Park sights in Jamaica
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Emancipation Park
This wide open space, carved from the dense urban jungle, has a jogging track, stately fountains and, winningly, reggae music emanating from tiny speakers hidden in the grass. It’s a grand place for a promenade, particularly at sunset when the walkways fill with cheerful Kingstonians just liberated from their workplaces. A controversial focal point is the US$4.5 million statue Redemption Song, by Laura Facey Cooper. Depicting a couple of nude, 3m-tall slaves gazing to the heavens, the epic work sometimes elicits prurient comments by passersby due to certain larger-than-life physical attributes of the figures.
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Hope Gardens
These 45-acre gardens, replete with manicured grounds, exotic plants and beautiful flowers, date back to 1881 when the government established an experimental garden on the site of the former Hope Estate. Part of the Hope Aqueduct, built in 1758 to supply the estate, is still in use. The Ministry of Agriculture, which administers the gardens, maintains a research station and nursery, although the gardens have been in steady decline for some decades and are now in a somewhat sad state. This is not to say that a visit is not rewarding; the spacious lawns, towering palms and flower-scented walkways provide a lovely respite from the urban jungle. Among the attractions are…
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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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Canoe Valley Wetland Wildlife Reserve
This is a government-owned wildlife reserve, also known as Alligator Hole. It’s notable for its family of three manatees (all females) that inhabits the diamond-clear water, in which crocodiles (called ‘alligators’ locally) also hover. They live amid dense, 1m-tall reeds in jade-blue pools fed by waters that emerge at the base of limestone cliffs. Herons, grebes, jacanas, gallinules and other waterfowl are abundant.
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