black Crowned Night Heron and the other three are Snowy Egrets

snowy egret preening

Snowy Egret preening (Photo by Susie)

Great egret

Great Egret on water hyacinth

Snowy Egret

Snowy Egret

Cattle Egret

Cattle Egret

young cattle egret

Young Cattle Egret in nest

Black-crowned Night Heron

Black Crowned Night Heron are known to eat the young of other birds. This one was hanging around the Cattle Egret nesting site waiting for the parents to leave the chick. Crocodiles also wait below in case a bird falls out of the nest and makes an easy snack.

Crocodiles

Crocodile

Photo by Susie

Crocodile

Photo by Susie

Crocodile Crocodile
Crocodile
Miscellaneous

Mangove

Mangrove (Photo by Susie )

Water Hyacinth

Water Hyacinth

Mangrove tunnel

Mangrove tunnel

Giant Fern

Giant Fern

Termite nest

Termite nest

Fran and Mel's Pictures

Montego Bay

Montego Bay. Coral Princess in background

Bobsled Cafe

Bobsled Cafe

Montego Bay musicians

Montego Bay Musicians

Jan's special mug

Don't Ask... It's along story

   
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