Original subtitles

Before I was born, my mum and dad moved from the Caribbean to Britain. We had

exactly the same place in Bolton.

I loved our family holidays here. This is how I remember my mum doing it.

But this trip is much more.

This would have been a party room.

I'm off to discover how these magical islands of creative cultures, loved by

people all over the world.

I'll be welcomed into island life. Come early and stay late.

Leave all the bad vibes at the gate.

Pushed out of my comfort zone.

My back's gone.

On goes the hat.

To unearth some major surprises.

Annalise, hi. Oh, hello. There's a pig in the kitchen.

And share what I find with the folks back home. It feels big. This is a real

Caribbean treasure.

As I uncover the energy.

Creativity. It looks like a Tyrannosaurus Rex. If you can, you do

Go! Here they come, here they come.

Of the closest place to paradise on Earth.

Look at that view.

What a wonderful day it's been.

Join me on my Caribbean adventure.

I was a little kid when I first came to Jamaica, and I absolutely hated it. The

weather was too hot, the mosquitoes had a field day, and I missed all my mates

back in Bolton.

Anyway, I'm a lot older now and wiser, and I want to experience what makes

Jamaica the UK's best -loved Caribbean travel destination.

So, I'm heading north to a place called Goldeneye.

While I'm here, I'll be diving into a garden beneath the waves.

So you're a fish, right? I'm a fish, yes.

Not a fish fish.

Not a fish fish. Yes.

Getting stuck into a style of Jamaican dining that I love.

Scotch bonnet. And you know, you said you like spice.

And later, I'll be going inside the factory, Jamaica style.

I've always enjoyed seeing Jamaica on the silver screen.

James Bond's first car chase was filmed here.

The link between Bond and Jamaica began with the arrival of Captain Ian Fleming

in World War II.

He swore that if he survived, he'd return and build a house.

Hello. Hello, Mr. Myrie.

Ricardo.

Welcome. The name's Myrie.

Myrie.

I feel as if I should be in black tie.

You know? I would suggest black tie. Wow, that's Jake James Bond's home, man.

I'm not in t -shirt.

There's the man himself, Mr. Fleming. Absolutely.

And of course, Sean Connery.

But do you think Sean Connery was the best Bond? Of course.

Fleming's villa is now part of the luxurious Golden Eye Hotel complex.

Its glamorous history is a big part of the draw.

Look, Moneypenny! Lois Maxwell.

With Sean Connery there.

Pussy galore. Honor Blackman.

The glitzy movie franchise of 007 and the Bond girls has generated more than

.5 billion.

Only second to one. Second to one.

Harry Potter.

That's pretty amazing.

That's pretty good.

All 14 of the original books were written here.

You first came here towards the end of the Second World War, was it? Yeah,

And you just fell in love. And then that's it.

Jamaica's wild beauty inspired him.

So he always wanted to write, I get the feeling. And as it evolved out of the

World War and everything that he was already doing, as a journalist and

everything, it was already ticking.

place within.

They just needed that right setting and Jamaica was that muse of a location.

If you look, you would have a fish right here just a fresh caught. It looked

like a barracuda to me. Nice and big and ready.

And this conch shell.

Yes.

Significant. Very significant.

So that would have been Ursula Andres rising like Venus out

of the sea.

Like Bond, Fleming lived the high life and entertained guests from Errol Flynn

to Laurence Olivier.

The Golden Eye Resort is still a popular celebrity hideaway. What about famous

people? Do you get famous people coming to stay here?

We don't tell.

I'm sure Jay -Z would love to be here.

Beyonce? Why not?

Why not?

Adele? What can you say?

His home here gave him the quiet he needed to cast his mind back to his

adventures. Look at the view.

That's it.

Every morning, Fleming swam here and then sat down to write 1 ,500 words

lunch. Here is the desk and the chair.

Right. Let it all be done. May I?

Please.

There we are.

We've been expecting you, Mr. Banks.

So how did Flamie's career feed into his book?

He would have had connection with the whole British naval services.

Through his experiences in the war. Through his experiences in the war.

And actually, Golan I...

It was a code name for one of the missions for which he was sent to

He called this building that he designed... Exactly.

