Gulliver's Travel

Jamaica is an island that offers unique experiences, amazing beaches, beautiful scenery and welcoming people. Experienced traveler’s and jetsetter’s who know the islands of the Caribbean, find themselves returning to Jamaica time and time again. Conveniently located, this tropical paradise can be reached within just 3 hours, via the non-stop charter service offered from St. Louis.

Jamaica is the third largest island in the Caribbean. And a popular stop for many cruise lines that call upon its ports. In addition to being a hot cruise destination, this island lures visitors to a wide variety of accommodations to suit every life style and budget. From European plans, to ultra all inclusive, from mountaintop to beachfront.

Is love and romance in the air? Jamaica is the perfect place to consider for a unforgetable destination wedding. And a wedding in Jamaica couldn’t be simpler! With many adults only resorts offering complimentary weddings and NO blood test requirements. Whether you’re looking for a tropical setting in a garden or have dreamed about getting married on the beach. The choices are endless when it comes to tying the knot in Jamaica.

Montego Bay, home of Sangsters National Airport is where most tourists arrive. MoBay is an active gathering place where one can find boutique stores, small inns and fancy all inclusive resorts boasting white sandy beaches and swaying palm trees. This hip strip area is the pulse of town. Finding a specialty restaurant, and then hitting the nightclubs at sundown is No Problem! And speaking of dancing, Montego Bay plays host to a roster of music festivals, including the largest Reggae show on earth, Reggae Sumfest. There’s also the Jamaica Jazz & Blues Festival. After the dancing and the shopping, consider planning an excursion. You’ll have the opportunity to visit the Rose Hall Great House and hear the tale of the white witch, Annie Palmer. You can also consider touring a historical plantation or rafting down the Great River of the Martha Brae for a unique, relaxing experience.

On the West coast of Jamaica is the stunning town of Negril, best known for its spectacular seven mile beach and beautiful sunsets. Most people who stay in Negril seem to be content with just relaxing on the beach, and soaking up the sun. The water is so beautiful it beckons you in to play. It’s so easy to feel like a kid again. Maybe today you’ll ocean kayak on the calm waters. Tomorrow you can try cliff diving or parasailing, and the next day explore the marine life at the reefs while snorkeling. Whether you prefer lounging on the beach, horseback riding on the shore or exploring an exotic waterfall, you’ll soon discover that Negril is popular for good reason, and visitors are left wanting more.

Ocho Rios, contrary to its name, does not mean eight rivers. It is the garden of Jamaica and the place where locals say, heaven spills into the sea. Ocho Rios is a place of lush green hills, exotic gardens and cascading waterfalls. The most famous is the, beautiful
Dunn’s River Falls. Here visitors climb and play as they navigate up 600 feet of gently terraced waterfalls. Truly a remarkable place, and one of the most visited attractions in Jamaica.

For flower lovers, consider the Coyaba or Shaw Park Gardens. There’s also the forest of ferns aptly called Fern Gully. It’s a 3 mile road built in an old riverbed that winds through
a lush valley of ferns and trees.

Also in the area is the new attraction, the Rainforest Bobsled Jamaica at Mystic Mountain. The Sky Explorer is a state of the art chairlift that sends passengers soaring above treetops to the peak of Mystic Mountain. At the peak there is a Bobsled and zip line canopy tour.

For historical enthusasists be sure to visit, Columbus Park, a site commemorating the spot where Columbus first landed in Jamaica. Close by there is also the opportunity to visit
a working plantation at Prospect Plantation or Sun Valley Plantation. Ocho Rios captures it all. It’s peaceful and exotic, busy and serene.

Reggae legend Bob Marley, along with many other artists, has received global acclaim for decades. Pay your respects by visiting his homeland and take a tour of where he recorded some of his biggest hits.

Jamaica’s cuisine is some of the best in the Caribbean. A typical menu will include local seafood, fresh catch of the day, delicious spicy jerk barbeque, fried conch and plantains. Along with a large variety of recently picked fruit such as: mangoes, pineapples, papayas, & bananas. All offered fresh daily at many all inclusive resorts.-its juice dripping off your chin goodness.

Jamaica is home to some of the oldest rum distilleries in the world. Many agree that the island produces some of best rums and exotic blends in the Caribbean. Including the award-winning Tia Maria coffee liquor. But this is Jamaica mon, so it’s all about the rum. Appleton and Sangster’s are sure crowd pleasers, and both offer a guided tour of their distillery with free tasting, in a very picturesque setting. If rum’s not your drink, how about coffee? The Blue Mountain coffee is considered one of the finest coffees in the world and can be purchased at a great buy, while in Jamaica.

Gift and duty-free shops, as well as craft markets are located in most resort areas. For those of you looking for a bargain and don’t mind bartering, great buys can be found at the craft market. Items generally for sale include wood carvings, masks, walking sticks, hand painted pottery and pictures, fresh water pearl necklaces, t- shirts, and much more locally crafted one of a kind items.

There is also an endless variety of local exotic spices and hot sauces, including the famous Pickapeppa sauce & Walkerswood, available island wide. It’s hot and sweet all in one!

If you prefer not to barter, many of your souveniour’s can be picked up at the new and improved and now much larger, Sangster’s International Airport (Montego Bay Airport).

Jamaica is a great destination, for more reasons than one. If you haven’t had the pleasure of going yet, or maybe you’re ready for a return visit, now’s the time to start planning. So contact your Gulliver’s travel agent today. After all, Once You Go You Know!

Did you know? Jamaica is a bird-watcher’s paradise, with about 200 resident bird species and more endemic species than any other Caribbean Island. Of these, 25 species and 21 subspecies are found nowhere else.

Jamaica’s national bird, the Red-Billed Streamertail Hummingbird lives only in Jamaica. Its image has become a widely used National symbol.

Bit of Jamaica’s History:
Prehistoric Jamaica was volcanic, and the mountains that soar to 7402 feet are higher than that of any in the eastern half of North America. These mountains run all through the island’s centre, with a narrow coastal plain on either side. Some 150 rivers, numerous waterfalls and an abundance of trees and flowering plants are found across the island, earning Jamaica the title “Land of Wood and Water.”

Discovered by Columbus during his second voyage in 1494, in his log, he described the island as “the fairest land that eyes have beheld; mountains and the land seem to touch the sky…all full of valley and fields and plains.”

Jamaica’s early beginnings were first under the influence of Spanish settlement. In their century and a half of rule, the Spaniards brought sugar cane, slaves from Africa and European infections in which several thousands of original Jamaican Indians died from. Later, in 1655 the English would capture Jamaica and turn the island into one vast sugar plantation.

On August 6, 1962 Jamaica became an independent nation. For 30 years thereafter, the island’s rich bauxite (alumina) deposits were the bedrock of the economy, supplying nearly two thirds of the U.S requirement for aluminum in the 1970’s.

Mixed marriages create today’s unique racially mixed Jamaican people, and thus the basis of Jamaica’s national motto: “Out of Many, One People.”