A sublime environment at the edge of the inaccessible, this vast expanse of about 800 km 2 is one of the most neglected and least visited on the island, despite its geological and animal richness and plant. The region with spectacular shapes and spectacular landscapes, in uninterrupted succession of plump nipples, domes and karst towers, by in places of deep depressions. Indeed, the erosion of limestone formations of several millions of years has created astonishing reliefs with round shapes covered with dense vegetation, which is most often impossible. The Cockpit Country is also surrounded by maze of underground caves, which are difficult to access and whose exploration is reserved for informed speleologists. It is in this region little accessible that the northern Chestnuts, those enslaved Africans who escaped from plantations, found refuge. They established their headquarters, inspiring villages and communication networks. Since their retirement, they have resisted for many years the British settlers against whom they waged an exhausting war of attrition, which led to a capitulation and a peace treaty. But English soldiers had meanwhile equipped hunting dogs to get the secrecy of their retirement in the cockpit.Today the Cockpit Country is still not accessible. Almost deserted, the region remains untouched by any agricultural or forestry operation; only the foothills are a little domesticated and inhabited by small farmers who exploit small plots of land there. A few poorly maintained and impractical tracks, where the machete is rigorous, penetrate this primitive region. There is no precise map of the region and you will be surprised to discover on the road maps a blank area of any indication.Paradise paradise? Galloping tourism, modernisation and pollution have not yet done too much damage. It is an almost intact fauna and flora that can be discovered. Delight for ornithologists, many species are endemic to Cockpit Country, multicolores parrots, delicate hummingbirds, corbeaux, doves. Delight for botanists, the tropical forest deploys its opulent décor whose specialists claim that all species have not yet been listed.Unfortunately, few tourist agencies offer these excursions, with too few amateurs. The tourist offices of Ocho Rios and Montego Bay can guide you to professional guides. Windsor and its first-class caves are a first approach and a key to this region that should be discovered on foot, horseback or by air.The Country Cockpit houses the communities of Windsor, Albert Town and Accompong.The latter is the theatre, every year, on 6 January, of an important festival: Accompong Maroon Festival, commemorating the 1739 Peace treaty between marrons and British colonial forces.Several attractions in the Cockpit Country are placed in the "South" chapter, due to their closest proximity to Black River. But agencies are organising visits from Montego Bay and Negril. See at the Tourist Office tours including YS Falls, Appleton Rum Estate, Accompong, Windsor Cellars.For more information on the region: www.cockpitcountry.com.

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