..that was his home for such a long time. He called that Golden Eye. That

core part of his inspiration.

As an intelligence officer, Fleming was known for his imaginative missions.

All of these experiences fed into Bond.

And that horizon.

Perfect.

Inspiration and, of course,

the sound of the sea.

his beloved Caribbean.

Jamaica is famous for many things, including Rastafarianism, reggae and

cannabis.

The world's most famous Rastafarian, Bob Marley, saw smoking weed as a spiritual

experience.

Now it's building a different reputation.

To find out why, I'm heading to the mountains of Saint Anne.

Ganja, as people call it here, comes from the cannabis plant, which has been

grown in Jamaica for almost 200 years.

This farm is one of the biggest.

Hi, you must be Alexandra.

Yes. Hi, Clive.

I'm Clive.

Lovely to meet you. Lovely to meet you, too. Welcome to Jakarta. Welcome to

Jamaica. Finest ganja farm. This is your world. Yes.

Yes. This is our world.

A few years ago, commercial cannabis farming was against the law.

And all this is legal.

Yes. Legal. They would all be running from the police.

You'd have been running from the police. I would have been running from the

police. Running a cannabis farm. We would all be in jail, potentially,

In Britain, it's still generally classed as an illegal substance, but there is

emerging evidence of some health benefits.

So in 2018, medicinal cannabis, when prescribed by a registered specialist

doctor, was legalized in the UK.

What do you produce here? About 40 different varieties. There are indicas,

are sativas, and, you know, obviously there's so many different ailments.

There's a lot of medicinal value here.

Xavier, this is Clive. Hi Clive, nice to meet you. Good to see you.

So Xavier, what are you doing?

Well, I'm de -leafing.

De -leafing? Yeah.

Pruning helps the plants get more light.

So you're tending, cultivating, making sure it's ready. Making sure she's

beautiful. Not just ready, but beautiful. Going to a rub for a sore

Well, we are bound for that.

My mom, she had aches and pains.

I got her one of the bottles and I took it home to her. I rubbed it myself for

her. And within a few days, she would tell me, this thing works.

I mean, I could actually see her moving around even better, you know, without

that pain.

It is prescribed by GPs in the UK.

Absolutely, absolutely.

You can get a prescription if you have very bad pain, severe forms of epilepsy.

And a lot of people use cannabis to sleep and, of course, end -of -life

Scientists are still investigating exactly how useful medicinal cannabis

But to have any effect, buds need to be dry.

Suiting up.

Drying up?

Yep.

These plants are hung and dried for at least seven days.

Seven days? Seven days. In this room.

Drying activates the plant's chemical compounds.

Most importantly, THC and CBD.

Okay, so what happens here?

Oh, here is our curing room.

Right, okay.

Curing intensifies the potency of THC, which creates the famous high, and

which has a calming effect.

So is there a technique to getting the fermentation process, as it were,

the air in? You're allowing oxygen into the box, so you're going to slightly

agitate it. Okay. Just like that.

Okay. I've got it. I've got the technique.

You sound like a Brit.

Where are you from?

I'm from London.

How did you get this job then?

Next, the team removed the less potent outer leaves.

Hello, ladies.

Hi.

Hi there, hi. Currently, this is our trimming room. Trimming room, so what's

that? This is where we trim and manicure the plants after the curing process.

Come on, Clive, let's give it a try.

Oh.

Let's go. Time for a bit of a trimming. Yeah.

What do I do?

So today, you're going to learn how to manicure the plants. Manicure.

I'm putting it up, aren't I? That's what I'm doing.

I'm putting it up.

What do you think of the fact that cannabis, ganja, it's so wrapped up in

whole idea of what Jamaica is?

I'm a part of the Rastafarian culture and I grew up with cannabis being a part

of my life. We use it for medicinal purposes.

Also, we use it for sacramental purposes. A big part of your life? Yeah,

always been a big part of my life.

Meanwhile, in the UK, about 30 ,000 people have been prescribed cannabis,

it's estimated that more than a million of us self -medicate illegally.

How are you getting on, Clive?

Not bad, I think.

Kimmy, what do you think? Can you join your team?

Needs a little more practice.

Needs a little more practice.

What we can buy freely is very low doses of CBD oils and balms.

