Plant watching in Jamaica

On 9/29/99 9:42 PM Richard Starkeson (johnsaia@dnai.com) wrote:

>since I am going to Jamaica in the
>end of November for a family gathering, does anyone here know if there is
>anything of great botanical interest there?   I hear there are a couple of
>botanical gardens, but terribly run down.  There is also a national park of
>sorts in the southeast part of the island, but I have not been able to 
>find out anything about it here in the states. I would really enjoy being 
able to
>encounter some preserved native forest habitat, if it exists.

Many public botanical gardens in the Caribbean are neglected because of 
insufficient funding, but for those willing to venture afield from the 
beaten tracks to Montego Bay and Ochos Rios Jamaica has much to offer of 
spectacular botanical interest: some 3,000 species of flowering plants 
and nearly 600 different ferns. The Blue Mountain/John Crow Mountain 
National Park in eastern Jamaica comprises over 300 sq. miles of scenic 
and tantalizing mountains, forests, and rivers and is being developed - 
slowly - for ecotourism.

Any Jamaican Tourist Office should be able to provide current information 
on the Park and some useful information will be found in the latest 
edition of the 'Caribbean Islands Handbook' published by Trade & Travel 
Handbooks of Bath, England and distributed in North America by Passport 
Books, Chicago.

Warm regards,

William Glover


**********************

William Glover
Mango Corners, Jones Estate
NEVIS, West Indies (Antilles)

wmglover@caribsurf.com
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