Mélange Travel & Lifestyle Magazine January 2019 | Page 346

Ahhh...Ras Natango
GALLERY & GARDEN
Ahhh… is a family business located in the
rural Jamaican community, Camrose. It is an
approximate seven-mile drive up the mountain
from the Montego Bay Cruise Port and Sam
Sharpe Square. At an elevation of 2,000 feet
above sea level, it boasts a most spectacular
view of the city below.
It was never the intention of artist, Ian Williams
aka Ras Natango to open a tourism attraction
in his home. It all started in 1990 after he
purchased the property to build his home.
He then discovered he had purchased a
“cliffside”. He terraced the land using the stones
that were already on hand. Ras Nantango felt,
“if they can terrace the hillsides of Asia to grow
rice, I can terrace this cliff to grow flowers.” With
no soil to plant flowers in the terraced beds, he
decided to compost and even today you’ll find
two large compost heaps on his property. His
house was designed and built into his cliffside
on stilts (huge concrete columns), and the
dream of Ahhh . . . began.