Spectacular Blue Mountains Of Jamaica Offers Breathtaking Views, Coffee — And More

By Neil Armstrong
Contributing Editor

ST. ANDREW, Jamaica (Monday June 20, 2022) — While some Jamaicans have camped out, or hiked, in the magistic, captivating Blue Mountains of Jamaica, and others may have only sipped the renowned coffee from the region, there is more that the landscape offers.

This year, when Jamaica celebrates its 60th anniversary, would be, as good a time as any, to visit or reconnect with the natural and cultural history of the mountainous area, which is peppered with small businesses, along the route leading up to it, offering an array of mouth-watering Jamaican cuisine.

In 2015, the Blue and John Crow Mountains was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its natural beauty and cultural heritage. With the designation, Jamaica’s national park — Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park — joined the Great Wall of China and the Pyramids of Egypt as an area of universal value, deserving of special protection.

Visitors are welcome to enjoy the park in three recreational areas: Holywell, Portland Gap, and the Blue Mountain Peak Trail.

Coffee connoisseurs, first-time drinkers of the beverage, or those who are curious about its history and the process that gets it, from coffee beans to them taking a sip, will find ample information on a tour of the UCC Blue Mountain Coffee Craighton Estate in Irish Town, St. Andrew.

Tour guide, Jerome Thomas, has spent the last 10 years sharing the origin of Blue Mountain coffee, with dates, historical figures, statistics, and milestones rolling off his tongue, effortlessly. The fluency of his presentation indicates a seasoned exponent of the popular brew and its production.

On arrival, visitors gather on the balcony, or in a room on the ground floor of the Georgian-style great house, built by George Craighton in 1805, to listen to Thomas tell them about the property, which is now owned by Japan-based Ueshima Coffee Company.

His presentation includes samples of the coffee seeds, roasted beans, and grounded coffee, showcased in different containers on a table in front of them.

Charts and posters complement his visual presentation and, at the end of it, visitors are offered coffee and a slice of cake.

They are also told that it is better to drink it black, to savour the flavours, but milk is also available for those who prefer to add some. Only coffee from that region can be designated as authentic Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee.

A walk around the working coffee farm gives one a close look at coffee growing, after Thomas’ history lesson of Jamaican coffee. Banana trees are planted, between coffee trees, thus offering the coffee plants protection from weather elements.

As visitors walk up the earthen steps of the estate, leading to an elevated gazebo, they hear the resounding chorus of the cicadas, across the mountain.

It is at this point that they are over 3, 000 ft. (960 m.) above the capital city, Kingston, and have a wonderful panoramic view of it. Lovers of nature will adore the vista before them.

The Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park offers an enchanting world of crisp, clean air, lush terrain and vibrant wildlife.

“Jamaica’s only national park, the Blue and John Crow Mountains covers 41,198 hectares (101,313 acres) and includes Jamaica’s highest point – the Blue Mountain Peak at 2,256 metres (7,401 feet). With over 15 kilometres (9 miles) of hiking trails, the largest butterfly in the western hemisphere, hundreds of flowering plants and birds, as well as countless waterfalls, the park is a nature-lover’s paradise,” notes the park’s website.

“The legendary Windward Maroons that used the area as a stronghold in their resistance to British colonialism, add to the mystique of the Blue and John Crow Mountains. Separated from mainstream Jamaican society, the maroons maintained a distinct way of life – language, cuisine and philosophies – that can be observed by visitors to their mountain communities, today.”

Ivelyn Harris is a Jamaican Maroon descendant and has been a traditional herbalist, for over 40 years, practising from her cottage in the foothills of the Blue and John Crow Mountains.

In 2021, the second edition of her book, Healing Herbs of Jamaica, was published by Ian Randle Publishers.

In it, the bestselling author draws on her years of knowledge and experience as a herbalist, to share how herbs can enhance health.