These are created by extracting oil from hemp.

a type of cannabis plant.

Clive, meet Nick Dean.

Oh, you're the new hire?

Yeah.

I need you to fill my extractor here with some milled cannabis.

Milled cannabis? Yeah, this is what we're going to use to make our extract,

the extract is what we use to make all our wellness products.

This machine extracts the oil's adaptive ingredients.

Big scoop.

Is that enough?

Yep, that's good. And it literally just goes in here. Just goes in there. Don't

spill any.

Don't spill any. Just like a teabag. Just like a teabag. It goes into the

teabag. Yeah. So my teabag has gone down now. Is that okay? No, you got to pull

it back up. Pull it back up. Pull it back up. Look at the technique going. We

need a strong cup of tea. I don't know. So I've got to hold it, right?

Hold it to put it in. I thought these guys were the experts on tea.

That's true. Here we go.

While it's uncertain if a low dose can be effective, the products are popular.

This is it. Have a look. This is it. You can't.

And the smell.

Oh, my Lord. It's quite powerful.

Yes, it is.

This is our CBD relief balm, lemongrass. You can take a sniff.

Mmm.

So what would that be used for? Pain relief, inflammation.

And this is really great for arthritis, aches and pains, sports injuries.

I think what's fascinating about all this is that Jamaicans have been using

ganja, cannabis, you know, as herbal remedies for centuries.

Now it's become an industry.

Just like, you know, Chinese medicines and Ayurvedic medicines and Yerbistas in

South America, the Caribbean has bush medicine as part of its culture. The

Caribbean? Yeah.

Home of bush medicine?

Home of bush medicine, absolutely.

Now that's food for thought.

Half an hour away is the touristy town of Ocho Rios.

But I've come here to search out another aspect of Rasta culture.

A restaurant run by Miss T, a .k .a. Anna K. Tomlinson, whose food includes a

style of cooking known as Aitau.

Is it Anna or should I say Miss T?

Miss T.

Welcome,

welcome, welcome. I've heard so much about this place.

Oh, we have a lovely vegan meal for you today.

But when you think of Jamaica, curry goat.

My favorite.

Amazing fish.

That's what I grew up with, stew chicken.

And this is vegan?

Because my husband became vegan, and then I realized that there was nowhere

you could go and get all Jamaican cooked down with some vegan. All together with

some vegan.

I'm looking forward to sampling some of your delights, Miss T.

Looking forward to just... Blowing your mind.

Okay. I don't mind my mind, England.

Nothing wrong with that.

All right.

So, Alwin.

Alwin. This is Clive. I'm looking forward to getting involved. Right. So,

what are we doing? No, you're going in the middle. I'm going in the middle?

Yeah, you didn't just come here to eat. You're going to work. Okay, don't just

put it in my bag. Yeah. To see why you're misplaced. Yeah, why would you be

misplaced? Trouble.

What are we making exactly? We're making some escasota, real Yadman style.

Yard man style.

So, Alwin, you're a Rastafarian?

Yes, I'm a Rastafarian. Okay, and your sort of diet is dictated by your faith?

Yeah. No meat, no fish, just trickly food to make you feel alive.

Okay. Curry goat can make you feel alive. It certainly makes me feel alive.

Trickly vegetarian.

The style of cooking that is designed to connect the human spirit to the earth.

So I'm going to go ahead.

This is soursop. It's a sweet fruit with a texture like banana, but we're mixing

it up with salt, onion, thyme, and flour.

You know, Clive, I served this to my husband, and he thought it was fish. You

discombobulated me.

With Alwyn's cooking.

Okay, so just to remind everyone, escovitch, it's a classic Jamaican

marinade.

What do you call it? What is it? It's not a marinade. It's a pickle.

It's a pickle. Okay. That's vinegar.

Escovitch comes from the Spanish escabeche.

Okay. So how's that? A sharp sauce for fish.

They call it allspice. We call it pimento. Pimento. So you can put a few

those in there. Okay. How many?

Just like about six or eight. Yeah. I love pimento.

A bit of thyme.

Yeah. Break that up a little bit.

This is the bad girl.

Scotch bonnet. Are you sure you want to put all this in?

No. This is going to blow someone's head off, man.

