5 Things to do in Montego Bay

Categories: Jamaica, Postaday, TravelTags: Jamaica, Montego Bay, postaday, TravelAuthor: Marcia Mayne

Known as the “Second City,” Montego Bay, or Mobay as it’s called locally, is the tourism capital of Jamaica, welcoming a million visitors annually at the Donald Sangster International Airport and by ship at the Montego Freeport.

The city offers an array of activities and attractions to suit every taste. Here are 5 of the best things to do in Montego Bay.

Golfing

Mobay has, without doubt, the best golf courses in Jamaica and possibly the Caribbean. There are five to choose from, Half Moon

Tryall Golf Course

Golf, White Witch, Cinnamon Hill, Tryall, and Superclubs Ironshore. Check each site for fees.

Cinnamon Hill – This 6,637 yard, 71 par course is located near the Cinnamon Hill and Rose Hall Great Houses and provides a delightful view of the Caribbean Sea. Fees are listed on their website. 876-953-2984

Half Moon Golf Course – Half Moon’s award-winning par-72 championship course offers breathtaking views and challenging holes. 876-953-2211

Tryall Club – 18 holes, 6221 yards, par 72 course overlooking the Caribbean Sea has been described as one of the most beautiful in the world. Tryall is located about 15 miles from Montego Bay and is part of Tryall Villas.

SuperClubs Ironshore Golf & Country Club – This 18-hole championship course is known to be quite challenging.

White Witch – Set over 200 acres, 16 of White Witch’s 18 holes overlook the Caribbean Sea. 876-518-0174

Bird Watching

Jamaica has more than 2 dozen birds that are found nowhere else in the world. If you love birds and are in the Montego Bay area, head over to the Rocklands Bird Sanctuary where you can spot up to 17 species, including the humming bird, Jamaica’s national bird, and feed them too!

Historic Sites

Step back in time at three of Jamaica’s great houses in the Mobay area: Bellefield, Greenwood and Rose Hall.

Bellefield Great House – Owned by the Kerr-Jarrett family, which traces its roots to 1655 when the first member of the Kerr clan from Scotland arrived in Jamaica after the British captured the island from the Spanish. A Kerr family member married a Jarrett and created one of the most powerful families on the island. Descendants of the Kerr-Jarretts are well-known and influential in Jamaican business and politics. Bellefield Great House was built in 1794 and is part of Barnett Estate, one of the oldest sugar estates on the island. To arrange a tour of the great house, call 952-2382 or email info@bellefieldgreathouse.com

Greenwood Great House

Greenwood Great House – Located about 25 minutes’ drive from Montego Bay, Greenwood was once owned by the family of the English poet, Elizabeth Barrett-Browning. It has the finest collection of musical instruments, antique furniture, china and books belonging to the family. Guided tours are available 7 days a week from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Rose Hall – Built as a calendar house in 1770, Rose Hall has 365 windows, 52 doors and 12 rooms. It was made famous by the former owner, Annie Palmer, aka the White Witch, who dispatched three husbands and several slave lovers before she was also killed by Takoo, a slave lover. Rose Hall offers day tours, and candlelight tours on some Friday and Saturday nights. 876-953-2323

Horseback Riding

For horseback riding, head over to the Half Moon Equestrian Centre. 876-953-9489

Scuba Diving/Snorkeling/Deep Sea Fishing

Love to scuba? Check out Seaworld Resorts at the Cariblue Beach Hotel for excursions to offshore coral reefs with PADI-certified dive guides and equipment. 876-953-2180

Doctors Cave Bathing Club - Doctors Cave has been around since 1906 when Dr. Alexander McCatty donated the property for the

5 Things to do in Montego Bay, Doctors Cave

Doctors Cave Bathing Club

establishment of a bathing club. It became known as Doctors Cave because Dr. McCatty and his friends, medical doctors, used to get to the small beach through a cave. One of the best beaches in Montego Bay.

Almost next door to Doctors Cave is Cornwall Beach, a great place for snorkeling, as well as beach parties and events. Cornwall Beach is open daily from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. 876-979-0102 info@cornwallbeachja.com

If you’re interested in sport fishing, check your hotel. They can arrange it with one of the companies that specialize in Deep Sea Fishing. Catches can range from marlin, mahi mahi, tuna, sail fish, wahoo.

