Shakespeare Thrives in Boulder Summer Festival

August 9th, 2010

William Shakespeare discusses CSF's "Taming of the Shrew" with picnickers.

To me, it just wouldn’t be summer without the Colorado Shakespeare Festival (CSF), held for more than 50 years in Boulder.

Performed in the Mary Rippon Theatre (a lovely outdoor stage) on the University of Colorado campus, the plays are always quite wonderfully produced, and they are ably performed by a troupe of professional actors.

I personally believe that nothing beats the raw excitement of seeing live theatre under the stars, especially on a warm summer night.

(Yes, there are nights where it rains, and the audience huddles indoors waiting for the weather to clear. It usually does, and the show continues where it left off.)

The crowd gets ready for the Colorado Shakespeare Festival’s 2010 production of "King Lear," set in the 1890s wild West.

I have a special connection with Boulder’s Colorado Shakespeare Festival: For 24 consecutive summers, my wind ensemble, called the Falstaff Trio (flute, oboe and bassoon), has performed for the Green Shows before the plays.

Green Shows are the entertainment for picnickers on the lawn before the show. We musicians get “paid” in tickets to the performances.

Pre-show picnicking is another special memory. Over the years on nights that I’m attending a performance, friends and I have spread our blanket under the trees and dined al fresco while listening to other musicians. Or we’ve listened in on theatre conversations: a costumed actor portraying Will Shakespeare wanders the grounds chatting with picnickers about the play they’re about to see.

Sharing fresh summer dishes and a bottle of wine is a timeless ritual—and sometimes our Shakespeare festival is the only time in the busy summer that we haul out the picnic basket.

(Picnic tips: If you don’t have time to prepare food, the Festival sells boxed dinners on-site. And, it’s fun to save dessert for intermission.)

A recorder player with the Boulder Renaissance Consort entertains at 2010 Green Show.

Over the decades, I’ve seen so many wonderful plays by the Bard; the Festival also produces some non-Shakespeare plays each season, such as 2009’s excellent To Kill a Mockingbird.

With great affection I look back at all those Macbeths, Romeo and Juliets, Twelfth Nights, Hamlets and Midsummer Night’s Dreams. The plays that are rarely done get produced too, though less often: I still fondly remember Coriolanus (1995) and Much Ado About Nothing (1997) as among the best productions I’ve seen.

Then there are fun quirks, such as the night a family of raccoons walked across the building gutters right behind the stage. Talk about stealing the show! We audience members were pointing at Momma and her four little ones as they ambled through a scene.

Long live the works of Shakespeare, and long live the Colorado Shakespeare Festival!

—Laurel Kallenbach, freelance writer and editor

Picnicking before the Colorado Shakespeare Festival is a high art.

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A Cup of Jamaica’s Blue Mountain Coffee

July 7th, 2010

Jamaica's misty Blue Mountains are home to Twyman's Old Tavern Estate coffee.

Jamaica’s Blue Mountains are shrouded by mist and rain. The terrain is steep, and in a few places the road has disappeared into landslides created when hurricanes bring too much rain for the already saturated soil to hold. The foliage is lush—a thousand shades of green—and the rough and windy road is dotted with colorfully painted shacks.

I’d expected to find a great house or coffee shop at Old Tavern Estate coffee, but it’s actually a cottage clinging to the side of the mountain. Here, Dorothy Twyman lives and roasts all the coffee right in a back room; she can tell by the color and popping sounds the beans make when the coffee is roasted to perfection. She also hosts the few caffeine-seeking pilgrims who hike up a steep but beautiful trail to the cottage. Her son, David Twyman, tends the coffee farm and manages the business.

Sustainable Sipping

The Twymans grow their coffee with few or no pesticides or herbicides. In addition, they employ 20 local, year-round coffee farmers. The care that goes into every cup is evidenced by its mellow flavor and the tropical fruit accents I tasted with every sip. This is one coffee I can enjoy without adding cream.

