Call or email for assistance planning your trip: +1 (212) 203-0064 | reservations@moonjamaica.com
Andy Jefferson (by appointment) is a prominent expat artist who can be found by taking the first right after the 18-mile post heading toward Newcastle. Andy welcomes visitors to his home studio and gallery and provides accommodation as part of a visiting artist residency program.
Craighton Estate Blue Mountain Coffee Tour (8am-4pm daily, US$25 adults, US$15 children 6-12 years old), owned by Japan-based Ueshima Coffee Company, offers a one-hour tour featuring a walk around the working coffee farm and historic great house.
The Waterfall Trail is also about 1.2 kilometers long, meandering along the mountain edge and then following a stream with a small waterfall at the end.
Strawberry Hill (appetizers US$1320, US$3050 for entrèes) has a varied menu of Jamaican and international cuisine and spectacular views from the wraparound porch. While it is by no means a budget eatery, the ambience will leave you with no regrets for having splurged.
Cinchona Gardens, while not the best-maintained botanical gardens, have a spectacular variety of plants, including many orchid species, making it a magical place with an incredible view. Cinchona Gardens can be reached by turning left at the Anglican church in Mavis Bank, and then descending to cross the Yallahs River at Robertsfield.
Jill Byles, a retired horticultural enthusiast who lives at Guava Ridge near Mavis Bank, offers tour guide services (US$50 per day regardless of group size) on hiking trails in the area.
ATM withdrawals are usually the most convenient way to get cash, but foreign charges and poor exchange rates are drawbacks. Depending on the amount you are changing, a few lost dollars in fees and rates can be worth the convenience. All the major banks will cash travelers checks, but lines are typically long, slow-moving, and overwhelmingly frustrating.
Kingston is home to two daily newspapers, the Jamaica Gleaner (www.jamaica-gleaner.com) and the Jamaica Observer (www.jamaicaobserver.com), and a weekly, the Sunday Herald (www.sunheraldja,com), all of which a
ARRIVING BY AIR
Regular airlines from the United States and Canada into Kingston's Norman Manley International Airport include Air Jamaica, Spirit Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Air Canada, American, Delta, and US Airways.
Virgin Atlantic and British Airways offer service from London to Montego Bay and Kingston.
5:00 a.m. Awake at Moon Hill to a still-starry night for a quick breakfast and to review my gear: Tent, check; sub-zero sleeping bag, check; water bottles, check. food provisions, check; wool socks, check; smartwool long underwear, check; down parka, check; hiking companion, check; boots, doh! sneakers will have to do (big mistake).