I like it spicy. I like it spicy. Okay. I'm going to blow your head off. Okay.

So a little bit of this then. Bay leaf. Bit of bay leaf. Yeah.

Tip of water to cut the tartness.

Okay. Yeah.

Can I go a little more?

Yeah, man. Carrot.

Carrot. Okay. Nice carrot. That's what gives it a nice color. Put all of that,

man. All of it in? Yeah.

My little secret, it's brown sugar. Brown sugar.

My little potion of love. Oh, no.

From me to you.

So you know what? You do it.

And you're happy with this addition to your dish?

I'm just checking, Alwyn. That's okay.

Yeah? You sure now? Okay, here we go. Here we go.

Sausage. There you go. This is scotch bonnet, but the green one. You're

more heat in there? Yeah, but we want a little hello.

Yeah. Mix them up. Mix it all up.

Yeah. You cannot have this without bami.

Without bami.

Bami is a little light tortilla.

It's made out of grated cassava, a root vegetable with a nutty taste.

The proof is in the pudding. You've got to check it. You've got to check it out.

Woo!

Just a touch.

I see!

So that's what happens. That's what happens when you taste it.

Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Guess what time it is.

It's ESCO time.

Oh, very nice. Remember, we eat it our eyes, eh?

Sour salt.

Oh, lovely.

Okay, bit of pickle on there too.

How is it?

It's gorgeous.

And you're right about the texture of the sour salt.

Looking like, tasting like, fleshy white fish.

And look at it there. Lovely.

That looks like fish.

Because you told me the story about your husband. I'm thinking, he's a damn

fool.

How could he mistake a fruit for a fish?

Absolutely wonderful.

Lovely.

I'm never going to eat a bacon sandwich again.

I couldn't do that. But this is amazing.

Wonderful. Thank you.

Blessings. That is it. Absolutely.

Oh, wow.

Scotch bonnet. Scotch bonnet.

Scotch bonnet. It's reached you.

It's reached me.

Since I'm visiting the parish where James Bond was created, I've got to stay

one of the area's most iconic hotels, the Jamaica Inn, just 20 minutes away

Goldeneye and a lot cheaper.

I'm checking in. It also played a key part in the Bond story.

Oh, I'd love a drink first. I'm parched. Where's the bar?

It's around to this side.

Lovely. Thank you.

Good thing I'm early.

Good evening.

Good evening, sir. How are you? Hi, I'm good. Welcome. Very good. Good to see

you. I would love a drink. I'm parched.

Yes, sir. What are you thinking of? I think I'd like a martini.

We have a very good martini. We call it a James Bond martini.

It's shaken, not stirred. Not stirred. Just explain to me, why is the James

martini shaken and not stirred?

Water it down a little.

Right. Okay, so if you have ice and you're shaking it all together, you're

melting the ice more quickly. That allows more water in it, so it dilutes

more. The famous shake and not stirred option is all about getting a cool drink

in a hot climate.

First, we have to pour it over ice.

Okay. Dry vermouth.

And this is how Ian Fleming would have had his martini? And Noel Coward.

Ooh, Noel Coward too.

Two shots of vodka. Two shots of vodka.

One shot of gardening gin.

Gotta have gin.

Oh, that's a nice measure.

Add a little more ice.

A little bit more ice.

A little bit of down. OK.

Murray has manned the bar for decades. He's a master at making the perfect

sundown.

And there it is.

Shaken, not stirred.

And we're going to...

Our garnish, the reason why we twist the lime is to get the oil in there.

Wonderful. Thank you, Murray. Thank you. You're welcome.

How is it?

Very, very good. Very refreshing. Thank you.

After a hard morning's writing, Ian Fleming liked to come here to relax with

cocktail.

And he used to come in here, did he? He and his friends used to sit over there

on the balcony having an afternoon cocktail.

And what did he drink? One of these?

The reason why they came up with that, one loves vodka, the other one loves

drinks. And they created this iconic drink at this very bar.

Of course.

Are there any other famous people who have sat at this bar or come and stayed

here? Many.

Many? Who?

Usain Bolt. Usain Bolt?

I said, Mr. Bolt, how was it going?

He didn't answer me. He said, to the world.

