Jamaica has no shortage of waterfalls and even before I’d purchased my flight I knew I wanted to visit at least one of them. Mayfield Falls was the closest to Negril, so after a hearty Jamaican breakfast at Country Country, I was picked up by a taxicab to take me on the long drive to Mayfield.
My breakfast of ackee, callaloo, Johnny cakes and fruit was filling but not quite as tasty as the banana pancakes I’d tried the day before. Although it’s a fruit, the ackee tasted (and looked) similar to scrambled eggs. Unfortunately, I’m not a fan of scrambled eggs. A security attendant at Country Country told me that ackee can be prepared in a myriad of ways and tastes. If I ever have the chance, I’d like to try it again.
But back to Mayfield. The main road to Mayfield Falls was closed when I visited, so the driver took us through the long route, which was fine, because I got to see his hometown, sugarcane fields and endless mountain ranges as we drove by. After about an hour, we arrived at Mayfield and was assigned a guide to help our group hike through the river.
My only complaint about Mayfield Falls is that the guides encourage visitors to pose in all kinds of cheesy positions while they take photos. Frankly, I’m not looking for Disneyland-esque moment while I’m concentrating on not falling flat on my face in a rocky, gushing river, but I can see how the photography aspect might be novel for some visitors. Other than that, our guide was wonderful and the river was stunning.
A couple hours and countless unflattering photos later, we reached the river’s head and turned around to walk back to the beginning via land. I was famished, so I picked a beef patty for the ride back to my cottage.
Later that evening, I explored our neighborhood in Negril in search of more Jamaican cuisine. I wandered into Cool Spot, a spartan restaurant on Norman Manley Boulevard with four or five items on the menu that day. I had the curry goat with rice and peas.
The goat was far less gamey than I had anticipated and was pretty similar to beef, actually. It had stewed for so long that it practically fell off the bone (of which there were many shards to be careful for in the curry). The rice and peas sopped up the sauce, which tasted a lot like a richer version of khoresh-e kaari, or Iranian curry khoresh.
The walk back to my cottage was short and I was ready to call it a day. I had already crossed many items off my to-eat list in Jamaica, but I was still excited for all the ones yet to be discovered.
duuuuuuude… i *knew* i shouldn’t have come here close to dinner. the curry goat like delicious! 🙂
i think ackee is like marmite – an aquired taste. i only tried it once a long time ago and was scarred. i’d like to try it again one day. one day… 😉
!!!
haha
you dissect the tastes so well. it sounds like you didn’t fully enjoy truly great jamaican food. you can buy ackee here in the states, but it’s canned and cost like $20 a tin. and it’s not the same as fresh ackee AT ALL. but it’s yummy. your pic doesn’t look like there’s any saltfish with it, which i think helps the dish (that’s the traditional national dish–yes, i’m jamaican). anyway the goat is supposed to stay so. you always watch for bones with you eat jamaican food. the instruction should have come with your plane ticket.
Eric – It was!
Tank – I haven’t had the chance to try Marmite yet, but I found a store that sells it and need to remember to pick up a jar. I’m curious.
Ihsan – Indeed
Sherisa – Yep, the ackee didn’t have saltfish in it. The only seasonings I could detect was peppers and onions. The goat was delicious. Almost every meal I had in Jamaica was really good though, especially the patties and the fish. I’ll have to watch out for canned ackee here though, thanks for the tip.