Tennis

Fancy a game of tennis? Try the Tryall Club or the Half Moon Hotel (953-2211)

This is just a handful of activities that Montego Bay to offer. The best part is that all are convenient to the airport, the Montego Freeport and the hotels.

Any of these strike your fancy?

About Marcia Mayne

Marcia Mayne travels a world full of books, music, art, fun people and great food. She raves about them constantly. Currently, she is journeying through Jamaica, her home country, to discover the places she missed.

14 Dec2011 4 Comments

What to Do When Rain Threatens Your Vacation

Categories: Jamaica, Postaday2011, TravelTags: Greenwood Great House, Jamaica, Jamaica travel, Montego Bay, Outameni Experience, postaday2011, Rastafari Indigenous Village, Ritz-Carlton Golf & Spa Resort, Rose Hall Great HouseAuthor: Marcia Mayne

A Carnival cruise ship pulled into port this morning for its daylong stop in Montego Bay and within two hours of docking, clouds covered an anemic sun and the rain began. Immediately, I thought of the passengers who undoubtedly would be looking forward to a day of sun and fun. How would they spend their day, if the rain continued?

Carnival Cruise Ship, Montego Bay

Call me pollyanna but I always thought the vacation gods would smile on all my trips but I know differently now. Here’s what I recommend:

* Pack Rain Gear: Since weather is unpredictable, it’s always advisable to put a small umbrella, rain slick or hat in your luggage, especially when traveling to tropical destinations.

* Check the Weather: Outside of the hurricane season (June to November), except for the occasional rainy day, the weather is usually the same from day to day. But if you happen to be traveling between June and November, there’s a chance (even though years can pass before a hurricane actually hits), a hurricane can form. If you’re concerned, plan cruise vacations outside this period. If a hurricane does form and threatens to interrupt or prolong your vacation, follow the advice of the cruise lines and stay safe.

* Indulge in Indoor Activities: Take a book or magazine to read if the weather turns nasty. If you have internet connection, catch up on email. Visit a museum or go see a play. Spend a day at the spa. Do some shopping or catch up on sleep.

* Keep a Positive Attitude: The most important thing is to keep a positive attitude. Don’t let bad weather ruin your mood or spoil your vacation.

5 Things to do in Montego Bay if it rains:

* Take a taxi to one of the Great Houses – Both Rose Hall and Greenwood Great House offer guided tours of their properties. Rose Hall was the home of Annie Palmer, also known as the White Witch of Rose Hall. Greenwood Great house belonged to the family of the English poet, Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Both charge admission fees.

* Visit the Rastafari Indigenous Village – Catch the vibe at this indigenous village located about a 15 minute drive from the port. Listen to drumming, get a lesson in plants and herbs that are native to the island and enjoy an ital meal.

* Pamper Yourself – Book a Jamaican Coffee or Sugarcane Body Scrub at the Ritz-Carlton Golf & Spa Resort.

* Have a meal – Montego Bay’s “Hip Strip” a section of Gloucester Avenue populated by hotels, restaurants (Margarittaville, the Bobsled Cafe, etc.) and shops, is a great place to eat or spend a rainy day.

* Explore Jamaica’s rich ethnic and cultural heritage with a trip back in time at the Outameni Experience.

When planning a vacation, be prepared for bad weather and plan accordingly. Most importantly, enjoy yourself!

About Marcia Mayne

11 Mar2011 0 Comments

Out of Many, One: The Outameni Experience

Categories: Culture, Jamaica Travel, Postaday2011, TravelTags: Christopher Columbus, Jamaica, Jamaican history, Montego Bay, postaday2011, South America, Spanish colonization of the Americas, Taíno people, Trelawny ParishAuthor: Marcia Mayne

My cousin and her husband kept raving about this place he said they knew I would love. But they wouldn’t say what it was or why they were so sure I’d love it.

I was curious.

We loaded up the car and headed north east from Montego Bay towards Trelawny. Once at the sign to the Outameni Experience, we turned off the road.

Sign to Outameni in Trelawny

So this is where we were going!

The Experience starts before you enter

Outameni, the Jamaican lingo for Out of Many (as in Out of Many, One People – the Jamaican motto) is an interactive look back at Jamaica’s history from the time of the indigenous people, the Arawak or Taino, as they’re now called, through the present.

