A vast wilderness covering some 500 square miles (1,294 sq km), the largely uninhabited Cockpit Country is one of Jamaica’s most ecologically important areas. Home to innumerable rare plants and animals, it is characterized by the bizarre karst topography of conical hillocks separated by deep sinkholes in the limestone. The best place to appreciate the Cockpit’s serene remoteness is Windsor , a tiny hamlet on the northern fringes of the area, where visitors can have a “Meet the Biologists” dinner with the owners of Windsor Great House and learn about the ecology of the area. They have rooms to rent adjacent to the great house and also arrange tours to the nearby Windsor Caves, a bat colony carpeted with pungent guano.

There are also hiking trails into the Cockpit’s fringes from Albert Town, some 10 miles (16 km) south of Windsor, where the Southern Trelawny Environmental Agency offers walks and bush picnics.