is a great way to start a week in Jamaica that will take the traveler from the country’s capital to the Blue Mountains and then the coast of Port Antonio. As the staff brought cocktails and anything else JAX FAX’s tour group could want, it became apparent that whatever the week would bring in sights and experiences, there would always be time for relaxation and a rum punch.

 

 

Bob Marley’s Legacy
As you pull into the parking lot of Tuff Gong Studios in Kingston, you are met with two huge renderings of Bob Marley and his wife, Rita Marley. This was the studio that the two of them built, in addition to the studio that existed in their home. It offers one of the largest recording studios in the Caribbean. A tour of Tuff Gong invites visitors to participate in the making of music and showcases the rehearsal studio along with the studio where the music was ultimately made. Along with learning about the process of making music, Tuff Gong has its own vinyl manufacturing plant, which visitors can tour to see how each physical record is created.

 

Marley enthusiasts also will not want to miss a tour of his home which has become the Bob Marley Museum. Like the tour of Tuff Gong, this is a highly interactive experience with opportunities for singing and celebration. Visitors see the recording studio Marley had in his home, along with the living quarters, including the porch where Marley had a huge hammock strung from one end to the other during his lifetime. Also memorable are the bullet holes that are still visible in an area next to the courtyard where the assassination attempt on Bob, Rita and others took place in 1976.

 

Murals and even a true-to-life size sculpture of Marley playing the guitar are found just outside the museum.

 

 

Street Art & Culture of Downtown Kingston Art District
The murals seen at Tuff Gong and the Bob Marley Museum are part of a larger tradition of street art in Kingston, which a walk down the historic Water Lane and Church Streets quickly reveal. Illustrations on the murals often depict music from an array of cultures beyond just traditional Jamaican/Reggae including Native American/indigenous and Mexican/Latin.

 

Kingston is a renewed, bustling hub for artists, as evidenced by a facility devoted especially to the making of art, Kingston Creative Space. It offers workstations, small offices, meeting rooms and even a podcast room to those in Kingston seeking a place to work on their passion projects. Burgeoning artists will feel quite at home in Kingston.

 

 

Blue Mountains Excursion
The music, art and culture of Kingston isn’t far from the magnificent natural resources of the Blue Mountains (home of the world-famous Blue Mountain Coffee).

 

JAX FAX got a chance to explore the view from Strawberry Hill, an inn located around 3,100 feet above sea level in the Blue Mountains. Its 13 guest rooms, including options for cottages and suites, offers a respite from city life. From downtown Kingston, it’s a 30–45-minute drive up a winding, scenic, ear-popping road with many sharp turns. The journey is well worth the effort, even if just for a few hours. It’s the perfect spot for a long, leisurely lunch with Instagram-worthy photo shoots.

 

 

The Road Beyond Kingston
The Blue Mountain home of Strawberry Hill is emblematic of the many places in nature to explore after a few days of happy immersion in art and cultural activities in Kingston.

 

JAX FAX’s tour group traveled by road from Kingston to Port Antonio, stopping along the way to visit with the Maroon People of Charles Town. These are the descendants of a group of enslaved people who resisted colonial forces and established autonomous free communities in Jamaica.

Lunch with this Maroon community in Charles Town gives visitors the chance to learn about the history of the people and to experience traditional dining using a calabash bowl made from the dried shell of the calabash fruit, along with utensils made of bamboo and a coconut shell cup. A tour of the museum on the property displays artifacts from the community’s history, such as a drum made to look like a stool to allow the group to continue to play traditional music without their enslavers finding out.

 

Visitors are invited to enjoy traditional dance with community members, highlighting a joyous, welcoming tradition.
The hospitable spirit continued all the way to Port Antonio, where JAX FAX checked into Geejam, which also houses the internationally known Geejam Studios on the property. The hotel gives the appearance of having been built into the hills so that rather than destroying and artificially flattening, the rooms are at the top of many winding staircases and paths and there is a long path and staircase down to the beach, which is more of a natural terrace set in lush greenery with steps leading into the water than a traditional sandy beach.

 

Despite the lack of a traditional beach, the water is calm and perfect for swimming and the terrace-like area above with umbrellas and lounge chairs is ideal for ultra-quiet relaxation where you can practically hear the wind rustling the leaves.

 

In addition to a great swim on Geejam’s private beach, there is an opportunity for a glass-bottom boat ride on the Caribbean Sea off the San San coastline. The translucent turquoise waters, seen through the bottom of the boat, reveal reefs, coves, and even a small shipwreck beneath the surface.

 

Part of the fun of staying at Geejam is the studio on site, where artists like Drake, Alicia Keys, Gwen Stefani, and countless others have recorded. JAX FAX’s travel group got a tour of the studio seeing the equipment and technology used and hearing stories of the artists who recorded there.