Jars like these were used to keep drinking water cool

Copper pot

Costumed tour guide

Our entertained us with mento dancing and storytelling while we waited for the tour to begin.

Traditional Jamaican house

Each period is represented by its own display with guides in period dress narrating the story of that time.

Taino woman grinding cassava

The Taino arrived in Jamaica around 650 A.D. from South America. They were said to be peaceful people who planted cassava, corn, sweet potato and got most of their food from the sea. When Columbus arrived in 1492, it was the Taino who greeted him. Unfortunately, within a few years of his arrival, the Tainos in Jamaca were exterminated. It is said that some killed themselves rather than be put to work by the Spanish, others died after coming into contact with European diseases for which they had no immunity.

Descendant of Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus and his merry band of sailors stumbled upon Jamaica on May 5, 1494 on his second voyage on behalf of the King of Spain. Thus began the period of Spanish settlements in Jamaica which lasted until the British took over in 1655.

Slave woman about to begin her story

The first Africans in Jamaica came as servants of Spanish settlers. These were freed when the British took over Jamaica in 1655. As sugar production exploded, Africans were again brought to the island, this time to work on the plantations.

Maypole dance pole

The Massa's wife

Our Indian connection

Nearly 40,000 Indians were brought to Jamaica beginning in 1845 as indentured workers to work in the sugar cane industry after slavery was abolished. Many were repatriated but far many remained. Today, their descendants make up the second largest racial group in Jamaica.

The Chinese story

The Chinese began coming to Jamaica in the 1845 to work on sugar cane plantations. Today, they make up the majority of the merchant class.

Present day

The Outameni Experience ends with Jamaica today, a vibrant country that approximately 2 million people – African, Indian, Chinese, Jewish, Lebanese, Scottish, German, Cuban, Haitian, American, Canadian and Latin American – call home.

If you like what you see why not Share, Tweet, Digg, Like etc. You never know who you might be helping to make a difference.

Taino Symbology Review (carolefdee.wordpress.com)

About Marcia Mayne

04 Mar2011 2 Comments

Rose Hall, Jamaica’s (Haunted) Great House

Categories: Jamaica, Postaday2011, TravelTags: Annie Palmer White Witch, Caribbean, Caribbean travel, Christopher Columbus, Jamaica, John Rollins, Montego Bay, postaday2011, Rose Hall Great House, Samuel SharpeAuthor: Marcia Mayne

Jamaica, the third largest island in the Caribbean, was ‘discovered’ in 1494 on Christopher Columbus’ second voyage to the New World. He was in search of silver and gold. Columbus declared Xaymaca, as it was then known “the fairest island that eyes have beheld.”

Among the ‘gifts’ he brought to the New World was sugar cane, but the indigenous Taino (Arawak) population was decimated before it could be developed into a viable industry. This forced the Spanish to look elsewhere for cheap labor. They turned to Africa.

The slave trade was well underway in 1655 when, after 150 years of colonial rule, the British wrested control of the country from the Spanish.

Sugar flourished and Jamaica was, at a time, its largest producer. The wealth sugar generated made plantation owners extremely wealthy. Some of that wealth made its way back to Britain. Some of it was spent building lavish ‘great houses’ that demonstrated the wealth and power of the owners. About 700 existed on the island — all but fourteen were destroyed during and after the 1831 slave revolt which was led by Samuel Sharpe, a local Baptist preacher.

My next few posts will be about this interesting aspect of Jamaica’s history. Walk with me as we take a step back and discover Jamaica’s Great Houses.

Rose Hall

Built as a ‘calendar house’ in 1770 for John Palmer, custos of St. James and his wife, Rosa, Rose Hall has 365 windows, 52 doors and 12 bedrooms. The house eventually passed to Palmer’s grand-nephew, John Rose Palmer and his wife, Annie, the infamous ‘White Witch.’

Annie's bedroom

Annie, Palmer’s second wife, is said to have killed three husbands and several slave lovers at Rose Hall before being murdered in 1831.

The slaves were so fearful of her that after her death, they burned all her possessions, including her photographs.

The property was in ruins for several years before being restored to its former glory by the owners, John Rollins (now deceased) and his wife, Michele.

