The Blue Mountains are full of sensational stories as well as stunning scenery, but it’s the quiet you’ll savour – pure audible peace. And if there is a cool spot anywhere on the island right now – mid August 2014, it’s Jamaica’s Blue Mountains.
At 5,000. Feet above sea level, Cinchona Botanic Garden is magic. A car (and it should be a good sturdy one) will go only so far, then you are hiking, for the last 1,000 or so feet up.
Surprisingly not a hard hike, switch backs ease you up gracefully. And mostly you are in a sea of Blue Mountain Coffee, which is not a particularly large plant, so there is nothing blocking the views, which are nothing short of spectacular!
These photos were taken on Andrew Ross’s very happy Birthday Hike to Cinchona this year.
There is no other garden of this type in the Caribbean and at this altitude. Cinchona straddles a mountain ridge between 4,500 and 5,500 feet, with majestic views in every direction. 
The garden was established in 1868 when the British colonists were using the ‘Botanic Garden’ as a means for introducing imported plant species to the New World. At the time, quinine, extracted from the Cinchona bark was valued for the treatment of tropical fever and Maleria. The extract sold for fantastic prices, and many saw this as opportunity for the acclimatization of many other plants of European or tropical highland origin. With the establishment of the garden, 3 projects were involved: 40 acres of Cinchona, a plantation of Assam tea and a ‘European garden’.
It was proved Cinchona could be grown and quinine produced successfully, sadly, with the absence of adequate roads and marketing infrastructure, a golden opportunity was lost. The same was true for tea, with the addition of a labor problem. The ‘European garden’ was more modestly successful, with the cultivation of European vegetables and flowers for the Kingston market.
Cinchona still exhibits beauty and grandeur. Some Cinchona Trees remain, but several species of eucalyptus, Japanese cedar, weeping cypress, rubber and camphor trees flourish. Enjoy a lovely path that leads through a tunnel of Japanese bamboo to a glade of blue Agapanthus in spring.
Hike Roundtrip – Approx. 4.5 hours from Clydesdale.
Difficulty: 3 (Scale 1-5); Good Walking Shoes Required.
