Day 5: Lost In a Forest of Thoughts- Ren Shimada

Today, we all went on a little excursion close to the Windsor plantation and caves. Instead of going to the caves, we hiked through the woods to the site of an old British barracks from the Maroon Wars (1728-40 and 1795-6). On the way over to Windsor,  we met Dr. Conolley and his assistant, Rim on the side of a long rural road. The journey over there in the van was as exciting and scenic as the hike. We passed through a few small towns including the area where Usain Bolt grew up, Sherwood Content. As we made our way closer to Windsor, the road became narrower and we twisted around the mountainous terrain. The feeling of leaving civilization behind and venturing out into the woods was very thrilling. The actual hike itself was a few miles into the woods. However, it was not your typical hiking trail. Like the map that Dr. Conolley gave us to get to Windsor, the trail was very much off the beaten path and was literally made by Dr. Conolley and Rim who cleared a path for us with their machetes as we hiked through the woods. Once we were deep into the path it felt as if we were in a dream. As we all steadily walked, the scenery around us was just amazing and made for a very tranquil and relaxing walk in despite all the mosquitoes and other insects. When we finally arrived at the barracks, many of us were starting to get pretty tired and were getting eaten up buy the mosquitoes. To help with this, Dr. Conolley, Rim, and Mr. Shaw all started a small fire and used the smoke to repel the mosquitoes. Again, I was amazed at their simple solutions and practical knowledge which had gotten us miles into the forest at the remnants of the army barracks.  The remnants consisted of a few graves and the bases of the walls which formed a rectangle that would have been able to fit maybe around 50 soldiers. The British barracks was in a very isolated spot with the steep mountain on one side and a sinkhole on the opposite. This would've been a great defensive spot for a barracks because it was so hard to access. Dr. Conolley told us that he had "chanced" upon the barracks while he was searching for caves nearby which contained indigenous Taino petroglyphs. Again, this completely blew my mind as we were so deep into the woods that I couldn't imagine just wandering this unknown forest without getting completely lost. Even though the hike was tiring, it was a really great activity which connected us with nature and the undisturbed land of Jamaica. Going on this small adventure really allowed me to distance myself from all worries as I got lost in my thoughts and also lost in the scenery and woods around us.