Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Jamaica - Naturally: A Guide for Today's Active Travelers
    Jamaica - Naturally: A Guide for Today's Active Travelers
    Jamaica - Naturally: A Guide for Today's Active Travelers
    Ebook161 pages1 hour

    Jamaica - Naturally: A Guide for Today's Active Travelers

    By Kay Showker

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Jamaica – Naturally, A Guide for Today’s Active Travelers, richly illustrated with over 50 color photographs, is designed for travelers who want to do more on their vacation than sit on a beach. It’s for people who are curious and want to explore their new surroundings. They like learning and welcome the opportunity to discover new places. They are eager to enjoy their favorite sport or take up the challenge of a new one. Nature and the outdoors are like a tonic, particularly for those who spend most of their life in cities. Jamaica offers endless opportunities to break away from life’s daily routine. In addition to descriptions of the natural attractions throughout the island, Jamaica - Naturally, A Guide for Today's Active Traveler provides information on all the outdoor activities Jamaica offers: Biking, Birding, Boating, Camping, Canoeing, Caving, Fishing, Hiking, Horseback Riding, Kayaking, Kiteboarding, River Rafting, River Tubing, Rock Climbing, Scuba, Snorkeling, Surfing, Wakeboarding, Windsurfing, White-Water Rafting, Ziplining and more. This book is the companion to have every step of the way.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBookBaby
    Release dateAug 1, 2013
    ISBN9780989547901
    Jamaica - Naturally: A Guide for Today's Active Travelers

    Related to Jamaica - Naturally

    Related ebooks

    Travel For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    Related categories

    Reviews for Jamaica - Naturally

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Jamaica - Naturally - Kay Showker

      Part One: THE NATURAL ATTRACTIONS OF JAMAICA

      Towering green mountains of spectacular beauty drop to the palm-studded shoreline fringed with white sand beaches. Countless streams rushing down the thickly forested mountainsides carve their way through the luxuriant tropical growth, cascade over rocky precipices, and meander through marshland and mangroves to the sea. Banana groves and sugar cane fields and orchards of mango and limes cover the foothills; brilliant flowers, exotic fruits, gigantic ferns and trees filled with birds and butterflies decorate the river banks and overhang the roadsides.

      From the northwest quarter known as the Cockpit Country, an eerie karst landscape of haystack hills, a mountain spine stretches across the island to the mighty Blue and John Crow Mountains in the east, cutting the north coast from the south and creating the impression that Jamaica is a big country rather than a small Caribbean island.

      Jamaica, 90 miles south of Cuba, is the third largest island in the Caribbean. Half of the land is 1,000 feet above the sea; half is covered by woodland watered by up to 250 inches of rain in the high mountains, creating hundreds of rivers and streams that nourish the dry lowlands where annual rainfall is 40 inches. Indeed, the original vegetation of Jamaica was virtually all forest and marshland. Little wonder the Arawaks, the inhabitants Christopher Columbus found when he came upon the island in 1494, called it Xaymaca, meaning land of wood and water. While much of the hillsides have been cultivated in the intervening centuries, parts of Jamaica still have enough natural vegetation to give one an idea of what Columbus might have seen when he landed.

      Few islands in the Caribbean can match Jamaica’s diversity whether in man’s creativity or nature’s design. For outdoor enthusiasts the range is as wide as hiking and camping on Blue Mountain peaks, exploring uncharted caves, rafting on white water, tubing on lowland rivers, snorkeling in quiet coves, zipping over treetops, and trolling in tropical seas. You can stroll through genteel gardens, bird in tropical sanctuaries, and ride a horse over plantation meadows and into the sea.

      Waterfalls in a verdant setting as Clydesdale are typical of the Blue Mountains.

      KINGSTON

      Often overshadowed by the resorts of the north coast and fogged in by bad publicity, Jamaica’s capital is usually ignored by tourists. Yet, for those eager to discover the country’s natural attractions, Kingston is the gateway to the Blue Mountains; the home of the Institute of Jamaica, guardian of the country’s natural, historical and cultural heritage; and a convenient base for exploring the little-known south, a treasure trove for naturalists. Beautifully positioned by one of the largest and best natural harbors in the Caribbean with the majestic mountains in the background, Kingston has attractions of its own.

