JUNKANOO!!!!!!

New Years Day found us (as well as hundreds of others) in New Plymouth, Green Turtle Cay, attending ‘Junkanoo’. The population on Green Turtle Cay is only about 500, but that does not stop them from having a celebration.

New Plymouth is home to Miss Emily’s Blue Bee Bar and the world famous “Goombay Smash”. We had to have one – they go down very smoothly and it was easy to see how you could drink many of them – but with 3 or 4 kinds of rum and very little juice we knew we would be in serious trouble if we did.

Junkanoo is a parade in which the participants of all ages are dressed in very colorful costumes, which are adorned with jewels and feathers. I can’t imagine how long it takes to make some of the costumes, but on close inspection they start with cardboard and build from there. It is definitely not something you do at the last minute.

Some of the groups in the parade carried and played large goatskin drums and cowbells. You could feel those drums in your belly. As the parade passed by us, we, along with many others, joined in behind and danced to the rhythmic beat.

After the parade we went with some of the other cruisers to Pineapple’s Bar where Jeff had his first Kalik, which is a local beer. A good time was had by all!!!

We forgot to take our camera to the parade, so the photographs are courtesy of Debbie on S/V ‘Deborah Lee’. She did a superb job of capturing the spirit of the festival and we are in her debt for the pictures.