Call or email for assistance planning your trip: +1 (212) 203-0064 | reservations@moonjamaica.com
Yatte Man, or Blane "Smaker" Walker (10 a.m.8 p.m Sun.Fri.), a once up-and-coming boxer, sells delicious homemade fish, chicken, and ital (vegetarian) patties (US$1) from one of the stalls about three quarters of the way through the main drag on the left, before the road begins to rise again toward Newcastle.
Karen’s One Stop (US$510), located just past the hairpin turn to the left, is the only place around to get Jamaican staples like fried or BBQ chicken, fish, calalloo, and rice ’n’ peas cooked to order any time of day. Karen also sells basic foodstuffs to area residents.
Mavis Bank Coffee Factory (8:30 a.m. oon and 13:30 p.m Mon.Fri., tour reservations recommended, US$8 adults, US$3.50 children) was established in 1923 by an English planter, Victor Munn. As the biggest coffee factory in Jamaica, it has been the economic foundation for the area since.
The centerpiece of the Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park, Blue Mountain Peak can be reached by a variety of means depending on the level of exhaustion you are willing to endure. Generally, people leave from Whitfield Hall at Penlyne, St. Thomas, after having arrived there by four-wheel-drive vehicle.
Forres Park Guest House and Spa (US$75-220) is the best option for bird-watchers and hikers, especially for groups looking to stay in the immediate vicinity of Mavis Bank. A two-story main house and four cabins are surrounded by a small coffee farm that attracts many endemic and migratory bird species.
Lime Tree Farm (US$365 per couple per night, inclusive of three meals per day, wine with dinner; other alcoholic beverages served at additional cost) overlooking Mavis Bank, and with a spectacular view of Portland Gap, Blue Mountain Peak, and the Yallahs River Valley, is a small coffee farm with tastefully decorated concrete cabins owned by partners Charles Burberry an
Portland Gap has six wooden cabins, lead-tos and camp sites. One cabin one has six bunks sleeping 12, at US$27/night; the second cabin has nine bunks, sleeping 18, for US$40/night; Cabins 3-6 are unenclosed with no beds but space for up to 15 people to on the floor. Foam sleeping mats can be rented for US$1 per night, but hikers should carry their own sleeping bags.
Mavis Bank is not the place to go for culinary delights or nightlife of any kind. Nonetheless, Karen’s Container Bar around the corner from Forres Park is open whenever there are customers to serve.
The only remains of the great house at Flamstead is an old chimney. Flamstead was used as a lookout point as far back as the Taino period and during the Napoleonic Wars, served as a residence for Admiral Rodney, and was used as a base for the British army. Former Jamaican trade ambassador Peter King built a house on the site before being murdered in 2006.
Blue Ridge Restaurant & Cottages offers three cottages on a bed & breakfast basis. Dragonfly Cottage (USD 110) sleeps two on a full size bed, with private bathroom and balcony.
