The peaks
Rainforest.
xiquinhosilva — CC BY 4.0 · xiquinhosilva — CC BY 4.0 · Matthew.kowal — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Adam.J.W.C. — CC BY-SA 3.0
The Blue and John Crow Mountains form a national park in eastern Jamaica, north of the capital, Kingston. It covers about 495 square kilometres, some 4.5 percent of the island, and in 2015 UNESCO inscribed it as a World Heritage Site for both nature and culture. It takes its name from the Blue Mountains range that runs through it and from the John crow, the turkey vulture common here. It is one of the last two known homes of the giant swallowtail, the largest butterfly in the Western Hemisphere, and of the endangered Jamaican blackbird. Its slopes are famous for Blue Mountain coffee. You see ridge after ridge of green peaks under thick rainforest, with clouds gathering on the summits and drifting into the valleys. Small coloured houses and coffee farms dot the slopes, and rocky streams run through the valleys among ferns and trees. The park is about 22 km from Kingston in a straight line, but the mountain roads are narrow and winding. The heights get much cooler, so bring a jacket, and rain can come at any time.
Rainforest.
On the summits.
On the slopes.
Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park, eastern Jamaica
From the Blue Mountains and the John crow, the turkey vulture.
The heights are much cooler than the coast, and rain is possible any time.