Truth be told, like a lot of Jamaicans, I’m afraid of ghosts and the stories of the brutality at Rose Hall more than clouded my image of the place. But I realized later that those

Going down to Annie's tortue chamber

stories were keeping me from enjoying something that was almost in my backyard, a place that I now find intriguing because of its history.

I can’t say that I saw any ghosts at Rose Hall but several of the photos I took inside the house

turned out blurry, a few had shadows where I know there hadn’t been any.

Walking down the steps to Annie’s torture chamber, the last thing you see is the azure blue waters of the Caribbean Sea just visible through the doorway. It made me wonder what went through the victim’s mind as he (or she) was being led away to be tortured.

Rose Hall pool

The day I visited, a soft breeze brushed my cheek as I sat near this man-made pool. The peace and beauty surrounding the house seemed incongruous with the stories of destruction inside.

Rose Hall Great House is located about a 20 minute drive from the airport in Montego Bay. Open 9-6. Tours are given daily with the last tour given at 5:15 p.m. Call 876-953-2323 for information.

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About Marcia Mayne

02 Mar2011 11 Comments

Jamaica: In Search of The Real Jerk

Categories: Food, Postaday2011, TravelTags: Caribbean travel, Jamaica, Jamaican foods, Jamaican jerk spice, Montego Bay, Pork, postaday2011, Red Stripe, Scotch Bonnet, Ting, TravelAuthor: Marcia Mayne

Scotch Bonnet

The first thing I do when I arrive in Montego Bay is find a spot for jerk pork. I’d start tasting it, and yes, it’s always pork, before the plane even lands.

For years, Scotchies, a little joint about 2-3 Jamaican miles from the airport on the north coast road between Montego Bay and Falmouth did the trick.

But the last time I went to Scotchies (MoBay), my mouth watering in anticipation of the jerk pork that I knew would be succulent, seasoned through and through with the right balance of Scotch Bonnet peppers, scallion, thyme, a little mace and sugar rubbed in, then slowly cooked over pimento wood, I was disappointed.

While the pork was succulent, it was bland! Nary a Scotch Bonnet in sight!

Who ever said jerk should be this bland? By definition, jerk, The Real Jerk, must have a reasonable amount of Scotch Bonnet.

A trip to The Pork Pit on Gloucester Avenue in town was marginally less disappointing.

I blame the need to please visitors and make more money.

At Scotchies, Montego Bay

Jerk has been a part of my life since childhood. As a little girl, I remember a man (known only as “The Jerk Man”), who would ride around our district usually on a Saturday evening selling jerk pork – it was only pork then – from a pan that was attached to the handlebars of his bicycle. The pork was suspended on a mesh layer over pimento coals in a tray just below. We could smell it way before The Jerk Man arrived at our gate.

Sometime between my childhood and high school, jerk pork all but disappeared, perhaps because of the influence of Rastafarianism and their abhorrence of pork. When it came back in the 70s, it had expanded to include chicken, fish, even sausage.

In time, the knowledge of how jerk was made went from a few cooks, mostly male, who knew the (then secret) ingredients to a bottled wet or dry rub that became available locally and internationally initially to satisfy the palates of the growing number of Jamaicans who lived abroad.

But something got lost in the transition from a few local cooks to international recognition – everyone was free to put their own interpretation on what jerk was supposed to be. But I knew I could always count on finding the Real Jerk in Jamaica.

Not anymore. At least, not in any area that sees a lot of visitors. Something about wanting to make jerk palatable to them and therefore make more sales produce a jerk that’s nothing like how I know jerk is supposed to taste.

(A few years ago, even the Jamaica Tourist Board announced a culinary Jerk Trail, which allows visitors to sample real jerk.)

For true aficianados of The Real Jerk, come with me to one of my favorite places. It’s right on the border of Hanover and Westmoreland and called appropriately, Border Jerk. (I also have to mention Boston Jerk in Boston Bay, Portland, the jerk capital of Jamaica.) There you’ll get some good jerk pork. For those who don’t like pork, there’s chicken, Festival (flour and cornmeal mixture) and soup. If the jerk’s too hot, wash it down with a bottle of Ting, a carbonated grapefruit drink. Me, I prefer an ice cold Red Stripe beer.

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