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Janet Crick, tours consultant at Kingston Creative. “Like, how can such a small island have such a huge infl uence on the world? With our sports, our culture and especially our music.” T e expression can also have negative connotations, admits Janet. “It’s also something we might say in response to crime and outrageousness. Like saying, no, this can’t be real.” A monthly Sunday art walk has


proven a successful primer for what Janet has in mind for this area: strolling families, street food and live bands. T is vision of urban renewal will take time, but Janet says a functioning “scene” is becoming easier to imagine.


A colony reclaimed T e axiom ‘Jamaica is not a real place’ follows me around the island, most often delivered with a wink or an eye roll. A local companion says it almost on refl ex when pointing out a motorcyclist carrying a goat in a knapsack, the animal facing inward within kissing distance of the rider. It also echoes in my mind while I’m enjoying world-class Blue Mountain coff ee at the Craighton Estate, and delicious rum punch under the spectral loom of a very old fi cus tree beside the Hampden Estate distillery, in Wakefi eld. Both of those sites stand on


former slave plantations. T at particular Jamaican reality won’t be denied, something that leaves many holidaymakers feeling confl icted. Cruise liners drop anchor in the same bays that once harboured slave ships, and to set foot almost anywhere on this island is to tread on ground that has soaked up pain beyond imagining. T e inequities of post-colonial Jamaica can’t be overlooked either. Stark wealth and class diff erentials separate all-inclusive beachfront resorts from inland agricultural villages where the sugar cane trade has lately been all but destroyed by global competition. Small rural parishes such as


Hanover have been hardest hit, forcing landowners like Stacy Wilson to make drastic changes. Inheriting his parents’ 25 acres of riverside cane fi elds, he found sugar farming a miserable business. Rather than keep toiling, he opened the private waterfalls on his property to the public for a small entry fee, with rope swings and jump spots over blue holes and hidden caves. T e site is now called Benta River Falls and there’s a “party vibe” here every weekend, says Wilson. Most customers are


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local, as are the staff , serving jerk chicken and curried goat sourced from neighbouring farms. “I want to see this community uplifted. I want schoolchildren to dream of a job at Benta,” Wilson adds. T ere are more backcountry


waterfalls at Pretty Close, a riverside bar and restaurant that Omar Edwards recently opened on land passed down from his grandparents in the foothills of the Blue Mountains. T e name comes from his assurances to guests who get lost en route. Once they fi nd the place, they can eat fl ame-grilled grunt (similar to snapper) and drink out of coconuts while sitting in a freshwater pool. “Me built this up with them two hands,” says Omar in light patois, gesturing across to the thatched huts that make up his operation. “Natural as possible.”


First published in the April 2023 issue of National Geographic Traveller (UK). Read the feature in full at nationalgeographic.com/travel


ESSENTIALS


When to go The tropical latitude keeps temperatures hovering around 26C to 30C most of the year, but it’s safest to travel outside hurricane season (which is generally June to October). Mid to late November is ideal, just before the peak season of December to April.


Where to stay Terra Nova All-Suite Hotel, Kingston. From £175. terranovajamaica.com Seaweed Villa, Treasure Beach. Five-bedroom villa rental from £550. jakeshotel.com/villas/seaweed-villa Jamaica Inn, Ocho Rios. From £340. jamaicainn.com


How to do it Explore runs 10-day tours to Jamaica that include excursions to a Blue Mountain coffee plantation, the Rastafari Indigenous Village and Pelican Bar, along with other options for hikes and swims. From £1,831 per person, excluding fl ights. explore.co.uk


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