Oracabessa, Jamaica

When I realized that Noel Coward's Estate, Firefly, which is now a museum operated by the National Trust, would not be open on Sunday (tomorrow), we quickly stopped everything we were doing (the blog for me and engine work for Peter) and yelled over to Gabor and Isolde, the German/Canadian couple on the steel boat Kestrel, whom we met at Errol Flynn Marina, to see if they wanted to go exploring with us. Fifteen minutes later, they rowed over in their dinghy and picked us up and we went to the dock on the beach. From there, we walked up to the main road and found a taxi.

The taxi driver, surprisingly, was unfamiliar with our destination, but with the help of Google Maps on my phone, mapme.com on Isolde's phone and advise the driver got from men along the road whom he stopped to consult, we made it along the coast and up the broken up road to the estate. The only visitors at that time, we were greeted by a friendly female guide who walked us to the main house, around the estate and back to the building from the 1600's that was the home for Henry Morgan, which Coward used to house some of his staff.

The main home is small, with a studio for Coward, who was an amateur painter, where some of his artwork was on display as well as photographs of various movie stars and celebrities visiting him at his mountain retreat. The table on the paved patio between the studio and the living quarters was set as it was when the Queen Mother visited decades ago. The living room has a large corner window with an expansive L-shaped window seat providing light and wonderful views of the grounds, the town and harbour of Port Maria, the Blue Mountains and the cliffs dropping down along the coast to meet the crashing waves of the Caribbean. Here there were many individual studio photographs of movie stars, most of them arranged on top of the large piano. In addition to being a noted playwright, Coward was an actor, composer, and singer, so he held small private parties here. Off the living room was a small butler's pantry, where meals that were prepared at and transported from his property nearer the coast, Blue Harbour, were reheated and plated three times a day.

At the top of a simple but elegant wooden stairway is his study, where he wrote. The entire eastern wall is covered by a tarp which, when raised, reveals the large swimming pool (now covered over) just below and the grounds and provides the same panoramic view as the living room. It is an inspirational spot. Adjacent to his study is his modest bedroom, with a large four-poster bed, some bookshelves and paintings. Behind the bedroom is the tiled bathroom and the large walk-in closet.

After walking across the grounds, to the statue of Coward--seated and smoking a cigarette while he enjoys the view--and to his grave, we came back to Morgan's house. The guide called a taxi for us, and we enjoyed the beauty of the surroundings and conversation while we waited for a half hour or so.

Noel Coward's painting studio at Firefly

Dining table set for the Queen Mother

Peter, Isolde and Gabor

Firefly's living room 

Piano in the living room

Butler's pantry 

Part of the garden 

Raindrops on a lovely flower

View from the living room

Coward's desk in his study

Coward's bed and two of his paintings

Statue of Noel Coward

Henry Morgan's 17th century house

Grounds with Coward's grave on the right

Our driver took us back to Oracabessa by a different and better maintained route and dropped us off near the western end of town. We meandered along the sidewalks and main street, where there were many produce vendors, barber shops, wholesale/retail stores and hardwares. We stopped for ice cream a one of the grocery stores and also sampled and bought some fruit, including one we hadn't encountered before, naseberry. Although Port Antonio had been recommended to us as "authentic," we found Oracabessa much more "real."

Barber shop and street vendors, Oracabessa 

Colorful wholesale store, grocery and bar

Loopy electrical wiring

Since Isolde and Gabor had visited our boat for drinks and snacks yesterday evening, they reciprocated and we joined them for beer and pretzels on their vessel, exchanging stories and information about our sailing adventures and our children, before returning to Mantra for the night.

When I abruptly ended the last post, I was about ready to provide some historical background about Oracabessa and James Phillippo. When this dedicated missionary arrived in Jamaica in 1823, white plantation owners forbade preaching of the Bible and religion to the more than 300,000 slaves on the island, who were not allowed to practice any religion. Despite this, he built places of worship for and preached to the slaves. In the 1830s, along with fellow missionary Thomas Burchell, Phillippo developed a system of Free Villages for emancipated slaves. These individuals were not allowed to own property, but Burchell and Phillippo acquired land (through agents, since the owners would not have sold to them) where these freemen could build houses free from the threat of eviction that they suffered from estate owners. Phillippo created new chapels in the villages and established Sunday schools and academic schools and also organized the training of teachers. The first Free Village was Sligoville, established in 1835, followed by Sandy Bay and Oracabessa.

It is interesting that we actually did not see any churches except for one for Jehovah Witnesses when we walked along the main street of Oracabessa.