Dr. Henry Kissinger. Henry Kissinger.

Paul Simon.

Kate Moss.

Kate Moss. A lot of memories for you.

This is my training school, my college, and my university.

Well, to you, to many more years working at the Jamaica Inn, to Ian Fleming, and

to James Bond.

Thank you, Murray. You're welcome.

The name's Myrie.

Clive Myrie.

Just a nightcap for me. I'm up bright and early tomorrow.

Fleming did his morning swim in the nude.

In the afternoon, he put on his snorkel, picked up a spear and went looking for

lobster.

These days, he might be disappointed.

Around 15 years ago, local people noticed fish numbers were dwindling in

Bay.

Travis. How you doing?

Clive, man. Good to see you. Welcome to Okabesa. Thank you so much.

I say, no, that's David Murray. Oh, David, good to see you, man. You're

Nice one.

To try to save Jamaica's sea life, the bay has been turned into a fish

sanctuary.

So this fish sanctuary is really set up as a preservation where fish can come,

they grow, they breed, and then they will swim out. And the fishermen will

them once they swim out of the fish sanctuary boundaries.

It's what they call a mutually beneficial arrangement.

Works for both sides. Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure.

Some of the fishermen have been employed to help protect the bay, like our

captain, David.

Aye, aye, Captain.

How are you? I'm good. How are you? Yeah, man.

It's good to see you. It's wonderful, isn't it, being out here? Pleasant day.

But you're a fisherman, right?

Yeah, born as a fisherman.

Born as a fisherman? Yeah.

Born in the water, yeah. My father, my grandfather, it's a tradition, you know?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

You're born in the water, so you're a fish, right? I'm a fish.

Not a fish fish.

Not a fish fish?

Yeah. Okay, not a fish fish. Yeah.

The century.

It saves fishing around here, would you say?

Yes. And it works like a bank for the fishermen.

A bank? Yeah. So we live off the inches.

So the fishers fish on the boundary line. The nicest bank I've ever seen.

The fish mature and go outside the protection zone, where they can be

caught. But the system still needs to be policed.

So our sanctuary boat is called Enforcer.

You know, no pun intended.

Here's the boat right here.

That's Ian and that's Ray. Hey there. They're both fishermen. I'm good.

You didn't ask permission to come aboard.

Yeah, but...

You're a tourist.

You just jump on my boat.

You're a tourist. I've got to be here. You jump on my boat without the

invitation. You're a tourist.

You're not just an enforcer. You're also a fisherman, too. 58 years old, and I'm

doing this from I'm 12.

Jamaica has almost 500 square miles of coral reef, but that's 85 % less than

50 years ago.

Fish and coral rely on each other.

The coral provides food, shelter and a safe place to lay eggs, while the fish

clean off algae to keep the pests in check.

The second layer of preservation work is to regrow the coral.

Is it working?

It is working. We have empirical data to show that the work that we're doing

here is actually beneficial and it's working.

And, you know, Ian, he does an excellent job with his coral gardening team to

ensure that, you know, we have outplanted over 35 ,000 corals within

sanctuary. I'm very proud of what is going on here right now because I've

the achievement.

Now I get to visit the coral farm.

beneath the waves.

Ready to go in? Ready to go. Let's go.

Okay.

Signs of life, which is wonderful.

But these white patches are signs of distress.

The work here is slowly returning the reef to health.

And now for the main event, the coral nursery.

Each metal tree is growing 100 little pieces of healthy coral.

Once they grow to a foot, they're planted back into the reef to help

to its former glory.

Absolutely amazing down there.

And the damage is so easy to see. Obviously, the hope is that those white

patches are going to disappear.

The coral will get its color back.

will become again a useful marine habitat.

Down there you can see exactly why the conservation work is going on and why

it's so important, really vital.

When I come back, hopefully the coral will be looking a lot closer to how it

in Ian Fleming's day.

This part of Jamaica has always had a reputation for being exceptionally

beautiful, and I have not been disappointed.

And now, thanks to the Coral Conservation Program, the views beneath

are as stunning as they are above.

No wonder James Bond chose to hang out here, because this really is a vista.

Licensed. Real.

But there are many more adventures to come, and I can't wait to see where the

next leg of my journey will take me.