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Touts offer nude, semi-nude spa treatment
By Donna Hussey-Whyte Sunday Observer staff reporter Investigative Coverage Unit icu@jamaicaobserver.com
Sunday, June 14, 2009
DOZENS of touts at the Bath Fountain Hotel and Spa, in St Thomas, are adamant they will not abandon their only means of livelihood, despite accusations from stakeholders that they are driving tourists away from the facility.
The mostly young men who line the street each day, eagerly awaiting visitors, say they are the ones who preserve the natural attraction.
Damion 'Kingman' King, gives a visitor a foot treatment. (Photos: Lionel Rookwood) "Over the years, we are the ones who keep it clean and preserve the place," said a man who gave his name as Errol 'Bigga' Cole, one of the self-styled tour guides.
"Government don't business with it. Even after the hurricanes and the place mash up, we are the ones who bring it back to what it is. Nobody don't come and deal wid it, a just we. This is our thing still, our community, and our little hustling, so we haffi look after it," he told the Sunday Observer.
The news team soon learnt that "little hustling", meant a virtual rat-race to see who first got to visitors; instructing persons where to park; escorting them up the narrow track leading to the river, and offering them a complete body treatment.
In our case, when the rush subsided, we were taken on a tour by three guides, two in their mid-twenties and the other in his forties. The trek to the river was, for the most part, tiring, but we were constantly reminded to be careful by the guides.
COLE... we are the ones who keep it clean and preserve the place "We affi mek visitors feel welcome. We affi take care of them so they will come back," said Damion 'Kingman' King, one of our guides. "The track can be dangerous so we guide people when they come and let them see what we have to offer."
The pace was swift as the men seemed anxious to get to their destination, to (what we thought at the time) show us the attractions. During our five-minute walk, we passed 'Lightening', the food man, stirring his small pot of rice and ackee, and Adelaja, at his 'Blakk Bead Fish and Chips' stall, displaying natural charm bracelets, calabash, Noni juice and wind chimers. After going down a slope, we came to what our guides called, "the natural healing waters".
"This is sulphuric water that can heal aches and pains and make you feel revived and energetic," one of the men explained. We were instructed to remove our shoes and they ushered us to a seat on a rock on the river bank. We sat beside a 60-something-year-old woman who was wearing only underwear and head tie. Beside her was a child about seven, and on a large rock in the middle of the river sat a young woman in a bathing suit holding a baby. One of the men invited us to test the temperature of what appeared to be a spring behind the rock on which we sat. The water was boiling hot!
"Right here is sulphuric water," Bigga said. It is 130 degrees, but it will not scorch your skin because is natural water."
They then instructed us to take our clothes off. We politely declined. One of the men took hold of the reporter's feet and told her to hike her skirt up to her thighs. He quickly fetched some of the hot water in a plastic jug, scooped up some of the cold water from the river to cool down the temperature and proceeded to wash and massage her feet. When he got to her arms, a second man joined him.
For a total body wash, the visitor is offered a choice of standing nude or semi-nude (preferably nude) beneath a make shift shower, created by a length of bamboo running overhead from a hot water spring in the rocks into the river.
For 'detoxing purposes', they are invited to drink three handfuls of the pure hot water and to wash the face. The body is then lotioned with "mineral mud", also for 'detoxing'.
"Anything in your body to come out, it will take it out," Bigga said.
Then it was time for the oils.
According to Bigga, the oil, being applied from a small glass bottle, was a blend of eucalyptus, pimento, nutmeg, cinnamon, lemon grass, nata, rosemerry, bogum and olive oil specially blended together by him.
"This helps the blood to circulate 100 per cent," he claimed. "It will remove pain, clean your skin of bumps and free up your joints. Some people come whenever they feel tired or run down, but you wouldn't need a treatment like this again for another three months," our guide said.
The cost? "So lef a ting wid wi nuh?"
By Donna Hussey-Whyte Sunday Observer staff reporter Investigative Coverage Unit icu@jamaicaobserver.com
Sunday, June 14, 2009
DOZENS of touts at the Bath Fountain Hotel and Spa, in St Thomas, are adamant they will not abandon their only means of livelihood, despite accusations from stakeholders that they are driving tourists away from the facility.
The mostly young men who line the street each day, eagerly awaiting visitors, say they are the ones who preserve the natural attraction.
Damion 'Kingman' King, gives a visitor a foot treatment. (Photos: Lionel Rookwood) "Over the years, we are the ones who keep it clean and preserve the place," said a man who gave his name as Errol 'Bigga' Cole, one of the self-styled tour guides."Government don't business with it. Even after the hurricanes and the place mash up, we are the ones who bring it back to what it is. Nobody don't come and deal wid it, a just we. This is our thing still, our community, and our little hustling, so we haffi look after it," he told the Sunday Observer.
The news team soon learnt that "little hustling", meant a virtual rat-race to see who first got to visitors; instructing persons where to park; escorting them up the narrow track leading to the river, and offering them a complete body treatment.
In our case, when the rush subsided, we were taken on a tour by three guides, two in their mid-twenties and the other in his forties. The trek to the river was, for the most part, tiring, but we were constantly reminded to be careful by the guides.
COLE... we are the ones who keep it clean and preserve the place "We affi mek visitors feel welcome. We affi take care of them so they will come back," said Damion 'Kingman' King, one of our guides. "The track can be dangerous so we guide people when they come and let them see what we have to offer."The pace was swift as the men seemed anxious to get to their destination, to (what we thought at the time) show us the attractions. During our five-minute walk, we passed 'Lightening', the food man, stirring his small pot of rice and ackee, and Adelaja, at his 'Blakk Bead Fish and Chips' stall, displaying natural charm bracelets, calabash, Noni juice and wind chimers. After going down a slope, we came to what our guides called, "the natural healing waters".
"This is sulphuric water that can heal aches and pains and make you feel revived and energetic," one of the men explained. We were instructed to remove our shoes and they ushered us to a seat on a rock on the river bank. We sat beside a 60-something-year-old woman who was wearing only underwear and head tie. Beside her was a child about seven, and on a large rock in the middle of the river sat a young woman in a bathing suit holding a baby. One of the men invited us to test the temperature of what appeared to be a spring behind the rock on which we sat. The water was boiling hot!
"Right here is sulphuric water," Bigga said. It is 130 degrees, but it will not scorch your skin because is natural water."
They then instructed us to take our clothes off. We politely declined. One of the men took hold of the reporter's feet and told her to hike her skirt up to her thighs. He quickly fetched some of the hot water in a plastic jug, scooped up some of the cold water from the river to cool down the temperature and proceeded to wash and massage her feet. When he got to her arms, a second man joined him.
For a total body wash, the visitor is offered a choice of standing nude or semi-nude (preferably nude) beneath a make shift shower, created by a length of bamboo running overhead from a hot water spring in the rocks into the river.
For 'detoxing purposes', they are invited to drink three handfuls of the pure hot water and to wash the face. The body is then lotioned with "mineral mud", also for 'detoxing'.
"Anything in your body to come out, it will take it out," Bigga said.
Then it was time for the oils.
According to Bigga, the oil, being applied from a small glass bottle, was a blend of eucalyptus, pimento, nutmeg, cinnamon, lemon grass, nata, rosemerry, bogum and olive oil specially blended together by him.
"This helps the blood to circulate 100 per cent," he claimed. "It will remove pain, clean your skin of bumps and free up your joints. Some people come whenever they feel tired or run down, but you wouldn't need a treatment like this again for another three months," our guide said.
The cost? "So lef a ting wid wi nuh?"
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