Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/201540
massive ship is in port and has just unleashed its complement of thousands on the duty-free zone and the less polished streets of Falmouth beyond the gates. Vendors and touts are doing brisk trade. Opinions on the arrival of such behemoth cruise ships in tiny Falmouth vary, but there's no doubt the approximately 10,000 passengers per week are having a significant impact on the town's renaissance and its efforts to leverage history into tourism. Early in the afternoon, I leave Findlater and the bustle of Falmouth, chauffeured by my friendly fixer from the Jamaica Tourist Board, Wayne Sterling. He sings along cheerfully to some synth-heavy dancehall music playing on the radio, exuding that gregarious Jamaican charm, rhythm and confidence. We're headed for Good Hope Plantation. Plantations are as integral to the history, landscape and culture of Trelawny as Falmouth is to the country's former colonial might. At the height of the plantation era, the parish was home to more than 80 great houses, each one a hilltop jewel in the plantation owner's crown. Today they are at once symbols of a troubled slaving past and lovely pastoral monuments to a different time. At the town of Martha Brae, we branch off the north-coast highway A1 and then follow a potholed road that winds toward Cockpit Country, the rugged, sparsely inhabited interior of Trelawny and neighbouring St. James Parish. The Martha Brae River flows languidly next to the road, and riotous hedges of blossoming bougainvillea surround tidy homes. Soon we arrive at Good Hope and are greeted by host Odette Hawthorne. Sun filters through big leafy trees and a diesel truck chugs past packed with oranges, now the primary crop grown on the plantation. After meeting Hawthorne, we drive through a gatehouse flanked by huge limestone blocks inscribed with the words "Good" and "Hope." From there, a gravel road spirals up to the elegant centrepiece of this 809-hectare estate, Good Hope Great House, built more than 250 years ago from limestone blocks that came to Jamaica in the form of ship ballast. A small statue of the Buddha sits on the edge of the front lawn, (clockwise from top) A pineapple vendor in Falmouth; the Georgian-style courthouse; Royal Caribbean ships deliver some 10,000 passengers to Falmouth weekly; jerk chicken in the making in Falmouth. Jeff Topham p24-31_Jamaica.indd 27 westworld >> w i n t e r 2 0 1 3 27 13-10-18 10:18 AM