The "Roiling Down The River" Story

It was an ordinary day. Saturday. We have just finished breakfast at the Bayside Restaurant at Sandals Grande Ocho Rios in Jamaica. In about an hour we will head west towards MontegoBay on a small bus to the Martha Brae River. We're going on a rafting trip down the Martha Brae. Jerry, Just Sue, Carol and I empty the bus near Trelawny and head to the Rafter's Rest where we will board the rafts. Along the way we are offered a rum punch to help get us in the liming mood for our trip. Works! Our raft "Captain" is Donovan. He has built his own 30 foot raft from bamboo which is grown in the forests of Jamiaca. The poles are extremely straight and about 4" in diameter. They are sewn together with twine made from the trees. The raft will last about six to seven months before the bamboo will start to split. We are led to the banks of the river and board the raft. Life vests are behind us as we sit in the only seat on the raft. Extremely comfortable padded seat. As we start our 90 minute trip we see children fishing along the shores and cows feeding in the fields. No buildings in sight. A big variety of native trees and flowers line the banks of the river. The water reaches eight feet in depth at some points, but mostly in the 3-5 foot range. You can imagine the size of the pole Donovan uses to steer the raft. We travel around curves and some small rapids. Jerry and Sue are about 100 yards ahead of us and we can see no one behind us. Donovan tells us about his family and the history of the river. Seems a local river witch was tortured by invading Spanish until she agreed to take them to an island gold mine. She led them to a cave along the river bank and once inside summoned the river to rise, drowning all her tormentors. Much more interesting with him telling it. We did see some vendors along the banks calling to us to buy their wares. The only one which interested us was the guy selling Red Stripe beer, the island beer, but we decided to pass. As we drifted along, Donovan carved a coconut shell with a small pocket knife. I guess I should have been smart enough to see what was coming. Yep, at the end of the trip we were given the opportunity to buy his creation, which I must admit was really neat. Think we bought it? Of Course we did! Asouvenir from the witch's river! Kinda scary, huh? It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.