Sustainable Jamaica Photos

Photograph by Michael Melford

Locals sell produce at the aptly named town of Newmarket. Like many towns in Jamaica, Newmarket takes its name from a counterpart in Britain, reflecting Jamaica's history as a former crown colony.

Read more in "Jamaica Gently" in the October 2008 issue of National Geographic Traveler.

Photograph by Michael Melford

Jamaica's Royal Palm Reserve contains 113 plant species in addition to its namesake. The 300-acre (121-hectare) site has a half-mile-long (.8-kilometer) boardwalk and offers fishing, birdwatching, and crocodile spotting.

Read more in "Jamaica Gently" in the October 2008 issue of National Geographic Traveler.

Photograph by Michael Melford

In the little community of Calabash Bay, on Jamaica's southern coast, lies Jake's resort, where the beachside swimming pool is filled with saltwater, not fresh, making chlorine treatments unnecessary. The 36-room property, a kind of edge-of-the-world getaway, strives to follow other sustainable practices as well, such as using its gray water for irrigation and heating water solely with solar energy.

Read more in "Jamaica Gently" in the October 2008 issue of National Geographic Traveler.

Photograph by Michael Melford

At the Half Moon Bay Resort on Montego Bay, members of the Hatfield Folk and Cultural Group entertain visitors with a song and dance performace.

Read more in "Jamaica Gently" in the October 2008 issue of National Geographic Traveler.

Photograph by Michael Melford

Waterfalls are the main attraction and swimming the main visitor activity at Y.S. Falls, a private nature area located on a working cattle ranch on the south coast of Jamaica.

Read more in "Jamaica Gently" in the October 2008 issue of National Geographic Traveler.

Photograph by Michael Melford

Men play dominos in Flagstaff, Jamaica, in the middle of "Cockpit Country." This inland area of the island is the center of the Maroon culture, people descended from groups that banded together after escaping slavery on sugar plantations centuries ago. The region was named Cockpit Country by the British troops assigned to capture the escaped slaves because it reminded them of cockfighting pits back home in England.

Read more in "Jamaica Gently" in the October 2008 issue of National Geographic Traveler.

Photograph by Michael Melford

In Jamaica's Long Bay, a snorkeler watches a school of sergeant major fish, named for the colorful stripes that resemble a sergeant insignia.

Read more in "Jamaica Gently" in the October 2008 issue of National Geographic Traveler.

Photograph by Michael Melford

In west central Jamaica, a cyclist pedals under a canopy of green along Bamboo Avenue, a shady, oft-photographed road that stretches for 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) in the Bluefields area. "It may be the most beautiful road in Jamaica," says photographer Michael Melford.

Read more in "Jamaica Gently" in the October 2008 issue of National Geographic Traveler.

Photograph by Michael Melford

A tour guide scratches the chin of a crocodile that has just emerged from the depths of the Black River in the Bluefields area of Jamaica. "The crocs there are accustomed to being around people," says photographer Michael Melford. (Petting them is definitely not recommended.)

Read more in "Jamaica Gently" in the October 2008 issue of National Geographic Traveler.

Photograph by Michael Melford

Jamaican tour guide Michael Grizzle (right) shows the photographer a marijuana plant growing openly in a flower garden in the Flagstaff area. Grizzle is a descendant of Maroon fighters who resisted slavery during an earlier era of Jamaican history.

Read more in "Jamaica Gently" in the October 2008 issue of National Geographic Traveler.