A page dedicated to my lovely island home, its lesser-visited places and all my experiences and opinions of her worth sharing. Raw, honest, beautiful.
December 2019 will mark three full years since I began Adventures from Elle: my baby, my sanity and one of my favourite hobbies. It’s also one of my proudest and most prized “possessions”. I don’t get to write much less travel as often as I’d like but I’ve managed to churn out over 100 articles as a full-time medical student (now doctor) and I’m pretty proud of that. My blog hasn’t had a dry spell of longer than two months either.
Continue reading “10 Things I’ve Learnt in 3 Years of Blogging”
Negril is a resort town in the westernmost end of Jamaica, home to luxurious powdery-soft white-sand beaches and craggy picturesque cliffs. Negril’s Seven Miles Beach has been rated as one of the top ten beaches in the world by several travel magazines for years. Similar to my Dunn’s River Falls post from last April, I may potentially get my Jamaican card revoked by revealing that this was my first time visiting Negril but that’s okay. There’s a first time for everything and I thoroughly enjoyed this daytrip. Not even a flat tire on the way back after falling into one of Jamaica’s infamous potholes could ruin the mood. It was also my first time going parasailing, an experience I’m excited to share with you, my readers.
Continue reading “Negril, Westmoreland”
Saint Elizabeth is known as the breadbasket parish of Jamaica, producing nearly a quarter of the nation’s produce despite getting less rainfall than its counterparts. The parish’s landscape includes the lush unspoilt mountains of the Cockpit Country, the majestic Santa Cruz Mountains which run south, divide the wide plain into two then plunge to a precipitous drop at Lovers’ Leap, the meandering Black River with its numerous cascading tributaries, most notably the YS Falls, and the sleepy sea-faring town of Treasure Beach with its quaint colourful off-the-radar cottages and villas.
Continue reading “St. Elizabeth: Jamaica’s South Coast Belle”
Ahhh.. off the beaten track, a term which conjures up images of Jamaica’s rolling green hills, sweeping valleys, secluded beaches, serpentine rivers and cold majestic waterfalls in my mind. Jamaica means ‘Land of Wood and Water’ and the island certainly doesn’t disappoint– in fact I’m far from finished with discovering and exploring her concealed treasures. Jamaica’s beauty doesn’t go unnoticed; we receive several million tourists each year but they tend to flock our resort towns of Ocho Rios, Negril and Montego Bay. It’s easy to see why too with the convenience of vacationing at all-inclusive beach resorts. For those with a more adventurous spirit, however, here are seven off the beaten track places in Jamaica which are well worth the trouble of finding. These are the places they forget to print in the Jamaican travel brochures but after this article, they just may end up in one.
Continue reading “7 Off the Beaten Track Jamaican Places Which Are Totally Worth the Effort”
Ahh.. finally I got around to visiting Jamaica’s most western parish. Bluefields Beach in Bluefields, Westmoreland is an easy-to-find stop along the main road which links the St. Elizabeth and Westmoreland parishes. A decent sized beach, Bluefields is a victim of the beach erosion which seems to be plaguing many of our free public beaches. There are also no watersports available at this one either, but it’s worth a quick pick-me-upper for someone craving some waves and salty air in this side of the island, or in transit to other south or west coast destinations.
Continue reading “Guide to Bluefields Beach in Westmoreland, Jamaica”
One mile off the coast of Parottee in St. Elizabeth, Jamaica lies the coolest bar in the Caribbean. The unique Pelican Bar resembles a gigantic bird nest made from driftwood, palm fronds and coconut tree trunks and is perched on a sandbar in the middle of the turquoise Caribbean Sea. The bar is named for the large flocks of pelicans which often rest there. Its owner, a local fisherman named Floyd Forbes, had a dream one night about a bar out at sea where he and his fishermen friends could sit and clean their fish or relax and have a beer.
Continue reading “Pelican Bar: The Coolest Bar in the World”
I hail from Jamaica’s capital city of Kingston, born unda di clock as we say– a colloquial expression which means one was born not too far from this Victorian-style 33-foot tall clocktower built in 1913! This clock marks the very centre of the parish capital, a crossroad between four major streets in Half-Way-Tree which was once the location of a large cotton tree and how the town got its name.
Continue reading “19 Times My Parish (St. Andrew) Left Me Awestruck”
Portland is easily Jamaica’s most beautiful parish with a great diversity in landscapes ranging from Jamaica’s highest mountain peak at a chilly 7,402 feet and dipping as low as to sea level with warm tropical breezes wafting in from the Caribbean Sea. What’s even lovelier is that this parish is untouched from the droves of tourists which flock our major three tourist cities and towns, so it’s possible you’ll find many of these gems 100% empty (and uncommercialized) if you visit. Portland attracts a more ecotourist laidback vibe so it’s no wonder yoga and wellness resorts have been growing in popularity in this side of the island. I’ll let the pictures do the talking– here’s why Portland is my favourite ❤ and Jamaica’s most beautiful parish.
Continue reading “22 Photos Which Show Why Portland is Jamaica’s Most Beautiful Parish”
Dolphins are the number three top tourist attraction in Jamaica. Swimming with dolphins is a bucket list item for many and these adorable smiling ads make it easy to see why. Regarded as some of Earth’s most intelligent animals, dolphins are as smart as apes with brains surprisingly similar to that of humans. They are very social mammals living in matrilineal groups that hunt and play together with as many as 1,000 members. Each pod has its own language, every individual has a name and survival and nurturing skills are taught. Their language is highly complex and to date has scarcely been deciphered by humans. They can swim 100 miles in a day and have been recorded to dive to 1,000 feet. Their hearing is better than adult humans and their sense of touch and sight is well-developed. Their biggest threat though? Man.
Continue reading “Why I Won’t Swim With Dolphins in Jamaica.. Or Anywhere”
Puerto Seco is a white sand beach located along Jamaica’s north coast in the historic town of Discovery Bay, St. Ann. Christopher Columbus is believed to have first landed in Jamaica on this beach with his three ships Santa Maria, Pinta and Niña in 1494. For this same reason, a park named after him lies just five minutes’ drive away. Recently leased and refurbished by the Guardsman Group security company, Puerto Seco is one of Jamaica’s most iconic beaches and was renovated to highlight that historic charm.
Continue reading “Puerto Seco Beach, Saint Ann”
Adventures from Elle 