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| Destinations
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Kingston
The biggest English speaking city in the
Caribbean, Jamaica's , industrial, cultural,
and financial center. It's home to more
than 7 1/2 thousand people, including
those living on the plains between the
sea and the Blue Mountains.
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Kingston >> |
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Mandeville
Jamaican towns: it is clean, it is cool,
and there are no slums. Thanks to promotion
by the Central and South Coast Tourism
Organization, the town is like a a magnet
for discerning visitors and an great base
for visiting the south coast and the central
hills.
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Mandeville
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Montego
Bay
The second largest city of Jamaica, located
between the lovely hills, and extends
some 16 km-10 miles from the haunts of
the suburban rich in. Reading at its western
edge to the villa developments and resort
hotels. It's made up of two parts: the
main tourist strip Gloucester Avenue also
called "Hip Strip", and the
city, referred to as "downtown"
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Montego Bay
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Falmouth
The place for the architecture or heritage
adicted, the coastal town of Falmouth
in Trelawny is a goldmine. In the late
1700s, when sugar was ‘Hot’
and the profits from the sugarcane made
the fortunes, Falmouth was an tastefull
center of commerce.
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Fallmouth >> |
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Negril
The virgi paradise when the American hippies
started visiting in the 1970s, the start
for today's free-spirited attitude, but
these days, the presence of luxury resorts
like the Club Hedonism has ensured that
Negril is widely perceived as a place
where restraint are lost and pleasures
of the flesh rule
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Negril >> |
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Ocho
Rios
The first town in Jamaica to be developed
specifically as a resort, Ocho Rios, also
called "Ochi", abounds with
dutyfree stores, fastfood chains, bars,
clubs and lots of restaurants.
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Ocho Rios
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Port
Antonio
In the 1950s and 1960s very popular for
foreign visitors, the quiet town of Port
Antonio nowadays feels more like a forgotten
place.
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Port Antonio
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Runaway
Bay
In the past not more than a detail of
Ocho Rios, Runaway Bay located 16km (10
miles) west of Ocho Rios, has become a
destination in its own, with white sandy
beaches that are way more relaxed than
those in Ocho Rios.
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Runaway Bay >> |
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South
Coast
While Negril gets the most visitors, the
South Coast of Jamaica has only begun
to attract tourists. The Arawak once lived
in smple wooden houses along these shores
before their civilization was destroyed.
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South Coast
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Jamaica
is an island nation of the Greater Antilles,
240 kilometres (150 mi) in length and as much
as 85 kilometres (50 mi) in width situated in
the Caribbean Sea. It is 635 kilometres (391
mi) east of the Central American mainland, 150
kilometres (93 mi) south of Cuba,
and 180 kilometres (112 mi) west of the island
of Hispaniola, on which Haiti and the Dominican
Republic are situated. Its indigenous Arawakan-speaking
Taíno inhabitants named the island Xaymaca,
meaning either the "land of springs,"
or the "Land of wood and water." Formerly
a Spanish possession known as Santiago, then
the British West Indies Crown colony of Jamaica,
the country's population is composed mainly
of the descendants of former African slaves.
For the USA it is the third most populous Anglophone
country in the Americas, after the United States
and Canada.
Most
visitors already have a mental picture of Jamaica
before they arrive: its boisterous culture of
reggae and Rastafarianism; its white-sand beaches;
and its lush foliage, rivers, mountains, and
clear waterfalls. Jamaica's art and cuisine
are also remarkable.
Yet
Jamaica's appealing aspects have to be weighed
against its poverty, crime, and racial tensions,
the legacy of colonial rule and subsequent political
upheavals.
So,
should you go? Of course you should!. The island
has fine hotels and savory food. It's well geared
to heterosexual couples who come to tie the
knot or celebrate a honeymoon. And Jamaica boasts
the best golf courses in the West Indies, some
of the finest diving waters in the world, and
good river rafting.
