Jamaica Blue

Before I knew what was happening, I was dragged out of my deck chair on snoozy Treasure Beach and thrust into the sprawling metropolis of Kingston – it seems that my next lesson was that there’s more to Jamaica than sand, sea and reggae.

After negotiating a few potholes the size of swimming pools, we arrived in Kingston and were greeted by Rory’s family. But before I could even utter the words “Red Stripe”, I was being taken on a little detour to the Blue Mountains, which tower behind Kingston, can be seen from anywhere on the eastern third of the island and are responsible for some of the best coffee in the entire world…mmmmm.

We started off with a lovely lunch at the magnificent Strawberry Hill Hotel, a former plantation with panoramic views of Kingston and the mountains, a lot of Bob Marley and U2 memorabilia and a pretty "irie" (that's Jamaican for good) swimming pool.

Shortly thereafter, I found my hiking boots strapped on once again (again!?) for my next challenge - Blue Mountain Peak. At 7402ft, it’s the highest point in Jamaica and simply stunning - thick woodlands dotted with coffee plantations and crowned with a romantic mist – and, after our guide Tiger had pumped us with Blue Mountain coffee, we were ready to climb almost anything!

A minor problem, though. Apparently it’s been bucketing down in Jamaica for the last 2 months (not to mention Hurricane Dean that swept through the country in August) and as a result, the trail was pretty… how can I put this?... mashed. What we thought was going to be a stroll through tranquil woodlands ended up being a scramble over rocks, tree trunks and newly formed “waterfalls”, and in some parts the trail itself had become a rushing stream!

As for the grand finale… ummm… it turned out that that “romantic” mist I was talking about before meant that the view from the top was slightly obscured – to the point where there was no view at all (clang!)! So after the 7 mile grueling effort without even the reward of a panoramic picture, Rory and I were feeling a little… blue?!

[This is where our photo from the top of Blue Mountain Peak should have been]

But not all was lost! We headed back to Kingston and had a big family gathering to look forward to. Rory’s brothers Rog and Colin (and his lovely wife Sharon and gorgeous kids) were showing us some hospitality Jamaican-style with a BBQ of jerk pork, chicken and all the trimmings. It was a great night!