Jamaica Escapade

It was a long awaited trip but when the cruise ship docked in Jamaica, we were so ecstatic.  All around was a jungle and beautiful crystal clear blue water. 

The time to get off the ship had arrived and we got our picture taken with a local Jamaican rasta man.  We immediately went to our excursion sign and waited to get on our luxurious bus for the day.  It was so cozy, we could have slept on it. 

So luxuxrious, right?! :)

On our way to our first destination, "Dunns River Falls, " we were given a history lesson by our fabulous tour guide, Kimberly.  Here are some of the interesting facts she told us. 

• Because Jamaicans purchases a lot of Japanese cars, they bought them a highway 2000.  You can get all around the country on the highway. 
• Jamaica is still subject to what the Queen says. 
• They pay really high taxes (18% consumer tax). 

We continued on our journey to Dunn River Falls.  Upon arriving, Maria was informed she had to purchase water shoes.  After gearing up we were handed off to two guides who would lead us up the cascading falls.  Mr. Wilson and Henry were our trusty guides. 

They knew just the way to guide us up the slippery rocks and also the best places for a photo op!  They were great about carrying our cameras and snapping a few pictures for us. 

In case you ever go, just be warned the water is COLD!  But it's all worth it.  The method of ascending is to hold hands with your group and help each other up, so there are hundreds of human trains all over the falls.  At one point Maria became a vital member of the human chain.  An older man was trying to climb too fast and slipped.  It looked like he had hit his head on a log.  So Maria sprang into action and valiantly pulled him up out of the water and rescued him!  He ended up being fine, just a little shocked by the cold water.  We saw him throughout the rest of the trip and he was always so nice to us.  His wife especially thanked Maria for saving him.  We made it to the top without any falls ourselves.

We had a great time playing in the falls, being pushed back for a plunge in the water, and just enjoying the natural beauty around us.  Definitely a must do if you ever find yourself in Ocho Rios, Jamaica.

Climbing the falls was quite the adventure in itself, but the excursion was not done!  We jumped back on our bus and headed over to Mystic Mountain. 

We rode a sky lift up to the top of the mountain where we were treated to a tasty Jamaican meal.  We had jerk chicken, rice and beans, and a macaroni salad. 

It was quite a treat to be eating lunch on the top of a jungle mountain.  After lunch we headed over for bobsledding!  Yes, we went bobsledding in Jamaica in honor of Cool Runnings.  They had a whole area set up with the history of the Jamaican bobsled team. 

Brush up on the hisotry of bobsledding in Jamaica

Once secured in our very own bobsled, we zoomed down the bobsled track through the jungle taking sharp turns, but loving the thrill. 

We only wish we could have done it again.  We got to ride the sky lift back down the mountain, which is when we decided to try grabbing a passion fruit from a passing tree.  It didn't work. 

Now you might think all the fun is over and the excursion is complete.  But it wouldn't be a mango escapade at this point!  When we got to the bottom there was a man who had set up a produce stand.  You guessed it, he had Jamaican mangoes!!!!!!!  How perfect! 

We decided to risk the fact that we could get sick because we had to have a complete escapade.  He was so kind to even wash them and slice them up for us to enjoy.  It was a variety of mango that we had not experienced, so another check off the list of the 80 something out there.

With our mango down, we were very satisfied with the day.  We highly recommend going on your own Jamaican escapade when you get the chance!