Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-10-20
By RICHARD JOSEPH
Star Special Writer

ny OANEAARD JO6EHh A
Star Special Writer
0CHo RIOS, jam aica.-I
Jamaica Is full Of charming Wis
itor activities, including croco-
die wrestling, wild pig annoy
ing, and girl watching; and as
far, as I'm concerned I'd rather
watch the pigs and crocs and
annoy and rassle the gals.
This crocodile bit is conferred
mostly In the amps and
marshes around the Black river
In the southwestern part of the
island. Crocodile hunts are or
ganized regularly out of Kings
ton, Vaudeville, and Montego
Bay.
The crocodileS run II to Is
feet long. You drive them crazy
by shining flashlights in their
beady little eyes, and If you're
. crazy you can follow the local
boys into the water and try to
tie the beaSties up.
. More survivors, however, are
reported among the h untersI
who shoot or harpoon their
crocodiles-and sometimes both. |
The wild pigs complete ia
maica's short list of wild game.
These are bad-tempered little
cusses, far different from the
domesticated DIN kers, and
they're hunted in the mountain
forest country near MontegoI
Bay and Port Antonio, and in
the H e a nth hire hills near
Kingston.
Girl Watching
Girl-watching in Jamaica falls
into two categories: Tourist
girl-watching and local girl
watching; and the latter variety
Is highly preferable because the
tourist girls are so leery of the
tropical sun that they cover up
quite a bit, which often spoils
the view.
Rafting down the Rio Grande,
near Port Antonio, is one of
Jamaica's most publicized visi-
tor activities; and this had al
ways sounded sort of square to
me-sitting on a bamboo bench
on q bamboo raft, and letting
some guy pole you down past
rapids that furnish no competi-
ton to Niagara Falls.
But it's a ball the way the
Jamaicans do it. They take
their lunch along, and a bottle,
and they make an all-day thing
Of It, stopping off to swim and
fish off the raft or a bank.
A comparatively new develop
ment is a plantation tour organ
lied by a retired British major
on his 1,4OO-acre Brimmer Hall
estate near Port Maria.
You 60 out for a ride through
the sugar cane and banana and
coconut groves in a sort of side
wheelin 6 sightseeing wagon
pulled along by a tractor, while
a really nowledgable and ar
ticulate guide fills you in on
local folklore and comes through
with a lot of solid information
on how bananas, coconuts,
sugar, and cocoa are grown and
harvested.
Price for the whole show is "a
q person, and for this you can
visit the gardens of the great
plantation house, use the chang
Ing rooms to get into your swim
suit, swim In the pool, and eat
your hotel box lunch at the pool
side.
Drinks here are cheaper than
Ia most other places in Jamai-
ca. A Scotch and soda, for in
stance, is As cents compared to
the going rate of a dollar or so
at the hotels. And you can book
this tour at your hotel.
Jamaica travel people these
days are trying to fight off a
reputation for expensivenesS the
island has acquired in the last
few years.
Rates At Cove
They haven't been helped any
by the publicity that's been CIV
en- to Frenchman's Cove, re-
sort near Port Antonio, which
advertiseS winter rates of 81, 900
a week a couple. Minimum stay
is two weeks at $1,000, and if
you stay for a month they'll
drop the tab to $4,000. For this,