Jamaica - Naturally

Jamaica – Naturally, A Guide for Today’s Active Travelers, richly illustrated with over 50 color photographs, is designed for travelers who want to do more on their vacation than sit on a beach. It’s for people who are curious and want to explore their new surroundings. They like learning and welcome the opportunity to discover new places. They are eager to enjoy their favorite sport or take up the challenge of a new one. Nature and the outdoors are like a tonic, particularly for those who spend most of their life in cities. Jamaica offers endless opportunities to break away from life’s daily routine. In addition to descriptions of the natural attractions throughout the island, Jamaica - Naturally, A Guide for Today's Active Traveler provides information on all the outdoor activities Jamaica offers: Biking, Birding, Boating, Camping, Canoeing, Caving, Fishing, Hiking, Horseback Riding, Kayaking, Kiteboarding, River Rafting, River Tubing, Rock Climbing, Scuba, Snorkeling, Surfing, Wakeboarding, Windsurfing, White-Water Rafting, Ziplining and more. This book is the companion to have every step of the way.

Jamaica – Naturally, A Guide for Today’s Active Travelers, richly illustrated with over 50 color photographs, is the first e-book of a series, entitled The Caribbean – Naturally: Island Guides for Active Travelers. Over the last decade and even the last few years demand from active travelers and nature lovers for more outdoor activities has led to the development of new attractions and facilities. Meanwhile, the islands of the Caribbean have opened up more areas for recreation to help visitors discover their interior as well as their beaches and to preserve their natural assets by creating national parks, marine sanctuaries, and protected areas. Jamaica – Naturally, A Guide for Today’s Active Travelers is divided into two parts to make it easy for readers to use. Part One describes more than fifty of Jamaica’s Natural Attractions, starting with Kingston, the capital and gateway to the Blue Mountains, the crown jewel of natural Jamaica. The coverage continues around the island, highlighting the not-to-miss attractions from the mountains to the sea along with relevant resources and web sites for additional information. A map of Jamaica with the main cities, towns, roads and parishes is included to help enthusiasts locate their prospective destinations. Throughout the descriptions of the natural attractions, links are provided to enable users to refer directly to the sport or activity for which the location is particularly known. For example, the description of the Blue Mountains has a link to Hiking where they will find more details about trails, resources and tour companies that specialize; Morant Point, a popular surfing location at the southeastern most tip of Jamaica, has a link to Surfing; White River Valley, east of Ocho Rios, where river tubing originated, has a link to River Tubing and so on. Part Two, Outdoor Activities, covers 24 different sports and other outdoor pursuits that Jamaica offers These include Biking, Birding, Boating, Camping, Canoeing, Caving, Fishing, Hiking, Horseback Riding, Kayaking, Kiteboarding, River Rafting, Riverboarding, River Tubing, Rock Climbing, Scuba, Snorkeling, Surfing, Wakeboarding, Windsurfing, White water Rafting, Ziplining and more. Each entry is accompanied by information on the companies, organizations, associations, tour operators and other entities that specialize and provide services. At the end of the book are three lists: Useful Resources, the Endemic and Sub-endemic Birds of Jamaica, and some Web Site on Jamaica, as well as a bio of the author, Kay Showker. For those who may have visited the island in the past, Jamaica – Naturally, A Guide for Today’s Active Travelers provides a new and different look at the island and uncovers many of the country’s greatest assets. For those who are not already fans of Jamaica or have never visited the island, this book will introduce the many wonderful attractions awaiting every sports and outdoor enthusiasts and nature lover, launching them on an exciting vacation of discovery, pleasure and fun.

Award-winning author, Kay Showker, has been a travel writer/photographer and lecturer on travel for more than three decades, having had a 10-year tenure at Travel Weekly, a major U.S. travel trade publication, and authored 15 travel guidebooks and AOL’s Cruise Critic/Caribbean. She has appeared as a travel expert on CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, and The Travel Channel. Showker’s current books are The 100 Best Resorts in the Caribbean (Globe Pequot Press); Caribbean Ports of Call (Globe Pequot Press) “Best Caribbean Guidebook” Award by the Caribbean Tourism Association’s; Unofficial Guide to Cruises (John Wiley) a Lowell Thomas “Best Guidebook of the Year” gold winner; Outdoor Traveler's Guide to the Caribbean, a Lowell Thomas "Best Guidebook" silver winner. Lengthy chapters on Jamaica are included in all her Caribbean books. Her Middle East guidebooks included Fodor’s Egypt, which she wrote and edited for 17 years; Fodor’s Jordan and the Holy Land; The Arab Middle East (covering five Arab countries), as well as Travel Egypt; Travel Lebanon; and Travel Jordan. Her articles have appeared in National Geographic Traveler, Town & Country, Travel & Leisure, Caribbean Travel & Life, Luxury Travel Advisor, USA Today, and other magazines and newspapers across the country. Her travels have taken her to more than 120 countries around the world. Showker completed her master’s degree at the School of Advanced International Studies of Johns Hopkins University; B.A. from the University of Mary Washington; and attended Georgetown University and American University at Cairo. She was the first recipient of the Caribbean Tourism Organization's Journalism Award; the first journalist to receive Martinique’s Sucrier d’Or, a personal achievement award, among other awards. She is a member of the American Association of Journalist and Authors; New York Travel Writers Association; and the Society of American Travel Writers for which she served as Northeast Chapter chairperson, 2002-2004. Showker makes her home in New York City and St. Petersburg, Florida.