Mission Hollywell Accomplished

As a nature lover, it is no coincidence that my bucket list is filled with nature related activities, one of which I completed today….a hike to one of the highest peaks in Jamaica, Hollywell Nature Park.

Armed with my hike backpack, decked in my hat and shades with camera in hand (if you know me, I’m an avid photographer) my co-workers, their friends and I set off for our trek into the mountains at 8:40am. Having done a two hour hike in Antigua, without a shadow of a doubt I knew I was ready to conquer this but little did I know what I was in for. About an hour or so into the hike, Chenessa & I found ourselves lagging behind with our tour guide Shane; while the others rushed ahead, we were cruising and enjoying the diverse elements of nature presented along the route.

The first leg of the journey took us into a rather remote community (remote meaning no roads for vehicles and no cell phone service). However, the persons living in the area seemed to enjoy this kind of life. In order to get from point A to point B they have to carry an extra pair of shoes to change when they get to the town square as there’s a cut off point for taxis. What a life I thought to myself. Back home, I’m exposed to 24/7 taxi service to go anywhere I want so I never thought I’d see this in Jamaica, Kingston at that. However, it came as no surprise that most of the residents looked quite fit; the daily journey through muddy dirt tracks and descending hills on two feet to get a taxi must be a great workout!

By this time the others in our pack had gone out of sight and we came to a point where no more houses/people were in sight. Yes, this is the real thing now I imagined; the hike had officially started. Thanks to the footprints in the mud and a freshly discarded Nature Valley wrapper for keeping us on the right track. As we continued on our journey, we came upon a cascading waterfalls meandering down the rocks and seeping into a nearby river. Simply amazing! By now, Chenessa & I had hired Shane as our photographer and he executed his task happily.

Two hours had passed and I was still feeling fit until we checked our GPS and realized we still had a couple kilometers to go. Then we heard voices and luckily it was the other members of our team. I was now in shock when I saw them resting at what resembled a modern house. Upon reaching the gate, I was amazed to see that it was indeed a B&B hotel tucked away in the bushes. This was just awesome and the view was breathtaking! No other words can describe….they say seeing is believing so you all need to see. The others had seemingly rested for quite a while and were heading out by time we arrived. But this was just too beautiful for me to pass by so we stopped, toured the property, ate, received info and of course Shane snapped all the pics we wanted.

After resting for a while, the second leg of the journey commenced and took us on the main road in another rural area called Redlight, Irish Town. Here, the residents thought we were tourists and treated us to free samples of jerk chicken 🙂 Appeared they knew the tedious journey we had ahead so they fed us. The fact that we were now on the main road, I thought we were pretty close until….

The bushes came and my oh my, I would never want even my worst enemy to have that experience. A sign read ‘Blue & John Crow Mountains’ and we disappeared into the thick, muddy forest among pine and bamboo trees, insects & birds…such beautiful flora & fauna. The higher we climbed, the steeper the hill and the more we rested. Now it was just us three as the others were nowhere to be found and no evidence (that they’d walked the route) was in sight. Luckily our GPS functioned in the bushes so we were still on the right path. By now, I was out of energy and my Lucozade & snacks were finished. And like in a movie, here I was stuck on a deserted land with no food. Nice, isn’t it? We proceeded on our journey and if at any point I had ever doubted the power of God, after what he did for me today, I’d quickly erased that thought. Alas, I stumbled on a banana tree with one ripe banana….I hastily pick the fruit, peeled the skin and shoved it down my mouth. Thank yuh Jesus, what a life saver!

Then our tour guide announced that he lost his shades and would be turning back so we should wait on him. Hmmm! Something seemed fishy! Chenessa: “No we a come wid yuh”. Me: “Oh cau mi one nah tan inna dis yah bush”. Chenessa: “Wait fi we nuh” Shane: “Stay, mi soon come” Me: “Not a baxside him nah lef we up yah” So here were two ladies stuck in a forest with a strange man. I started getting nervous; my inner voice was saying “lawd gee wat if him purposely tek we off track fi kill us” & my outter voice was saying “keep calm Sharmz, yuh watch too much scary movie”. Luckily the shades were found and we continued.

As we approached an open coffee field filled with other fruit trees (raspberry, strawberry and apricot…pity dem neva ripe) I saw a varnished board house set on a hill. “Hollywell” I screamed, elated that we were just a few minutes away from there; however, this turned out to be a total disappointment. When we reached the top of the hill and onto another main road, we were kindly informed by a motorcyclist that we had quite a few more miles to go. Oh hell NO! If yuh bawn an’ grow inna Jamaica, from a man tell yuh seh is a good walk you know that isn’t a good sign. I was dehydrated. Fortunately, we were way above sea level so the temperature had changed and the coolness did me well. After resting for a while, we were off once more. I turned my head towards a sign on a streetlight that read “7KM ahead —>” indicating we had another 7 kilometers to go before we got to our destination. I wasn’t amused. Jah kno star it better if mi neva si dat sign.

We continued until Hollywell was in sight. At 1:50pm we reached the gate. YES! The view of Kingston city from way up in the mountains was just exhilarating. Looking down in the valleys, Shane announced “see the trail there that we took”. My response: Wow! But damn, did I just walk so many miles through all that bush? Who would have thought?

We met with our group, settled under a gazebo, ate and had a good time together before it started to rain. It turned out that they didn’t do the actual hike as they walked on the road while Chenessa, Shane and myself (the adventurous trio) took the scenic route. It was a wonderful day but the aftermath isn’t because now I’ve swollen feet.

Jamaica is indeed a beautiful country, sometimes we need to rid ourselves of everything and take time out to enjoy God’s creation. They’re so many beautiful places and beautiful things in Jamaica for you to enjoy; hiking to Hollywell is one of them, its not just a hike…..its an experience!

I am Ms. Laydee Sharmz saying get up, get out & enjoy Jamaica 🙂

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