The red "cherries" (coffee beans) on a coffee tree

Twyman’s Old Tavern Estate encompasses about 140 acres of land, some of which may have been farmed for coffee since Spanish times. Only 100 acres is currently farmed because consecutive hurricanes in recent years have destroyed many coffee trees.

(In fact, a major challenge to the Blue Mountain coffee industry is change in the weather patterns. Hurricanes used to hit on average every 15 years; recently, a major storm has hit every other year.)

After Hurricane Ivan (2004) coffee production slowed to the point that it was no longer economically feasible for the family to export Twyman’s coffee—but they hope to change that soon. For now, this aromatic, smooth, non-bitter beverage is a treat enjoyed in Jamaica only.

You need to make an appointment to visit Twyman’s Old Tavern Estate, near the village of Green Hill. It’s accessible from either Kingston or Buff Bay (on the northeast coast) on the B-1 road. Enjoying a cup with Dorothy is worth the trip.

Reservations: (876) 924-2785; oldtaverncoffee@kasnet.com. Jamaica Explorations arranges guided hikes through coffee country to the Twymans’ place.

—Laurel Kallenbach, freelance writer and editor

Dorothy Twyman shows the difference between raw and roasted coffee beans.

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Rafting on Jamaica’s Rio Grande

June 28th, 2010

Although Burnett didn't ferry around Errol Flynn, he has been a raft caption in Jamaica for four decades, and he gives a fascinating tour.

The best (and most tranquil) ride in the Port Antonio area is floating on a long bamboo raft toward the ocean—the antithesis of whitewater rafting.

The Rio Grande, one of Jamaica’s largest rivers, has been used to transport bananas from the interior of the island for a century or more. Rafting for fun, however, was introduced in the 1950s by Hollywood film star Errol Flynn, who lived in Port Antonio.

Two passengers sit on an elevated platform at the rear of the quaint raft while the guide stands at the front and poles you down the river. Though there are a few rapids (they were calm during my trip due to a drought), it’s a sedate trip that lets you sit back, take in the scenery, and soak up the rays. (Bring a hat, sunscreen and drinking water.)

My captain, the charming and ebullient Burnett, has poled rafts for 43 years, and he regaled me with tales of the river and pointed out landmarks and birds (herons, egrets, turkey vultures, sandpipers, snipes).

During my two-hour reverie ($80 per raft), I felt like Cleopatra. The scenery was spectacular, the temperature perfect (I went in the late afternoon, so the day’s heat was over), and the water glorious. Plus, Burnett was doing all the hard work—not me.

Along the way, there were opportunities to stop on a sandbank for swimming, but because the sun was dipping behind the mountains, we drifted on. At hot midday, a swim stop would have been divine.

Raft captains use a pole to push the bamboo raft down the river.

Details:

  • Take a shuttle or taxi upstream from Port Antonio to Rafter’s Rest where you can board a raft. (Wayne Murdock’s Attractions Link transportation service is excellent, and Wayne knows the area like the back of his hand. Email attractionslink@csjamaica.com.)
  • At Rafter’s Rest, the captains wait in line for a raft fare—not unlike the taxi stand at airports. I tipped handsomely because with the depressed economy, tourism has slowed and many captains get only one or two fares per month.

    Burnett steers the raft through a rock tunnel.

  • Take along a few dollar bills. I encountered a few respectful “in-stream vendors,” boys who wade out to the raft and hand you a flower hoping for a tip. There are also riverside entrepreneurs who sell cold Red Stripe beer and sodas.

—Laurel Kallenbach, freelance writer and editor

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Sand Mining Threatens Jamaica’s Rio Grande

June 25th, 2010

The raft trip down Jamaica’s Rio Grande was truly a delight. The only sounds were birdcalls, the occasional moo from a cow on the banks, water trickling off the guides’ poles, and laughter from the other rafters in the group.