      Royal Botanic Gardens (Hope Gardens) (Old Hope Rd, 876-970-3505; F: 876-927-1257; E: hopegardensevents@gmail.com) On the east side of the capital at the foot of the Blue Mountains are the Royal Botanic Gardens, known as Hope Gardens until the name was changed to honor a visit by Queen Elizabeth II in 1952. Long recognized as one of the most important botanic gardens in the Caribbean and known for their orchid collection, the gardens have a park setting of spacious green lawns with stately Royal Palms and enormous flamboyant and other trees whose spreading arms offer a fine respite from the strong Jamaican sun. Hours: 6 a.m.-6 p.m. 

      The gardens were created by Sir Daniel Morris, a coffee scientist who had lived in Ceylon and who imported over 800 species from Asia and Africa to make the new setting a showplace. Kingston residents, able to obtain cuttings of the exotic new species from the garden’s nursery, were quick to imitate, and soon, showy gardens and expansive lawns were developed throughout the city and the island.

      The legacy remains as Jamaica has more botanic gardens than any location in the Caribbean. Jamaica’s best gardens were established by several Brits, and at the same time, many of Jamaica’s pride found their way to England, particularly to Kew Gardens, the royal botanic gardens of Britain, and the British Museum of Natural History. The latter was founded in the late 17th century with a collection of 800 species from Jamaica, many of which were new to science at the time. 

      The botanic gardens as well as the many other gardens and parks around Kingston attract a great variety of birds; Jamaica has more than 256 bird species of which 28 are endemic, and many more migratory birds visit in autumn and spring. A monthly tour in the Gardens is offered by the Birding Society of Jamaica (See Birding in Part Two: Outdoor Activities)

      Royal Botanic Gardens with the Blue Mountains in the distance.

      Institute of Jamaica (12–16 East Street; 876-922–0620; F:876-922-1147; www.instituteofjamaica.org.jm; E: info@instituteofjamaica.org.jm) Founded in 1879, and similar in scope to the Smithsonian Institution, the Institute of Jamaica is an umbrella organization with wide-ranging responsibilities for the Jamaica National Trust Commission, which has identified hundreds of old buildings, churches, houses, and other structures for preservation and oversees archaeological excavations. The institute’s West Indian Reference Library chronicles Jamaican and Caribbean political, social, and economic developments and maintains the world’s largest collection of books, articles, and prints on the West Indies. It also maintains the Natural History Museum, which collects and studies the flora and fauna of Jamaica, including hundreds of species unique to the Caribbean. Its publication, Jamaica Journal, carries in-depth articles on a wide range of topics, including the island’s natural history. Some of their articles are available on its website and back issues are online at the Digital Library of the Caribbean (http://dloc.com).

      The Blue Mountains

      Between Kingston on the south and Port Antonio on the north, the Blue Mountains rise dramatically to five lofty peaks that form the Grand Ridge and reach their highest point at 7,402 feet, Blue Mountain Peak. These scenic, wooded slopes are Jamaica’s most popular hiking area. Blue Mountain Peak can be climbed any day but the most popular time is at full moon. Departing at 2 a.m. from Whitfield Hall, an 18th century plantation house maintained as a hostel, hikers reach the summit in time to watch the mountains emerge from the mist in the light of the rising sun. On the return journey, hikers often see birds, butterflies and vegetation found nowhere else in Jamaica. In addition, the mountains have a web of old logging tracks and back country roads that provide nature lovers with some of the most beautiful and interesting hiking in the Caribbean. (See Hiking in Part Two: Outdoor Activities).

      The Blue Mountains from Port Antonio.

      Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park (Jamaica Conservation Development Trust; 29 Dumbarton Ave., Kingston 10; 876-960-2848; www.greenjamaica.org.jm) The region of the Blue Mountains and John Crow Mountains is the largest and best managed of eleven coastal and interior Protected Areas in Jamaica. Established in 1990, Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park, the cornerstone of the Jamaican National Park System, protects 193,262 acres of highly diverse tropical rainforest on the steep, rugged, northeast mountain slopes, mostly over 3,000 feet.

      The region has seven distinct forest communities, more than 800 species of endemic plants, 200 species of resident and migrant birds and is one of the largest habitats for migratory birds in

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1