6 Jamaican Rivers You Can Visit Without Leaving Kingston & St. Andrew

Jamaica is renowned for its stunning beaches, vibrant culture and lush landscapes. While locals and visitors alike usually flock to the coast, the interior regions of Kingston & St. Andrew offer a treasure trove of natural wonders waiting to be discovered. Among these treasures are beautiful rivers, each with its own unique charm and allure. From cascading waterfalls to serene swimming spots, here are six rivers you can explore without a long drive, paying toll or leaving Kingston & St. Andrew.

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Rochelle | Adventuresfromelle13 Comments

Maamee River: A Hidden Gem in St. Andrew, Jamaica

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

Exploring Penfield Falls, Saint Andrew

Let me start by saying that these falls are unnamed. It’s a pity to have such beautiful cascades of the Hope River tucked away in Penfield, a small district in Gordon Town, yet after all these years they are still nameless. Until a name for these falls catches on, we will call them the Penfield Falls after the district in which they are located. This is to distinguish them from the other four waterfalls in Gordon Town which can be accessed through the Pretty Close property.

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Rochelle | Adventuresfromelle37 Comments

Falling Edge Falls, Saint Andrew

Falling Edge Falls is nestled away in the rural community of Stony Hill. This area receives very high rainfall annually, making it a suitable site for catchment facility the Hermitage Dam and Reservoir. If you’ve ever wanted to see one of the two notorious corporate area reservoirs, consider this killing two birds with one stone. Nothing I’d found online mentally prepared me for my adventure on the 30.12.16, but I owe previous blogs many thanks for ensuring I was prepared with sneakers (phew! because I usually approach water bodies in flip-flops). I nearly didn’t see the falls today because I didn’t realize how very far apart the reservoir and falls are. I’ll describe the trails as best I can, for anyone choosing to quench their wanderlust with this treasure.

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Rochelle | Adventuresfromelle8 Comments

Cane River Falls, Saint Andrew

I first heard about this beauty in an article I read last year on little-known Jamaican waterfalls. I never thought it would be so easy to find until travel blogger Zoe featured it on her website, which I found by chance. The way she outlined her journey made it pretty easy to replicate. Thus, I inveigled a friend to accompany me to find it.

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Rochelle | Adventuresfromelle19 Comments