Ahhh...Ras Natango Gallery and Garden

by Tamika Williams
(Camrose District, Granville PO Box 21, ST James, Jamaica)

Click Other Photos To Enlarge

Click Other Photos To Enlarge

Ahhh...Ras Natango Gallery and Garden is located in the community of Camrose St James.

It boasts a most spectacular view of the city of Montego Bay below.

The business is owned by the Williams family - Ian, Tamika and their son Ayale.

Approved by the Jamaican Tourist Board and TPDCO, it offers a magical experience.

The garden boasts endemic flora and fauna, and is a birders paradise.

Jamaica's national bird (the Dr. bird) is easily seen hovering or posing in the garden.

The garden showcases some of Jamaica's rich heritage.

Ras Natango (Ian Williams) is the creator and resident artist. He is an international acclaimed artist whose work is in over 17 countries of the world.

The Riu Hotels and Half Moon Golf and Country Club own and display many of his paintings.

The gallery boasts fine art based on Jamaican life, culture, flora and fauna.

In addition there is a small gift shop. All items are made on the property providing additional employment for members of the community.

Sit in the Out Post Juice bar and relax as the sweet aroma of lunch or dinner drifts through the air.

We do small weddings and luncheons for a maximum of 50 persons.

Opening hours 10 am - 6 pm Mondays - Fridays. By appointment on weekends.

Entrance to the garden, inclusive of first drink and meal, is US $55 per person.

Art lessons are at an additional cost.

The proprietors recently submitted a proposal to the JTB to expand this to the entire community, with the goal of employing at least 100 persons directly from within the community.

Ahhh...Ras Natango Gallery and Garden is a member of CCTN (the Countrystyle Community Tourism Network).

Click here to find out more about Tamika and Ian Williams.

Send a message to Tamika, or contact her by:
Telephone - 1 876 578 2582
Email - lafs009@yahoo.com or rasnatango@hotmail.com
Website - http://www.rasnatango.com/

Comments for Ahhh...Ras Natango Gallery and Garden

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Sep 25, 2015
 Ahhh...Ras Natango
by: Anonymous

We are a group of volunteers and opening a new scheme in our community. Your site provided us with valuable information to work on. You've done a formidable job and our whole community will be thankful to you.


Alex
Aug 13, 2012
 We Will Transport You to Ahhh ...Ras Natango Garden amd Gallery
by: Tamika Williams

Today we had a couple from England Andrew and Julie. They had planned before coming to Jamaica that they would visit us.

So they rented a 4x4 vehicle and drove from Negril. They said they took their time.

It gives us hope and we are really thankful that they found us even with the road as it is.

We have been trying everything possible to get the road leading to Ahhh...Ras Natango Garden and Gallery fixed.

In this our 50th year of Independence, with our athletes dominating the world, it pains us to have to accept that our island's administrators are third rate, and can not manage the job they are given to do.

We have lost so much business because persons like yourselves do not make the journey up the mountain to us, and crucially even our tour operators are now reticent to bring tours to us because of the roads.

If we, the Jamaican peolpe, were not strong minded we would give up with a broken spirit.

But we will not allow the inefficencies of our island's administrators to stop us.

We still get up each day, open our business, and hope that someone will call and ask us to pick them up from their hotel, or brave the deplorable road to visit us at Ahhh...Ras Natango Gallery and Garden.

Our business stands alone like a reed in the wind with little help or assistance, and still we are made to sruggle even hearder because of the deplorable condition of the roads.

We have had to lay off five of our employees, and this has a disastrous impact on the small community of Camrose.

And yet we still keep hearing that Jamaicans need to be entrepreneurs and start their own businesses in communities to help provide emplpoyment.

We will not give up and we are hoping that the politicians will finally start to put their country and their people before themselves, and help us to encourage visitors who want to experience the way of life in our islands villages and not just in the hotels close to the coastal highways.


Thanks for highlighting this topic.

On your next visit to Jamaica please Contact Us and we will arrange to transport you here ourselves.

We now do this so as to be able to get a few guests, whose only complaint when leaving is the Road.


Come on Jamaica our visitors and our people deserve better.
Aug 13, 2012
 The Road to Ahhh...Ras Natango Garden amd Gallery
by: Anonymous

On our visit to Jamaica in May 2012 we planned and really wanted to visit Ahhh...Ras Natango Gallery and Garden, but after spending 12 days out of our 14 day holiday driving on roads, all over the island, in the worst condition we have ever seen, we could face no more when we started up the road to Camrose.

We returned to Montego Bay without visiting and enjoying what we considered would have been the highlight of our trip.

Sorry Ahhh...Ras Natango Gallery and Garden, not your fault, but ... is Jamaica really serious about attracting visitors????

Next time we will not risk renting a car, but will rent a rugged 4-wheel drive vehicle, and even then may have problems on some roads.

Jamaica was beautiful. We drove (Crawled through potholes) around most of the island, and we loved every little town and village we visited. Treasure Beach was special.

The people everywhere were extremely friendly, helpful, and very polite.

Your athletes may be the best in the world.

But the authorities in Jamaica must be from a very different planet if they expect to continue attracting visitors to an island with derelict infrastructure, constant power cuts, and near to usless internet facilities over most of the island.

Oh!! and not to forget over an hour queuing in a packed, hot hall to get though immigration on what we were told by the immigration officer was a comparatively quiet afternoon in Arrivals!!!!!
Jul 08, 2012
 Thanks From Ahhh...Ras Natango
by: Tamika Williams

All of us at Ahhh...Ras Natango Gallery and Garden would like to thank all those - family, friends and well wishers - who have taken time to visit our pages on this site and leave comments.

We would like to thank each of you personally, but in our own way we will reach out to everyone saying thanks.

Please keep visiting our pages as they will be updated from time to time.

Special thanks to Jamaica-No-Problem and Chris for hosting our pages and for believing in what we do.

It takes all of us to make a difference.

Again a warm Jamaican "THANK YOU" to all.

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