JAMAICA 1: GETTING THERE, PORT ROYAL, AND FORT CHARLES

 February 15, 2023

Many years ago my husband began doing research on his third great-grandfather, Captain George Cannon of the Isle of Man, who was a slave ship captain. One thing led to another, and soon he was deeply immersed in learning more about his ancestor's life and work. He posted some of his findings on his blog, and that created some fun connections with family members--known and previously unknown. 

Over the years we have made an effort to visit sites related to Captain Cannon, going first to his home in Peel, Isle of Man, in 2006. In 2014 we took a sobering trip to the Ghana coast where Captain Cannon picked up slaves. (See posts on Fort Amsterdam, Cape Coast Castle, Fort St. Anthony, Elmina Castle, and Fort William.)

For many years, Bob has wanted to visit the third point of the slave trade triangle, Jamaica. He had employed a researcher on the island to see what could be found, but he wanted to see the ports and shores with his own eyes. I had a long weekend in February with Lincoln's birthday and President's Day off, and it seemed like the time was right. 

In addition, during the Covid shutdown, Bob had been contacted by Chad Cannon, a distant cousin (I think a third cousin once removed?) who was also a descendant of Captain Cannon (Chad's great-great-grandfather was Bob's great-grandfather's brother), and Chad and his wife Sarah came out for a visit one weekend to get acquainted and discuss Bob and Chad's mutual roots. When Bob started planning this trip to Jamaica, he reached out to them to see if they might be interested in joining us. Sarah ended up not being able to get away from work, but Chad was a welcome addition to our trip.

So that's the background for our Jamaican Adventure.

Bob and I had a 1:00 AM flight out of LAX--brutal, but it meant we were able to spend a full day at work before driving to the airport, and that we would arrive at our destination in the morning.  It is our typical MO. 

The international terminal at LAX is a lot nicer than in used to be, and we usually plan to eat in the food court there when we arrive.

We flew on Copa Airlines, which has its hub in Panama, so our first stop, after 6.5 hours in the air, was Panama City. We had spent time in this airport last year on our way to Ecuador, and I thought it was one of the worst airports we had ever been in. It was really hot, there were almost no food or shopping options, and it was impossible to find a place to sit down. Either they've just completed a massive building job or everything was locked up when we were there in 2022, because now it is quite nice, much like any other international airport but with some local touches, including this chapel, a quiet place where weary travelers can find a peace. The stations of the cross line the walls.

There were several nice stores with books, soft drinks, and local chocolate, and I found an Auntie Anne's Pretzel shop that sold a cheese- and guayababa-stuffed croissant that was amazing. I don't think they make those in the US Auntie Anne's!

We didn't have too long to wait for our second flight to Jamaica. On the plane I sat next to a friendly girl from Peru on her way to spend a week at a resort in Jamaica. We had fun chatting in Spanglish with my rusty Español and her limited English during the short 1.5 hour flight, and she gave me a big hug when we parted. 

Kingston is the capital of and largest city in Jamaica. The Norman Manley International Airport there is named after Jamaica's first and only premier who served from 1959-1962 and is a national hero. Manley was not only brilliant (a Rhodes Scholar who studied at Oxford), but a great athlete, setting several speed records in running as a young man. He married his cousin Edna Manley, and their son Michael Norman Manley became the fourth Prime Minister of Jamaica (1989-1992).

Our first Bob Marley sighting was on a poster in the airport.

We picked up our rental car from Avis (an almost brand new Toyota RAV4) . . . 

. . . and then drove west on a very thin sand spit that is natural protection for Kingston Harbor.  At the very tip is the village of Port Royal, which was founded in 1494 by the Spanish and was for a time the largest city in the Caribbean. Thanks to a couple of massive earthquakes, today Port Royal is a run-down town of only 2,000 residents.

Even the hotel we got seemed a little bit tired. In fact, it seemed like we were the only people there until Chad got in later that night. We did have a nice view from our room (left) and wondered if this sign was meant for us (right).

So what drew us to Port Royal? It was this (also run-down) fort, Fort Charles, built in 1655 by the English, who had just wrested control of Jamaica from the Spanish and wanted to make sure they kept that control. It was first named "Fort Cromwell," but its name was changed to "Fort Charles" in 1662 after Charles II ascended to the throne.  At its peak in 1765, Fort Charles housed 500 men and had 104 guns.

