Top 8 Brunch Spots in Kingston, Jamaica

Kingston, Jamaica is known for its rich culture, vibrant music scene and delectable cuisine. One third of Jamaica’s population (roughly one million people) call Kingston home, so you can bet there are lots of entertainment options, and even free activities to check out in the city. Whether you’re a local or a tourist, one of the best ways to start your day in Kingston is with a delicious brunch at one of the city’s top restaurants. Here are eight of the best spots in Kingston for a mouth-watering brunch experience in 2023.

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Rochelle | Adventuresfromelle22 Comments

Reggae Month in Jamaica

Are you patriotic? What does being patriotic mean to you?

February around the world is a special time for people of African descent, such as myself. We celebrate the achievements of our race and our rich heritage, while pausing to reflect on the atrocities of chattel slavery which our ancestors endured and which interrupted our history for three centuries. However, in Jamaica, February has much more special meaning.

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Rochelle | Adventuresfromelle38 Comments

Retreat to Nature at Neita’s Nest

Neita’s Nest is a creative nook tucked away in the hilly outskirts of Kingston and St. Andrew. Located in Bridgemount, a quiet suburban and historic neighbourhood, Neita’s Nest began as a private dwelling where the Neita family would often entertain relatives and friends. However, in 2010 its proprietor and host, Michelle Neita, opened her charming home to guests as a local homestay and bed & breakfast. Michelle’s gracious willingness to share her knowledge of Kingston’s rich history and culture to guests makes Neita’s Nest a useful resource and base for visiting creatives, researchers and scholars. As they would say, the rest is history. Neita’s Nest is far removed from the hustle and bustle of Kingston but close enough to all its amenities, making it a desired place to stay for visitors to Kingston, Jamaica’s capital city.

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Rochelle | Adventuresfromelle22 Comments

Riverside Dining in Jamaica at Pretty Close 876

Jamaica is known as the Land of Wood and Water due to its rich biodiversity and over 100 rivers. Not all of the island’s rivers are navigable and some are seasonal which means that they run dry outside of the rainy season. The rivers which last all year create lovely recreational opportunities such as swimming, fishing, bamboo rafting and riverside dining. Jamaicans enjoy cooking outdoors on woodfire or coal stoves as many believe that this old-fashioned means of preparing Jamaican dishes results in better taste. Cooking outdoors by the river is great but eating by or in the river is even better. Pretty Close 876 is a riverside kitchen and dining experience in Gordon Town, St. Andrew. Here’s how to find it and what to expect.

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Rochelle | Adventuresfromelle24 Comments

‘Cyaa Stall’: A Jamaican Dancehall Art Exhibit

Kingston is the capital city of Jamaica, located on the island’s south-eastern coast on one of the world’s largest natural harbours. This vibrant city is home to the most recording studios per capita in the world, and gave rise to six distinct musical genres– namely ska, mento, rocksteady, dub, reggae and dancehall. For this reason, Kingston was awarded UNESCO Creative City status in 2015. Kingston has famous museums which immortalize the origins of our musical genres but our music does not stop there. The Rastafari religion, reggae music and its raunchier cousin dancehall are intimately tied to the fabric of the Jamaican culture and its people. Named for the lyric in artiste Vybz Kartel’s song Dancehall (2015), Cyah Stall is an exhibit which narrates Jamaican dancehall as a musical genre, aesthetic, language and resistance. Here’s why you should catch it if you can.

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Rochelle | Adventuresfromelle19 Comments

Kingston Reggae Garden, Saint Andrew

I’m a city girl with a love for the country and thankfully in Jamaica, the country is never too far away. A short drive of fifteen minutes can land you in lush peaceful 360° greenery, seemingly far away from the hustle and bustle of city life. Every time I visit the country and admire the slow laid-back pace of life, I can’t help but think that this is how we were meant to live. I’m happy to report that I’ve found a new chill spot near the capital city of Kingston, Jamaica for us nature-lovers to unwind and reset. Kingston Reggae Garden is a restaurant, bar and oasis in Golden Spring, St. Andrew which opened in May 2021.

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Rochelle | Adventuresfromelle14 Comments

Maamee River, Saint Andrew

Maamee River is a place I heard of via word of mouth, and I finally took note of the turn off from the main a few weeks ago when I made a visit to Maryland in rural St. Andrew. The Blue Mountains is my favourite corner of Jamaica, but I still haven’t scratched the surface in exploring it even after five years of being more deliberate in discovering every nook and cranny of Jamaica. Having dedicated the next few years of my life to completing a residency, my compromise for long daytrips and weekend staycations will be exploring all the close and accessible parts of the Blue Mountains. Hence, I ended up at Maamee River after work one Saturday afternoon and here’s how it went.

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Rochelle | Adventuresfromelle11 Comments

Maryland, Saint Andrew

It always amazes me how close the ‘country’ is to our beloved city of Kingston. As a city girl, I often quip that I must’ve been from the country in a past life because I look forward to escaping the hustle and bustle every chance I get. The verdant mist-covered hills, breathtaking valleys and meandering rivers and waterfalls of rural Jamaica are more my scene. Papine is a small bustling town which marks the gateway of the Blue Mountains, Jamaica’s largest and most important mountain range. This mountain range is world renowned for Blue Mountain coffee, a brand of coffee which is as unique to the Blue Mountains of Jamaica as champagne is to Champagne, France, and is grown on steep inhospitable slopes between 3,500 and 5,500 ft. above sea level. Its tallest peak is the Blue Mountain Peak in Portland which towers at 7,402ft (2,256m) above sea level. Hiking to Blue Mountain Peak is still my most favourite adventure to date, but requires at least two days’ commitment. When pressed for time, I make do with exploring the more accessible parts of this mountain range instead and one such community worth exploring is Maryland, a rural district four miles north of Papine.

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Rochelle | Adventuresfromelle21 Comments

The 10 Best Cafes in Kingston, Jamaica

Coffee culture is the collection of traditions and behaviours surrounding the consumption of coffee, which includes the social acceptance of caffeine as a stimulant. Many people cannot start the morning without a brew, and as such, cafes give these coffee lovers their fix of lattes, espressos, cappuccinos and the like. However, cafes offer more than just coffee. They offer spaces for work, meetings, socialization and even meals, as most serve light meals and pastries alongside coffee and tea. European and North American culture strongly influences trends in the Caribbean so it was just a matter of time before their café culture trickled down to us. Most Jamaicans start their morning with a hot beverage as inherited from our British colonizers. Thus, it isn’t surprising that coffee culture has caught on in Jamaica. We have the right audience for it.

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Rochelle | Adventuresfromelle25 Comments

Bob Marley Beach, Saint Andrew

When one thinks of going to the beach in Jamaica, St. Andrew is perhaps the last parish that comes to mind. Some go as far as to ask if this parish even has a beach to begin with, and I’m always happy to educate and say yes, SEVERAL! 🙂 All 14 of Jamaica’s parishes are washed by the Caribbean Sea so it’s a little weird that people assume St. Andrew doesn’t have any beaches just because it’s a largely urban parish and commercial centre. Three years ago I took a trip to the Carib and Wickie Wackie beaches which I wrote about here, and now I’m back with another lesser-known St. Andrew beach.

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Rochelle | Adventuresfromelle29 Comments