/ my journey Discovering the other... Jamaica Sasha Wood savours the sights without the crowds on an alternative journey around the Caribbean’s third largest island ake your time,” says local But we are hunting for a different kind fisherman, Boxer, as I of bounty, the freshest tastiest catch of “Tscramble back into his red the day at Gloria’s Seafood. The renowned fishing boat after diving into the opal restaurant has views across the harbour water to spy sea turtles off Dragon Bay. to the twinkling lights of Kingston, and I’m It’s a common refrain in Jamaica, where told the area is at its liveliest on Fridays stopping to smell the roses is part of when it hosts the weekly Fish Fry. the national character. The next day my Kingston history lesson A day previous, amid the clamour of continues at antique-stuffed Georgian Kingston, I did just that – taking my time mansion Devon House, built by Jamaica’s to admire the rose-beds of Emancipation first black millionaire George Stiebel. Park and the bronze figures of the Aside from the tropical foliage, the Redemption Song memorial, named heritage site has a definite Devonshire after the famous Bob Marley song and feel, with brick cottages and stables dedicated to the slaves of Jamaica’s past. turned into an inviting bakery, and the Bounded by the cloud-skimming Blue iScream ice cream parlour, where I choose Mountains to the north and the Caribbean a classic clotted cream vanilla cone that Sea to the south, the Jamaican capital was melts faster than I can possibly eat in the my launch point for an alternative island tropical heat. experience far from the swanky beach resorts of Montego Bay and Negril. Cool climes Few people realise Jamaica is the Known as ‘the other Jamaica’, the north- Caribbean’s third largest island, and eastern parish of Portland has long between its waterfall-haunted valleys, been feted for its natural beauty but its emerald mountains, platinum coasts, and relative inaccessibility has left it blissfully the UNESCO Creative City of Kingston, its undisturbed. It was once a hideaway for cultural and natural bounty is immense. the Hollywood elite. Errol Flynn had a house in Port Antonio and frequented Bounty hunters Frenchman’s Cove with the likes of Liz “You know Pirates of the Caribbean? It all Taylor and Sophia Loren. started here,” says my guide Cheree as we Heading north from Kingston, we take drive along the Palisadoes causeway from the scenic route along the helter-skelter Kingston to the sleepy peninsula fishing switchbacks of the rainforest-draped Blue village of Port Royal. It used to be a pirate’s Mountains. Boulder-strewn rivers carve haven, known as the wickedest and richest through deep ravines, bright blue and place on earth, before a major earthquake yellow shacks cling to the hillside, and swallowed most of the land and booty steam hanging in the canopy turns the beneath the waves in 1692. slopes into a temporary cloud forest. my journey / The north- eastern parish of Portland has long been feted for its natural beauty I succumb to motion sickness, but the Driving to Ocho Rios the next day, we folks at Craighton Blue Mountain Coffee follow an old A-road to a flatbed bridge know what to do, reviving me with a across the deceptively-calm Rio Cobre that fragrant lemongrass tea on the cool locals believe is cursed. There are stories verandah. The organic coffee plantation’s of the serpent river swallowing vehicles setting is stirringly beautiful and its hand- whole within seconds, and the gates to the sorted beans have the highest possible gorge are closed in heavy rain. classification for quality. Cheree spots some roadside fruit sellers Emerging from the mountains at Buff and seizes the chance to share some local Bay, the road hugs the coast east all the produce with me: the strange orange way to Port Antonio and the hidden bays jackfruit that grows on the tree-trunk beyond. There are no official boat tours and tastes better than it smells; and the here, but fisherman are happy to ferry Jamaican apple, like a plum but less sweet. tourists to local beauty spots. We cruise down the sloping lanes of St Mary parish, lined with tall bamboos, The 'other' Jamaica red flowering flamboyant and fragrant Meeting Boxer at the Blue Lagoon jetty, pimento trees, before it turns into a dry I hop into his fishing boat for a tour and river bed at the ancient glen of Fern Gully, quickly realize he knows these waters like home to more than 300 types of fern. the back of his hand. He shows me the Dunn’s River Falls is my last stop, an freshwater spring and rope swing at the enchanting natural wonder that’s not edge of the lagoon, where the water is surprisingly become a premier tourist noticeably cooler, and takes me to turtle attraction. This part of the island is much and stingray-inhabited Dragon Bay where more touristy than Portland, with a cruise we see at least half a dozen turtles. ship terminal bringing in extra visitors. After enjoying the castaway delights As I climb the cascading tiers I'm of Monkey Island, we round the aptly- reminded I have a plane to catch later that named Alligator’s Head and watch as day, but as soon as I speed up, I slip and champion freediver David Lee prepares scrape my shin. I should have learnt my to kite surf from the dock. Finally we pull lesson – take your time. • up on a quintessential Jamaican beach with the Rasta colours of the One Love Book it with... Explore shack peeping through the seagrapes Explore (explore.co.uk) offers a trip that and arching palms. Thank goodness includes Port Royal, Kingston, Port Antonio, local legal action saved Winnifred Beach Frenchman’s Cove and a Rastafarian village from private development. I’ve seen with activities such as hiking nature trails and some stunning Caribbean coastlines, but visiting the Bob Marley Museum. Portland is something really special. .