Those numbers are amazing because they represent a REBUILD.  On one day in 1692, three consecutive and increasingly stronger earthquakes struck Port Royal, which at the time was a busy, wealthy port that was home to 4,000 whites (including many actual pirates of the Caribbean, and about 2,500 enslaved Africans. Seismologists estimate that it was a 7.5 magnitude quake, and you can imagine that would destroy just about everything in an era long before building codes. Our guide at the fort told us that over 4,000 of the 6,500 residents of Port Charles were killed. Two-thirds of the town sunk into the sea, including all the wharves, and a tsunami raged over what was left. More than 20 ships in the harbor were lost. The tsunami also destroyed what was then the smaller city of Kingston across the harbor.  

By the way, the underwater city of Port Royal was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2009. 

The colonial government moved across the bay to Spanish Town, just west of present-day Kingston. Then there was a devastating fire in 1703 and a hurricane in 1722. Pretty much the only thing left on the spit after all of those disasters was the fort. 

Captain Cannon docked in Kingston at least three times: In 1793, 1797, and 1799, so well after these disasters, but he would have sailed past Fort Charles on his way into the harbor.

These days the fort is a museum, and we were led through it by a local guide. There are still a lot of cannons, although I believe the guide said only four are original to the site.

Information in the soldiers' barracks noted that there was no box or closet in which to put personal possessions as soldiers weren't expected to have any.

The officers' quarters, on the other hand, had ample storage.

There are some trees in the fort that look like they've been there since the fort was built.

    

The tree above right is a guango tree, aka rain tree because its leaflets close up when it rains. I don't know why it is also called 4 O'clock.  The wooden tunnel below right is a hollow branch still attached to the tree.

There were a dozen or more graceful trees with slender trunks and foliage punctuated by large red leaves (below left). I thought they might be some kind of magnolia or fig until our guide showed me the seed pod--an almond! They don't look like the almond trees in California, which have much smaller leaves.

Another earthquake hit Port Royal in 1907, this one thought to measure 6.2 on the Richter scale and lasting 35 seconds, which seems like a really long time. The earthquake, subsequent fires, and a tsunami destroyed almost all of the rebuilt city and killed 1,000 inhabitants.  I have to admit that I was a little jumpy about walking around the fort thinking that the area might be due for a third quake. I am pretty sure I'd rather be in California during a large temblor than in Jamaica.

The Royal Artillery House, which was built in 1880, made it through the earthquake more or less intact . . .

. . . but not undamaged. Because of soil liquefaction, the back of the building sunk into the ground. 

Its nickname, "The Giddy House," comes from the way visitors feel when they try to stand up straight inside.

No wonder there are plenty of stories about ghostly apparitions in the fort--and it is not just because of natural disasters and pirates, but Port Royal was also once considered both the richest and wickedest city in the world.

Just please don't let me see a ghost coming up out of those holes in the "Necessary House." 

Of course, at some point in the late 19th century, the guns and cannons of Fort Charles became obsolete. In 1888, four high-tech (for then) weapons were built in underground bunkers where they could be loaded, raised to firing range, and then submerged for reloading. It was named "The Victoria Battery" after then-Queen Victoria. Unfortunately, the 1907 earthquake that tilted the Giddy House also sank this area. I believe it was unusable afterwards, but it has since been restored for demonstrations.

Bob had scouted out a place for dinner: Gloria's, the #1 restaurant in Port Royal (out of five restaurants). It was located at the end of a pretty sketchy street without much parking, but we were able to find something really close and were soon seated upstairs in the dining area, one of only two white couples in the crowded room. As we didn't follow the usual tourist route on this trip, that would be our standard experience. After all, about 97% of the population of Jamaica is of partial or total African descent.

The food turned out to be pretty good. I had jerk shrimp, which was very spicy and cost $2,950 in Jamaican dollars (or about $19 US).

I added on two "festivals" (basically friend cornbread) and a steamed bammy (a cassava flatbread that wasn't something I would order again).

Bob had "The Pirate's Catch," a seafood platter with lobster, shrimp, and snapper, all a little overdone and therefore overpriced at about $25 US.

Having spent the previous night upright in our seats on a plane and getting only a little sleep, we were ready for bed by 8:30 and excited for the days ahead.