Touring Reach Falls with 'Prento'

Reach Falls in Portland. - photos by Ian Allen/Staff Photographer

WHEN PRENTO, the short, round-headed chap who photographer Norman Grindley and I met near Reach Falls in Portland, shouted for me to watch my step, I couldn't hear him because of the sound of the water rushing down the rocks.

There was a hidden crevice in the ground that exposed a section of the gushing river. He was trying to point it out to me. All I managed to say was "huh?" before SPLASH! What happened after that, I have long tried to forget. Suffice it to say, I spent the next 10 minutes draining water from my shoes, much to Prento's amusement and to my own consternation. "Woi! A hope you boot nuh new! Hee Hee!" he chuckled. Smart Alec.

A willing guide

It was mid-afternoon when we arrived in Portland and the sun was still high in the sky. "Come this way man, you haffi walk dah way yah," Prento had shouted, as soon as we drove up. I should point out that we didn't go there to see him. For that matter, we didn't even know who he was. So it was with a quizzical look that we asked him where he wanted to take us. "Oh, mi did was think you did waan go a di falls," said he, pointing behind him and smiling, exposing a toothless mouth.

He said his name was Prento and he pointed to some nearby bushes and said, "Mi just live down over deh so."

I didn't pry. We told him that we were interested in learning more about that part of Portland and he smiled even wider than before. It was a smile only a mother could appreciate. "Is fi mi place dis you come, man. You deh right a Reach Falls, man. Is di prettiest part a Jamaica you ever see," he said. "Just follow me, man. Mi will take you there. Is dat mi do all di time," he said and started to walk. We were close behind him. "When people come here dem always say it more nicer dan di rest a di falls dem around di place. All Dunn's River and dem place deh caan nice like yah so."

Native battle call

I could hear the gushing water now and the air got noticeably cooler as we neared the falls. "Oy Prento!" someone shouted from the bushes. "Oy!" Prento responded and continued talking to us. My mind drifted and I started to think how funny that exchange was. It seemed like a native battle call. I chuckled to myself and somewhere between that and the sound of the rushing water, Prento's warning for me to watch out for the hole in the ground missed me. But enough about that. Ten minutes later, Prento was pointing out the tallest of the waterfalls at Reach.

"Dah one deh is di one weh di people dem say more lookable dan di rest a dem. A di biggest rock dat wi got round here so," he said. SPLASH! Prento was interrupted by the sound of a woman quite suddenly raising her head from beneath the water, almost right in front of me. I had not seen her before and so her sudden appearance caught me completely off guard. The shock of it all nearly sent me head first into the chilly water below. I suppose sensing my unease, the woman had a hearty laugh at my expense. "Woi! Mine you drop young bwoy! Nuh badda frighten, a just me! Woi, hee hee!" the woman laughed. Again with the jokes. She pulled herself out of the water with the help of a hanging vine and, dripping wet, she walked over to where we were standing. "Howdy do? No mind, you hear? You know from when mi see you? Mi know you never see mi but true mi see Prento a talk to you mi just say mek mi come say hello. What unu is about, please?" she said, using a bleach-stained towel to dry her face. She was a tall woman with thick thighs and a masculine chin. She said her name was Mavis and explained that she lived nearby.

Loving the falls

"Mi think unu was tourist, you know. All you weh look like you fraid a water. Hee hee," she quipped. I asked Mavis if she spent a lot of time at the falls. "Oh God man. Every chance mi get mi deh yah. As cock crow a morning time mi just spread up di bed and come out yah. Dat a before di crowd reach. Mi is a regular around here," she said.

Prento interjected. "Most a wi who live nearby come to Reach Falls more time. Dat's why we kip so haughty. Wi just cool out wid di water before we go get all stress and sickness go tek wi over," he said.

The pair explained that Reach Falls was one of the more popular tourist attractions in all of Portland and was a favourite among visitors from Europe. "Di people dem from over inna England and Germany dem love dah place yah bad bad. Even more dan di people dem from Merica. Is like dem nuh waan left. Dem jump and dem swim and halla. One piece a sinting!" he said.

Mavis spoke up again. "We tek care a dem when dem come too. More time dem go a di edda falls dem and get harass. Not yah so! No sah! Portland people dem nuh talarate dem sinting deh. We love people so we always try fi mek dem comfortable!"