All was quiet—until 5:30 when machine noise shattered the tranquility. As we floated closer, I watched a steam shovel tear out chunks of the riverbank and dump the sand—water and all—into a diesel-fume-spewing truck that drove away when it was full.

Today I wish I had taken a photo, but at the time, the sight was so appalling that I didn’t want to record this environmental travesty: sand mining. Sand is needed for the cement used in building houses, hotels, stores.

And it’s illegal in Jamaica—at least without a license.

Yet here in broad daylight a steam shovel and five dump trucks—and while I can’t be sure, I’d be willing to bet they’re breaking the law. How could they be so brash?

As it turns out, my group was rafting later in the day than most tourists. We were witness to an environmental crime simply because the sand miners did their dirty work after tourist hours. Their pillage of the river probably happens every day, and local officials turn a blind eye.

For the rest of my raft trip, I couldn’t help but shudder to think what would happen to the fragile riparian ecosystems being torn away from the Rio Grande. Soon, the legacy of this beautiful river will be gone—along with its habitat for birds, fish and freshwater shrimp.

Frankly, I hesitate to even mention this eco-horror because it might dissuade visitors from taking the raft trip in the first place—and tourism has already slowed so much lately due to hard economic times worldwide.

This woman, who sells cold beer and soft drinks to rafters, would be economically impacted by environmental degradation of the Rio Grande.

But here’s the reality: Unless people become outraged enough to speak up and urge the Jamaican government to clamp down on illegal sand mining—or any environmental problem—it will continue.

My hope is that eco-travelers will continue to pay to enjoy a lovely raft ride on a beautiful river. Tourism dollars infused into the local economy might encourage Jamaica to protect, not abuse, its natural landscapes.

In addition, visitors to Jamaica should express sadness over environmental degradation that we notice, letting hotel managers, taxi drivers, restaurateurs and others know how disturbing it is to see the island’s beauty damaged.

When those in the tourism industry get feedback from travelers, they have more to back them up if they speak against the mining to authorities. If it impacts the business of tourism, sand mining might receive the attention needed to halt its practice.

This brings up questions for me, and I’d be interested to hear thoughts from readers:

  • What should tourists do to express their concern about environmental destruction they witness in places they visit?
  • Is voicing outrage over such problems when you’re in a different country with a different culture appropriate? Or will overt anger only alienate the locals without creating change?

—Laurel Kallenbach, freelance writer and editor

Hopefully, motor-free rafting will continue on a lovely, undamaged river.

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Reach Falls: Freshwater Fun in Jamaica

June 18th, 2010

Freshwater cascades of Reach Falls, Jamaica

When we think of Caribbean islands, we usually envision turquoise and deep blue waves—and there are plenty of those in Jamaica. Hidden in its lush mountains, however, is a freshwater idyll that visitors shouldn’t miss.

Reach Falls is a refreshing destination—and a pleasant alternative to hanging out on the beach.

Cascades and Pools

What’s more exotic than a swimming hole in the jungle? That’s the magic of Reach Falls in the Blue Mountains east of the town of Port Antonio. Here, water cascades over the massive boulders in some places and forms quiet pools in others.

What I loved at Reach Falls:

  • Swimming through the blue-green water (the milky color comes from the limestone) into shallow caves and peering out at the rainforest through the rivulets of water.
  • Getting a shoulder and scalp massage by standing beneath the water of a rushing cascade.
  • Riding the flume. This is achieved by swimming vigorously upstream to perch on a rock ledge with swirling whitewater around you. Then launch yourself into the current, and let it carry you downstream.

    Deep, clear pools are perfect for a cool dip on a hot afternoon.

Details: There’s an entrance fee to Reach Falls. Facilities include picnic tables, toilets, changing rooms, and lifeguards for general safety.

You can hike up the river to Reach Falls and explore the lush jungled area.

—Laurel Kallenbach, freelance writer and editor


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