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Book your hotel
in Jamaica >>
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January
- Accompong
Maroon Festival, St. Elizabeth. Annual
celebration of Maroons of Western Jamaica,
with traditional singing and dancing,
feasts, ceremonies, blowing of the abeng
(cow's horn), playing of Maroon drums.
tel. 876/952-4546. January 6.
- Jamaica
Sprint Triathlon, Negril. Hundreds participate
in a three-part competition joining
swimming, cycling, and running in one
sweat-inducing endurance test. Contact
the Jamaica Tourist Board. Late January.
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February
- Tribute
to Bob Marley-Symposium in Music, Ocho
Rios. Seminars for students of music.
tel. 876/926-5726. First week in February.
- Bob
Marley Birthday Bash, Montego Bay. An
annual concert that celebrates a local
star. tel. 876/978-2991. February 6.
- Reggae
Summerfest, Ocho Rios. Annual reggae
bash, featuring top reggae stars. Call
tel. 876/960-1904 for dates in 2005.
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March
- Montego
Bay Yacht Club's Easter Regatta. Annual
sailing event of several races staged
along the North Coast over a 6-day period
around Easter. (tel. 876/979-8038).
March 23 to March 28, 2005.
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April
- Carnival
in Jamaica, Kingston, Ocho Rios, and
Montego Bay. Weeklong series of fetes,
concerts, and street parades. Contact
local tourist offices. First week of
April.
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June
- Ocho
Rios Jazz Festival, Ocho Rios and Montego
Bay. International performers play alongside
Jamaican jazz artists; other events
include barbecues. tel. 888/637-8111
or 876/927-3544 (www.ochoriosjazz.com).
Second week in June.
- National
Dance Theatre Company's Season of Dance,
Kingston. Traditional and modern dance,
as well as notable singers. tel. 876/926-6129.
June through August.
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August
- Reggae
Sunfest, Catherine Hall, Montego Bay.
Annual 5-day music festival. tel. 876/952-0889
(www.reggaesumfest.com).
First week of August.
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September
- Falmouth
Blue Marlin Tournament, Montego Bay.
A big deal locally. tel. 876/954-5934.
Late September.
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October
- Port
Antonio International Fishing Tournament.
One of the oldest and most prestigious
sportfishing events in the Caribbean,
with participants from Europe and North
America. tel. 876/927-0145.
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November
- Air
Jamaica Jazz & Blues Festival, Montego
Bay. Series of concerts at Rose Hall
Great House. tel. 876/952-4425. Third
week of November.
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December
- Motor
Sports Championship Series, Dover Raceway,
St. Ann. Prestigious championship event.
tel. 876/960-3860. Early December.
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Meeting
The Jamaicans
The Jamaica Tourist Board operates a Meet-the-People
program in Kingston and the island's five major
resort cities and towns. Through the program,
visitors can meet Jamaican families who host
them free for a few hours or even a whole day.
More
than 650 families are registered in the project
with the tourist board, which keeps a list of
their interests and hobbies. All you need do
is give the board a rough idea of your interests,
and they will arrange for you to spend the day
with a similar family. You do whatever the family
does, sharing their lives, eating at their table,
accompanying them to a dinner party. You may
end up at a beach barbecue, afternoon tea with
neighbors, or just sitting and talking. Overnight
accommodation isn't part of the program, however,
so don't go expecting it
Although
the service is entirely free, your hostess will
certainly enjoy receiving flowers or a similar
token of appreciation after your visit. Sign
up at any local tourist board office.
A
similar, though quite expensive, program is
offered by World Learning, founded in 1932 as
The U.S. Experiment in International Living,
Kipling Rd., P.O. Box 676, Brattleboro, VT 05302-0676
(tel. 800/336-1616 or 802/257-7751). Their College
Semester Abroad program focuses on women and
development, and life and culture in Jamaica;
it includes fieldwork and an independent study
project, for $12,600 per semester.
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