“Comprehensive yet practical, Healing Herbs of Jamaica profiles over 50 plants, each detailed with a short description, an outline of the traditional uses, as well as suggested easy-to-prepare remedies for various ailments and recipes for enjoyment,” notes a synopsis of the book.

Beautifully illustrated with photographs of the plants, showcasing nature’s vitality and augmented with personal anecdotes, readers are taken on a journey down the garden path, to growing, gathering and using herbs to nourish the body, encourage healing, strengthen immunity, by boosting the intake of vitamins and minerals and supporting overall health and wellness, the back cover underscores.

On a drive from the UCC Blue Mountain Coffee Craighton Estate, one can stop at Irish Town Café, owned by Natoya McFarlane, in Irish Town Square.

Twelve years ago, McFarlane started her meat shop business and, when the operator of the bar next door decided to throw in the towel, she took over the rented space from him.

“But in the evenings after work, I realized that there was a need for food — it doesn’t matter what it is, whether it is suppen quick, suppen easy, whatever — so then I started doing fish on Fridays.”

With help from the community, McFarlane cleaned up the area, where the gazebo is located, and planted flowers. She saw the need for people to sit, and made it more appealing for them to do so and have a scenic view of the city. That was six years ago. The gazebo is where McFarlane made smoothies and coffee — regular coffee, Irish coffee, star apple smoothie (which is very popular with her customers) and other types — but the pandemic ended it. She quickly asserts that she still offers regular, and Irish coffee.

“Before COVID, I used to get a lot of tourists coming by, but since COVID that has fallen, tremendously. I am hoping that it will eventually pick up.”

Until then, visitors can select options from her regular menu, such as jerk chicken or fry chicken, Guinness pork, jerk chicken in pineapple sauce, and brown stew or steamed fish.

Her business can be found online at www.irishtowncafe.com and on Instagram and Facebook.

The Guide to the Blue and John Crow Mountains, written by Margaret Hodges, a member of the Natural History Society of Jamaica, a former medical practitioner with the government of Jamaica, and an environmentalist, is an essential reference for visitors to the region to own.

Published by Ian Randle Publishers in 2008, the book is described as a treasure trove of Jamaica s rich natural heritage.

Jamaica’s Poet Laureate, Olive Senior, notes in the Encyclopedia of Jamaican Heritage, that: “Jamaica’s highest and most extensive mountain range, much of it forest-clad, appears blue from a distance. The mountains dominate the eastern parishes, forming the interior of Portland, St. Thomas, and St. Andrew.”

Senior notes that, “the entry to Kingston, by sea or air, affords a striking perspective of the mountains and explains the fascination they exert on travellers and residents alike.”

The Blue Mountains also stir one’s imagination.

Senior writes: “Although much of Jamaica is mountainous, it is the lofty eminence of the Blue Mountains that dominates the imagination. ‘I shall be quite at home with the mountains of Heaven,’ wrote a colonial governor (Sir Sidney Olivier) after a tour of duty, in what he called ‘The Blessed Island’. And, concluded Jamaican writer, Roger Mais, ‘All men come to the hills/finally’.” Mais, a Jamaican journalist, novelist, poet, and playwright, spent his childhood in the Blue Mountains region, where his father was a farmer.

Jamaica will celebrate its 60th anniversary of Independence on August 6 and there are many activities planned on the island, and here in Canada, to mark the occasion. Under its theme, “Jamaica 60: Re-igniting a Nation for Greatness”, Jamaicans and visitors can fly there to participate in events that burn the flame of nationalism in the pursuit of greatness.

From May 26-30, the Jamaica Tourist Board organized a Canadian Diaspora Press Trip for journalists to visit different attractions in the island to share stories with Jamaicans and friends of Jamaica, living in the Diaspora, and entice them to visit as the country gets set to celebrate its 60th anniversary of Independence (on August 6). Krishna Maharaj of Burton’s Transportation, Cheree Morris of JTB and Indira Tarachandra of Fever Pitch Marketing Communications Inc. were involved in making the trip possible.