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MONTEGO BAY KINGSTON easy distance to Port Antonio, a glistening town on the North Shore. We meet more people when traveling solo, and Tally is no exception. His list of global acquaintances is large, having already put down in Rio de Janeiro; São Paulo; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Cape Town, South Africa; and Casablanca, Morocco; before Kingston. Turns out David, a young Englishman who Tally met on the beach in Rio, is now crewing a small yacht anchored in the Port Antonio harbor. We row out to the boat for cocktails w ith David, then back to tow n for dinner at Dickie's Best-Kept Secret. We've already placed our orders so chef-proprietor Dickie Butler can locate the ing redients for the evening's feast. Whether Dickie makes what we order or follows another whim is part of the fun for fl exible folks like us. The pack-travel-unpack-repack regimen of t he t r avel ex p er ienc e i s ex h au s t i ng whet her i n "no r u sh" Ja m a ic a or t i me - sensitive Switzerland, so I'm thrilled we've booked a couple of n ig ht s out side Por t Antonio at Hotel Mockingbird Hill, one of Jamaica's fi rst eco-boutique hotels and now among my favorite small hotels in the world. Mock ingbird Hill attracts bird watchers from around the world, drawn to the island's 324 species (including 28 endemics), as well as the giant swallowtail butterfl y, which is the second-largest butterfl y in the world. Shireen, one of Mockingbird Hill's pro- pr ietors, prov ides much more tha n bird lists and hummingbird feeders. She sets us up with guides to Reach Falls and Charles Town, the latter home to a museum and tours through territory still owned by the Maroons, a historical community that originated from escaped slaves who successfully repelled British colonial forces not once but on sev- eral occasions in the 17th and 18th centuries. Shireen demonstrates how tourism op- erates fa r from Montego Bay a nd Neg ril, establishing an approximate meeting time via a cellphone connection to a guide who possesses no landline, brochure, website or o ce. Dinner at the hotel's Mille Fleurs restaurant, not surprisingly a chef's choice prix fixe, is delicious and accompanied by Shireen's detailed explanation of the prov- ender's local sourcing. Most enlightening. Ta lly, now 26, a nd I have advent ured through life since he was born in a farmhouse on the outskirts of Olympia, Washington. As a single parent, I took him wherever I went, be it a middle school camping trip when I was teaching or a string of Grateful Dead con- certs. I've learned, as my single mother did before me, that fostering an independently spirited child carries a basket each of reward and challenge. Climbing Reach Falls together is like hauling one whole bushel of goodness. A trip to Jamaica's North Shore is incom- plete without a trip up Reach Falls, an aquatic jungle tumble of cool pools beneath mossy rock ledges sepa rated by va riously sized cascades that lead to the main, broad-faced waterfall. The falls were fi rst discovered by escaped slaves who would "disappear" here within the John Crow Mountains. I can't stop clapping the water in unmiti- gated joy, pausing to dive again and again o several moss-pad perches. I beam as my fi rstborn also giggles with youthful glee at our good fortune to luxuriate within this mystical creek. As I revel within his delight, I'm pretty sure I spy my sodden itinerar y slipping through a g urgling chute before disappearing from view. CRAI S. BOWER is a Seattle-based travel writer and photographer. He wrote about the 100th-anniversary celebration of poet Dylan Thomas in the March 1 issue of American Way. Jamaica Tourist Board VisitJamaica.com Kingston Tourism Visitjamaica.com/ explore-the-island/ kingston Trench Town Culture Yard Jnht.com/site _ trench _town _ culture _yard.php Jamaica National Heritage Trust Jnht.com Bob Marley Museum Bobmarley museum.com Strawberry Hill Strawberryhill hotel.com Rio Grande Rafting Explorejamaica .com.jm/rio- grande-rafting- jamaica.html Port Antonio Portantonio jamaica.com Hotel Mockingbird Hill Hotelmockingbird hill.com Reach Falls Explorejamaica .com.jm/reach- falls-jamaica.html JAMAICA FATHER-SON JAMAICA MUST-HAVE INFO ISLAND LIVING: The panoramic view of Kingston, the capital of Jamaica Turns out David, a young Englishman who Tally met on the beach in Rio, is now crewing a small yacht anchored in the Port Antonio harbor. We row out to the boat for cocktails w ith David, then back to tow n for dinner at Dickie's Best-Kept Secret. We've already 8 2 N OV E M B E R 2 01 4 A A .CO M/A M E R I C A NWAY