Jamaica
Recreation and Sports
Fishing:
Fresh- and sea-water fishing are popular. Mountain mullet, hognose mullet, drummer and small snook are caught in rivers. Deep-sea fishing charters can be arranged through hotels in main resorts. Spearfishing is permitted among the reefs. No licence is needed. Entry forms are available for the Blue Marlin Tournament competition held in Port Antonio during September.
Golf:
Jamaica has developed some of the Caribbean's most beautiful and challenging golf courses. Montego Bay is the best area and it is not necessary to be resident at a hotel to play on its 3 courses. Other golf courses include Caymanas Golf Course (which hosts the Jamaica Open and Pro-Am every November) and Constant Spring near Kingston.
Hiking:
For those keen on mountain climbing and hiking, the Blue Mountains, which reach above 2100 metres (7000 feet), offer unspoilt scenery and a variety of flora and fauna. It is best to go hiking with a guide. Some stables for
Horseriding:
Open all year, and others run schedules during the winter season and most arrangements can be made through hotels.
Cricket:
The 'national obsession'. Matches are played from January to August in Sabina Park, Kingston and other locations throughout the island.
Football:
Probably the 2nd most popular sport, which is played throughout the year.
Tennis:
There are plenty of tennis courts, and most hotels without their own court have access to those nearby.
Polo:
Polo has a tradition going back over a century; matches are played all year round in Kingston. Matches at Kingston and at Drax Hall, near Ocho Rios, are played every week.
Horse races:
Races are held at Caymanas Race Track, Kingston.
Shopping
Special purchases are locally made items and duty-free bargains. Crafts include hand-loomed fabrics, embroidery, silk screening, woodcarvings, oil paintings, woven straw items and sandalmaking. Custom-made rugs and reproductions of pewter and china from the 17th-century ruins of the ancient submerged city of Port Royal can be bought in the In-Craft workshop. At Highgate Village in the mountains, Quakers run a workshop specialising in wicker and wood furniture, floor mats and other tropical furnishings. Jamaican rum, the Rumona liqueur (the world's only rum-based liqueur, hard to find outside the island) and Ian Sangsters Rum Cream are unique purchases. Other local specialities are Pepper Jellies, jams and spices.
There are shops offering facilities for 'in-bond' shopping which allows visitors to purchase a range of international goods free of tax or duty at very competitive prices. These goods are sealed (hence the 'bond') and because goods are tax- or duty-free can only be opened once away from Jamaican waters or territory. All goods must be paid for in Jamaican currency.
Shopping hours: 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday to Saturday. Some shops close half day Wednesday in Kingston, and Thursday in the rest of the island.
History:
Jamaica's recorded history began before the birth of Christ when Arawak Indians began arriving in tree-trunk canoes from South America. The first Spanish settlement was established at S eville Nueva near St. Ann's Bay. When an English force of 5,000 men invaded the island in 1655, the settlers offered little resistance and within a few years, abandoned it as a colony. Privateering and piracy helped Port Royal become one of the richest towns in the Americas and certainly the most notorious.
The eighteenth century saw the reign of sugar. Vast acreage of cane fields dominated the plains and palatial residences, like Rose Hall near Montego Bay, were built. Success of the plantations depended upon a vast and cheap labour force, so slavery was introduced into the New World. Jamaica absorbed nearly one million slaves, and became a huge trans-shipment centre for slaves for other colonies in the Americas.
In a sense, modern Jamaican society began in 1838. The newly freed slaves rapidly deserted the plantations and established themselves as free settlers in the hills. Their hard-working, independent peasantry is still regarded as the backbone of Jamaica.
Since the turn of the century, sugar, banana, citrus and coffee have become the main crops for export and the source of livelihood for thousands of Jamaicans. Beginning in the 1950's the mining of aluminum and bauxite became a major contributor to the economy, along with tourism.
For 300 years as a British colony, Jamaica had a stormy political life. Under successful nationalist leaders in the 20th century, the country began moving toward increasing autonomy in the running of national affairs, culminating in full independence in 1962. An independent country, Jamaica remains a member of the British Commonwealth.
