Welcome to Jamaica ! Yes this is the loveliest of all the islands.
The first thing to strike the visitor are the great mountain ranges that run the length of the island,towering into the clouds. No wonder Christopher Columbus the first European who saw the island in 1494 declared ‘the land seemed to touch the sky ‘ and concluded that Jamaica was ‘the fairest isle that eyes have ever beheld’.
The main mountain range masses at the country’s eastern end, rising in the Blue Mountain Peak some 7,400 ft, then loses altitude gently as it sweeps westward. (photo: Blue mountains). Here the hidden valleys and lush rainforests give place to wide rolling plains running between the ranges , while encircling all are the long white –sand beaches washed by the blue Caribbean Sea.
Jamaica’s mountains determine all the climatic elements that make up the country’s geography – the behavior of the prevailing winds, temperature, rainfall, the character of the rivers. Unique among Jamaica’s varied landscape is the Cockpit Country covering some 500 square miles of trackless country. Through the ages, the interior white limestone plateau has been dissected by deep sinkholes and glades which are almost impossible to traverse and are still largely unexplored. The Cockpits also hold an important place in Jamaica’s history – the last stronghold of the fighting maroons or runaway slaves where the settlement of Accompong still stands.
Jamaica is a land of rivers – some 120 of them, many retaining their original Spanish names like Rio Cobre, Rio Minho, Rio Grande. Those on the north side tend to be short, small and swift while those on the south are larger, deeper, longer.
Mineral springs abound, many of them possessing valuable curative powers. Milk River is said to have the highest radio-activity of any mineral bath in the world –nine times as active as Bath in England; 5 times as active as Vichy and 54 times as active as Baden in Switzerland.
Jamaica is the 4th largest of the Caribbean islands. It runs east to west 235 km long and 80 km at its widest and has an area of 10,991 sq. km. It is divided administratively into 14 parishes each with their own capitals. Kingston is the nation’s capital and the seat of government.
Jamaica’s climate is tropical; on the plains the temperature can rise to 90 degrees F but as one climbs the mountains the temperature falls. Rains are seasonal, falling chiefly in May and October and the country lies in the hurricane belt but has not been struck since Ivan visited in ???.
Out of Many, One People
Jamaicans come in all colours, from the tastiest dark chocolate to strawberries – and-cream. The dark colour predominates because the vast majority of Jamaican people – an estimated 80% – are of African origin. Its total population of 2.75 million includes people from China, India, Europe and the Middle East. Hybrid vigour resulting from the mixture of all these ethnicities in every permutation and combination has not only produced great beauty of form but an enormous number of fine athletes and extremely able intellectuals, artists and writers. The country’s motto out of many, one people aptly describes its inhabitants – a multi-racial society whose integration is profound and an enviable reality.
The Jamaican is a light – hearted extrovert person with a sound head on his and her shoulders. He is friendly, kind, sometimes aggressive and passionate but also helpful and considerate.
When You come to Jamaica………
it will be an experience you wont soon forget and will want to repeat over and over again. The island is lapped by the warm waters of the Caribbean with some of the finest beaches in the world. Every kind of sport can be enjoyed – from excellent golf and tennis courts to a wide variety of spectator sports like football and horse-racing. You can go for long peaceful rides in the lush mountains or on the plains or a leisurely romantic ride on a bamboo raft on one of our gently flowing rivers.
Above all there are the people of Jamaica, kindly and gentle , free from the many prejudices, hates and anxieties that often make life in big cities and big countries so profoundly unsatisfactory. There is too in Jamaica a certain quality that gives the mountains , the streams, the seashore a touch of magic and makes them linger in the memory. To a Jamaican, nowhere else in the world seems quite as beautiful or quite as satisfying. To put it in Jamaican dialect ‘nowhere nuh betta than yard’.
