Travel Guide Nine Mile

The province of St. Ann is famous for the birth of international reggae superstar Bob Marley. Welcome to Nine Mile, the hamlet where the country's very first star was born. Head to Saint Ann, the North Coast town where Marcus Garvey, Burning Spear and others hail from. Then you'll have to leave the coastline and head inland, or rather up. The road that cuts through the green mountains (if you drive, be careful because the roads are narrow), cuts through the high plateaus of reddish earth, rich in iron. The land is richly exploited by the aluminum industry whose huge trucks clog the roads too narrow for them. The arrival at Nine Mile gives the impression that one has reached the roof of Jamaica.No higher peak than this one on the horizon. We pass in front of an elementary school, a simple building painted in yellow and red: "The Cedella Booker School" indicates a handwritten sign. Lined up in a row in the middle of the small playground, young children in their blouses and khaki shirts recite the alphabet in chorus. A bare-chested farmer with his spade on his shoulder calls out to us: " Take a picture, this is the school that Mama Booka had built for the town. Ah, you are looking for the museum? Drive straight, you soon deh ya! " Indeed, a few hundred meters up, we get out of the car and knock on the gate to bring in the guard. " Welcome to Bob Marley's house, in the real house of his childhood! ".