amjamin

Mother nature’s wonders seldom cease, neither do they cease to awe and floor us ­ literally and figuratively. Tucked into the central region of the eastern Caribbean island is the lush green tropical expanse in “de heart uh Barbados” and in its sanctum sanctorum is embedded a limestone cavern, a marvel of nature’s beauty. Amid breathtakingly stunning tropical flora, sprayed by occasional showers, emit the aroma of the earth lies Harrison’s Caves, home to myriad stalactite and stalagmite formations that are nature’s living and ever-evolving work of art. A motorised tram awaits at the entrance known as the Boyce Tunnel, named after equipment operator Noel Boyce, who was the first member of the construction team to break through the bedrock. Subdued lights embedded in the rock formations welcome the visitors, it can be an adventurous ride into a theme park, only that instead of ‘monsters’ popping out from the crevasses, the myriad shapes soothe the eyes and leave the interpretati...

Walls and ruins at Rockfort, coated with cement dust, staved off infiltrators and was the first line of defence. “Isn’t it an attractive idea to get an exciting tour that talks of the French invasion of Jamaica in 1694, the history of Kingston, and you get to fire a cannon?” asked Jonathan Greenland, pointing at the row of cannons lined at Rockfort. Fire a cannon? Just the mention of it is enough to transport you to the 17th century, when, the now-cement-dust-coated, cold stone walls of Rockfort were the front line of defence of Kingston. The cars that sped by on Sir Florizel Glasspole Boulevard faded into a distant obscure frame, the soldiers in rapt attention manning the metal-forged weaponry, looking out at the turquoise blue Caribbean Sea. “Rockfort,” informed Greenland, who is director of the National Museum Jamaica at the Institute of Jamaica, “was developed primarily because of fears of an attack on Kingston and the Liguanea Plain from the East, primarily the invasi...