BOSTON – THE JERK, THE JUICY AND THE JAGGED
BOSTON, PORTLAND, is known the world over for its tantalising and irresistible jerked foods, and to a certain extent its clean, fresh beach – a sort of surfers’ paradise.
When Hospitality Jamaica visited over the holiday season, the Boston Jerk Centre was overrun every day by visitors who had journeyed there just to placate their palates.
Yet, there is a side to Boston which is not as tender and juicy as its jerked pork and chicken. In fact, it is quite the opposite. It’s rocky and rough, but just as alluring and awesome as the food. Somewhere to feast your eyes on.
The rugged, rocky, irregular coastline of Boston, including that of Boston Bay, has to be one of the most dramatic and picturesque in all of Jamaica. It is replete with jagged rocks against which foamy waves dash.
Over time, the sea has created mini caves and caverns and crevices with its perpetual slamming. It has carved and eroded the coast, creating curves and small headlands. Boulders have stumbled upon one another, rocks have been broken away from the mainland and into the path of ‘white horses’, creating a sort of marine fanfare.
Students of geology should find this hidden rocky gem intriguing and educational. The honeycomb rocks are actually limestone rocks that have been weathered and eroded over thousands of years, perhaps. The edges are very sharp, however. Rugged footwear is strongly suggested. There are no roses without thorns.
And it is not just the general beauty of the geography; it is the artistic allure that is also fascinating. The weathering of the rocks has created figures that look like human and animal faces. The inventive ways of nature was manifested all over the place, which ought to be an inspiration for landscape artists. The succulent plants that thrive in great abundance atop, under and in the cracks are like the icing on a rocky ‘cake’.
Hospitality Jamaica was taken over jagged rocks to a section of the coastline by a man who coincidentally is called ‘Rocky’. It was a nice, sweaty trek in the clean ocean air, that resulted in a mesmerising view of the dancing, blue sea that seemed to slant up into eternity. The waves were in turmoil. They thundered towards, and crashed into, the cliffs that rise several feet above sea level creating foamy sprays, inviting you to jump in.
Boston, Portland, is truly caught up between the jerk, the juicy and the jagged.