Rastafarian Cliff Divers

First on today's agenda was a visit to the local Rastafari village in Montego Bay. Hadn't got out the front gate before the Bob Marley CD started up on the bus.

Rastafari developed in Jamaica in the 1930s, following the coronation of Haile Selassie I as Emperor of Ethiopia in 1930. Its adherents worship him as a God, and have adopted the red, yellow and green of the Ethiopian flag as their colours. The way of life is sometimes referred to as "Rastafarianism", but this term is considered offensive by most Rastafari, who are critical of all "isms".

Amongst their many interesting beliefs is the primary nature of the "i". Because every individual is equally important, there is no "we" in the language, where you can be one of a mass. They substitute "I and I" in their speech for "we". "i" is also designated as the first letter of their alphabet, followed by the other 25. Almost everything is named with an i. A banana is an ianana. A pineapple is an iapple. Goodness knows what apple is - it must have a real prejudice against the pineapple.

Most people's names begin with i, but there are exceptions. They revere Hallie-i Sallasie-i as a God. However, it is normal to choose your own Rastafari name, so the female leader of the community was Queen B. If you don't choose a Rastafari name, they give you one. So Mandy was iandy, and I was iphone.

We had quite a lengthy explanation of their beliefs, followed by a nice vegetarian lunch made from things grown in the community. Then there was a very good performance of drumming and chanting by the 9 adults in the community, while the dozen kids (who go to the mainstream school) sat around glued to Facebook. There was the usual participation dance and conga line, followed by the obligatory tour of the gift shop.

And yes, they grow marijuana for smoking and cooking purposes, and are allowed to by law. The official census lists 9% of the population as being Rastifari, but the community thinks that this is way overstated, and that their are probably only 1500 of them.

It was actually a very nice few hours, and quite different to the usual tourist fare. The oddest sight of the day was one of the ladies on our tour crossing herself after greeting their leader and having her photo taken with him. Just renewing her protection I guess.

Then it was back on the road and on to Negril. Basically we a doing a full lap of the island in the coming week, in an anti clockwise direction. It appears that Negril is the place that the rich, cashed up tourists go to. We passed the 2 Riu all-inclusives, and the Sandals resort that Brendan had come to; and we were warned that prices are much steeper here than in Montego Bay. It is famed for it's 7 miles of white beach. Um, ok, let's not brag about Australia - you don't make many friends doing that.

Headed off at 5 (right in the middle of the usual afternoon torrential downpour) to Rick's Cafe. Seems that it's one of the most iconic beach cafe's in the world, though we hadn't heard about it until we read the itinerary. It's famous for having cliffs at the cafe where tourist can come and jump into the sea. Three levels - a modest level for those not so brave, a high level for those wanting to impress that significant other (whatever happened to roses?), then a crazily high tower reserved for staff when the crowd had contributed sufficient tips to make it worth while.

The other attraction for Rick's Cafe is that you can watch the sun set into the ocean, which apparently is something many people have never seen. (OK, no bragging, I remember). So hundreds of people crowded the rails to see the sun hit the water behind the flotilla of Riu and Sandals boats, but of course the sun just slipped forlornly behind the clouds instead, and it was over with a whimper. Not even the clouds turned red, so we showed them a few photos of Australian sunsets to console them (sorry, sorry, no bragging, I forgot).

Headed back to the hotel, and had dinner at the beach cafe, lulled by the noise of the waves, though it was too dark to see anything down on the beach. We hope that they do turn the artificial bird and insect noises off sometime tonight - it gets very irritating.