 

 

Ocho Rios/St. Ann Parish: Waterfalls, Catamaran Cruise, Snorkeling, Green Grotto Caves
The opportunities for aquatic adventures and a greater appreciation for nature continue at full force as you make your way from Port Antonio to Ocho Rios, the next stop on JAX FAX’s Jamaican journey.

 

Strolling past part of Dunn River Falls, Chukka Caribbean Adventures took JAX FAX’s tour group aboard a catamaran cruise that included cocktails and rollicking music and snorkeling. Many yellow and black striped “sergeant major” fish were spotted. The swells were gentle so that with a life vest the snorkeling was relaxing for an intermediate swimmer.

 

Couples Tower Isle, an all-inclusive resort where JAX FAX spent the night, offered the perfect place to relax and to swim on a traditional sandy beach after a day of water and nature excursions.

 

Not far from Ocho Rios, and also in St. Ann Parish, is Green Grotto Caves – Discovery Bay. A tour shows visitors a fascinating world of surprising natural geological shapes in the limestone rocks—one of which was actually heart-shaped—along with stalagmites and even an underground body of groundwater.

 

Whether in these caves, or a few thousand feet above sea level in the Blue Mountains, it’s easy in Jamaica to immerse yourself in sights, sounds and experiences that are thoroughly delightful—melodious, you might say.

 

 

Getting There
JAX FAX flew non-stop economy on JetBlue from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City to Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston, Jamaica. It was an approximately four-hour flight.

 

 

Where to Stay JAX FAX stayed…
For three nights in Kingston, at The Pegasus Hotel. The property features a spa, pool and tennis court and walking/jogging path. In addition to the guest rooms, spa and other leisure-time amenities, the hotel is an ideal place for meetings and business events.
For two nights, in Port Antonio, at Geejam, a boutique-style hotel built into the hills with a multitude of winding paths and staircases, including a long path and staircase down to a private beach. Rather than a traditional sandy beach, there is a natural “terrace”-like area with umbrellas and lounge chairs and steps leading down to tranquil waters for a relaxing swim.

 

The suite-style room where JAX FAX stayed featured artistic, retro-style art, photography and vintage posters. The bathroom was large, offering a deep standalone tub, large, glass-enclosed modern shower and two sinks on a long countertop. The world-famous Geejam Studios is located on the property. Artists such as Drake, Alicia Keys, and Gwen Stefani, among many others, have
recorded there.

 

For one night, in Ocho Rios, at Couples Tower Isle. This all-inclusive hotel offers a traditional beach resort experience, set alongside an expansive sandy beach. The open-air lobby and dining area, overlooking the beach, is particularly relaxing.
For one night, back in Kingston, this time at ROK Hotel. It features a memorable rooftop terrace with the bar and restaurant, Rockstone, and pool. The bar staff is hospitable and makes delicious cocktails.

 

 

What to Eat
At Blue Window at the Pegasus Hotel, JAX FAX enjoyed great curried goat and oxtail stews, traditional Jamaican fare. There is a weekly “Tuesday on the Grill” by the pool with an expansive buffet and live music.

 

At Strawberry Hill, a 13-room inn located high in the Blue Mountains over Kingston, JAX FAX enjoyed a scenic lunch taking in the impressive views. The restaurant is known simply as Strawberry Hill Restaurant. It serves Jamaican-inspired cuisine with a farm-to-table influence. Meals are typically taken in the open-air dining room or on the terrace with panoramic views over Kingston. JAX FAX’s tour group got a choice of jerk chicken, escovitch fish and rice and peas with tossed vegetables.

 

At the site of the Devon House mansion, JAX FAX enjoyed traditional Jamaican meat patties at Devon House Bakery and ice cream from Devon House i-Scream.

 

At the Maroon community in Charles Town, visitors can experience this people’s traditional dining culture using a calabash bowl made from the dried shell of the calabash fruit, along with utensils made of bamboo and a coconut shell cup. JAX FAX dined on Jamaican jerk chicken while others in the group enjoyed lunches of fried chicken, fish or vegetables.

 

At Geejam, JAX FAX enjoyed cocktails and meals at Bush Bar, which welcomes guests of the hotel in addition to those who are not staying at the hotel. The open-air restaurant and bar provide a stunning view of the coastline with the resort’s picturesque pool area in the foreground. The pina colada was a standout cocktail.

 

At ROK Hotel, JAX FAX enjoyed cocktails, dinner and brunch at Rockstone, a fun bar/restaurant located on the rooftop of the hotel alongside the pool area.

 

For more information about Jamaica visit: www.visitjamaica.com