Kingston Overview

Overview

Kingston's city life is among the best - and the worst - in the Caribbean. There are excellent restaurants, first class hotels and great shopping deals - try the Chelsea Galleries or the Sovereign Shopping Centre. The downtown streets are lined with hordes of street vendors known as 'higglers'. They have a style of commerce that is as uncomfortable as it is unwelcome. Kingston is not a shopper's paradise! The city has a few excellent museums, such as Devon House, the National Gallery, or the Arawak museum. Bob Marley fans are in luck. Kingston has the one and only Bob Marley Museum (Bob Marley was a Reggae legend who died of cancer at 36). Much of Jamaica seems to follow Bob's lifestyle, and the deadly influence of drugs on daily life has really been detrimental to the look and feel of Kingston over the last 25 years. Kingston is also the home of the Jamaica Campus of the University of the West Indies. The UWI campus hosts a virulent type of 'victim' academia, similar to that of Palestinian and African academia. North American and European travellers can expect vigorous and unpleasant verbal dustups with folks from this part of Kingston! In the harbour you can visit Fort Charles, one of about 24 forts that have protected Jamaica against invaders since 1655. Port Royal is the former pirate hangout, now restored as yacht moorage and, naturally, a bar. Historians will love the many historical sites in Kingston which have been restored by the Jamaica National Heritage Trust. The "greens" might say that Castleton Botanical Gardens, Hope Botanical Gardens and the Caymanas Park are the lungs of the city. In truth, all of Jamaica is an explosion of botanical wonders. Castleton is a wonderland of flowers and shrubs, Caymanas has horse racing on Wednesday, Saturday and holidays. There are no decent beaches in Kingston; the nearest being Hellshire Beach (1/2-hr SW of Kingston). World class cricket matches occur in Kingston, and there's lots of good football (soccer), too. Jamaica has almost made it to the World Cup several times. Live outdoor theatre is especially entertaining. There's no reggae concerts anywhere; most reggae is by small house-bands, and it tends to be mixed with ska and Trinidad calypso in tourist areas. The dancing is excellent. The churches are filled with awesome voices on Sunday. While much of Kingston appears utterly hopeless, there is hope in Kingston on Sunday morning!