Our tortoise is called Marley...

... but for a while, we intended to call Oscar, Marley, but then we saw a documentary in which Bob Marley was clearly, shall we say politely, not a gentleman when it came to treating women. So a flawed musical genius who we honoured by naming one of Lola's three turtles after him. Oscar Wilde was also something of a genius, but to be clear, we weren't thinking of him when we named baby Oscar.

The Marley idea wasn't random since little Oscar was conceived ( biologically) , not conceptually in Jamaica.

Today, we spent the day visiting not one but two Marley homes in Kingston. 1st his big house and recording studio that he had after making it big. Second, his very modest room, " in the government yard in Trench Town." Both are filled as you would expect a range of memorabilia, but importantly, they do a good job of telling the story of his life, the meaning of key songs, and how Rastafarians are both lovely kind people, and bonkers at the same time.

The guide at his house was really something, since he was a reggae singer himself, with a very strong baritone voice. We must have sung five or six songs with him . Kids were a bit baffled at 1st but then joined in. They again looked baffled when he explained how one type of Marihuana is good for meditation and getting close to god, whereas newer plant breeds are not so good and give you a headache.

The government yard in Trench Town was interesting but has lost some of its charm. In 2015, it was free, but they asked for a donation. In the yard, many young males hung out and occupied themselves rolling and smoking joints. When I asked for a guide, I got one who told me innumerable stories and took me out in the streets to see the house of Peter Tosh and a super modern recording studio.
Now it's a "museum " and pictures are forbidden. Entry now, not a donation, but $20 for adults and $10 for kids. The guide did an OK job, but it felt more like a librarian than an inspired person. The whole place had been cleaned up, but there was still one ganja pipe smoker and one guy rolling joints to give the place a more authentic smell and look.

In both locations, photos are banned inside, hence the lack of photos.

I added a couple of photos of the last night of our local bar. Very strange mix of people watching Jamaica's world-class athletes on telly in the bar and two competing reggae DJs bkasting out music at very high volume . One little food place had 3 massive speakers.Okumaya devam et