Because we intended to use Southwest Airlines miles for our vacation, my girlfriend and I were limited to their range of international destinations. We eventually settled on Jamaica (Southwest flies to Montego Bay) because of its beaches, mountains, and rich culture. Getting around would be easy – there is a great bus network and nothing on the island is more than a few hours away. The country didn’t disappoint.
I didn’t take many photos during the two days we spent in Montego Bay. The seafront is crowded with resorts and expensive restaurant – not ideal for seeing the real Jamaica. But our visit only got better after we took a bus to Port Antonio on the opposite of the island. This seaside town was well away from the crowds of Montego Bay and seemed to have only a few (mostly European) visitors.
Our next destination was Jamaica’s Blue Mountains, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the eastern part of the country. To get there, we took a bus to Kingston, Jamaica’s capital, and spent the night before picking up our rental car the next morning. After driving partway into the mountains, we spent a night at Kingsworth Hostel in the hills above Kingston. We had a beautiful view at sunset.
The next morning, we started our drive towards the guesthouse we had booked, but were first offered some fantastic views of Kingston as we drove through the hills.
Jamaica, like most of the former British Empire and 53 other countries, drives on the left. While I’ve lived and traveled in plenty of countries with left hand traffic (a total of 18!), I had never driven myself from the opposite side of the car. I adjusted quickly, but it was helpful to have a passenger for extra help on the extremely narrow and winding mountain roads. We had a bit of a challenge finding the guesthouse, eventually having to park and walk in after getting stuck.
But once we made it to the Blue Mount View Guesthouse, we decided within the hour to spend the rest of our trip at this beautiful location. It had everything we wanted – beautiful views, a helpful owner and his wife, and a solid internet connection so I could work each day. It was easy through the surrounding villages.
We also met a Dutch couple, Daan and Anna, and went on a long hike with them. First we drove to JDF Newcastle, the basic training camp for the Jamaican Defense Forces. There’s no guard post, so we came around the corner surprised to see over a hundred soldiers directly in front of us. I backed up and parked outside, but we were later told that everyone drives right through. We waited as a Bell Helicopter took off from the parade ground before being allowed to start our hike to the peak.
We reached the top of St. Catherine’s Peak only to find it blanketed by fog. We could only see the surrounding valleys through the occasional gap. We had heard about a coffee plantation nearby, so we continued walking, not knowing how far we had to go. It eventually added two extra miles to our hike, but provided beautiful views and a chance to walk around the coffee plants, Jamaica’s most famous product.
Radio and phone transmitters on the peak 
The peak as we descended
The workers at the coffee farm clearly didn’t get many visitors – most just seemed confused when we walked out of the jungle. We walked around and snapped a few photos before hiking back over the mountain to the car.
We had our lunch after the hike at ETIS Cafe, which puts out feeders for the Doctor Birds. They flitted in and out of the restaurant as we marveled at their tails, which are as long as the rest of their bodies.
The day after our hike to Saint Catherine’s Peak, we returned the rental car and took a minibus to the town nearest our guesthouse. From there, it was a short hike back to Blue Mount View. It was a pleasant hike on the way in with no baggage, but the return hike with our packs a few days later would be hot and sweaty.
On our last day in the mountains we hiked through the valley below the guesthouse, which has a series of waterfalls. One forms enough of a pool to be a nice swimming hole with chilly water. I ducked under the waterfall, and jumped into the pool from partway up the cliff.
We were both sad that our two weeks in Jamaica had to come to an end. We spent one more night in Kingston before taking a bus straight to Montego Bay’s airport. We couldn’t have asked for a better experience in the Blue Mountains, which proved to be the perfect getaway.
