Things to do in Blue Mountains
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Cinchona Gardens
The cultivation of Assam tea and cinchona (whose quinine – extracted from the bark – was used to fight malaria) led to the founding of Cinchona in 1868. The grounds were later turned into a garden to supply Kingston with flowers. In 1903 the Jamaican government leased Cinchona to the New York Botanical Gardens and, later, to the Smithsonian Institute. Today, the gardens are a little run down, but it’s really the fabulous views that lure you up the 1370m. To the north stand the peaks, but you can also peer down into the valleys of the Clyde, Green and Yallahs Rivers. A dilapidated old house full of weathered antiques sits atop the 2.5-hectare gardens, fronted by lawns…
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Old Tavern Coffee Estate
About 1.5km southwest of the hamlet of Section and some 1200m above sea level, there’s a small, anonymous cottage that you would surely pass by if you didn’t know that its occupants, Alex and Dorothy Twyman, produce the best of the best of Blue Mountain coffee. Alex immigrated to Jamaica from England in 1958 and started growing coffee a decade later. Dorothy oversees the roasting, meticulously performing quality control by taste. The environmentally conscious Twymans keep their use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers to a bare minimum and compost all by-products before returning them to the soil. Although the Twymans’ coffee is widely acclaimed as the best on the…
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Holywell Recreation Area
Holywell Recreation Area, spanning Hardwar Gap, protects 120 hectares of remnant woodland, lush with dozens of fern species, epiphytes, impatiens, violets, nasturtiums, wild strawberries and raspberries. The mist-shrouded uppermost slopes are densely forested with rare primary montane forest. Pine trees dominate. The bird-watching is fabulous. The ranger station is a short distance beyond the entrance. An orientation center hosts occasional live entertainment such as traditional music and dance, plus outdoor games, storytelling and a treasure hunt for the kids (contact the national park office for information). There are viewpoints and picnic spots.
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Gap Cafe Bed & Breakfast
On the hillside at 1280m near Hardwar Gap, just below the entrance to Holywell Recreation Area, the Gap Café Bed & Breakfast's cafe is a fabulous place to rest and take in the vistas over a soda or cappuccino. It offers dining either indoors or alfresco on a wooden terrace. A ‘Jamaican special’ breakfast costs US$12, and afternoon high tea is also served (US$25). The eclectic lunch menu includes curried Caribbean shrimp, smoked pork chops, curry goat and sandwiches. Dinner is by reservation only.
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Flamstead
Guava Ridge is the site of a ridge-crest junction for Content Gap and sights to the north. A road to the right, signed for ‘Bellevue House’ 50m east of Guava Ridge, leads 6km through pine and eucalyptus forests to the coffee plantation of Flamstead. This former great house of Governor Edward Eyre was a lookout from which Horatio Nelson and other British naval officers surveyed the Port Royal base. Views over the Palisadoes and Kingston Harbour are fabulous.
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Mavis Bank Coffee Factory
The Mavis Bank Coffee Factory, 1km southwest of Mavis Bank, is a working factory that has been producing Blue Mountain coffee for over a century. Ask the chief ‘cupper’ to demonstrate ‘cupping’ (tasting), the technique to identify quality coffee. You can tour the factory to see the coffee beans drying (in season) and being processed. At the end of the tour you can purchase roasted beans at bargain prices.
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Blue Mountain Bicycle Tours
If you’re not traveling with a bicycle, join a tour. Blue Mountain Bicycle Tours will pick you up in Kingston or Ocho Rios and take you by bus to the Hardware Gap at 1700m up in the mountains. The downhill cycling tour then begins, and stops along the way include a coffee-roasting facility. You may be sharing the road with 40 other cyclists.
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Courthouse
The Courthouse was rebuilt in limestone and red brick after being destroyed in the 1865 rebellion. Bogle is buried beside the courthouse alongside a mass grave holding the remains of many slaves who lost their lives in the rebellion. The spot is marked by a moving memorial dedicated to 'those who love freedom.'
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Forres Park Guest House & Farm
The Blue Mountains are a hiker's dream, and dozens of trails lace the hills. Many are overgrown, but others remain the mainstay of communication for locals. Forres Park Guest House & Farm is a good option for custom hiking trips.
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Blue Mountain Peak
Highest of the highlights, Blue Mountain Peak reaches 2256m above sea level, and no visit to the area should neglect a predawn hike to its summit for a sunrise view.
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Safari Tours Jamaica
Offers daylong ‘jeep safaris’ (US$75) into the Blue Mountains. It also has a two-day mule ride and a hiking tour.
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Anglican church
Diagonally across from the courthouse is a handsome, ochre-colored Anglican church dating to 1881.
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Sun Venture Tours
Runs guided hikes and birding trips into the Cockpits for US$85.
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Island Car Rentals
Personally chauffeured tours of the Blue Mountains.
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Barrett Adventures
Customized tours by minivan.
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Paul Bogle Statue
The Paul Bogle Statue stands in front of the courthouse. By noted sculptor Edna Manley, it depicts Bogle standing grimly, hands clasped over the hilt of a machete.
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