Jamaican activities

It is so hard to write about events that have happened in the past, even more so the longer in the pat that they occur. This entry is just such a case. Just before leaving Jamaica for the US, we visited 2 places of interest outside of the resort. The first was Dunn's River Falls near Ocho Rios and the second, Green Grotto Caves near Runaway Bay.

Dunn's River Falls
The Dunn River Falls are a "standard" tourist attraction for everyone visiting Jamaica, and rightly so. These are a long set of small waterfalls that can easily be climbed with a bit of care. True to Jamaican style, however, these falls are almost impossible to negotiate without guides, videographers and various other indispensable hangers-on whose role is unquestionably unknowable, but ultimately tippable. Ah yes the tipping system - it seems that if you look a Jamaican in the eye then as a tourist you are duty-bound to tip them.
The walk up the falls is q wonderful experience never-the-less, even though it does have a production line atmosphere when run with guides. We managed well enough and could have completed the climb without guides, had we known how to do it, but that wasn't really an option being Jamaica.

Megan and Ash prepare for Dunn's River Falls

The falls are a series of small climbs over smooth rocks which are constantly washed by water that feels quite cold until you realize that the water temperature is only relevant to the heat of the day. After the initial shock, you become quite accustomed to the water temperature and look forward to new soakings.

Photo stop #1 (In Jamaican: Tip reason #1)

Why do 8 year olds have such silly poses!?

Like father, like son.

We only took Ash and Megan with us for this trip as it looked too much for Paige. That turned out to be a good call. Paige would likely have wanted Jill to carry her for most if not all of the climb and made it far less enjoyable for Jill. Megan was cold after a short while and accepted the offer of being carried across the cold deeper water sections. Dad didn't mind as it gave him a chance to have some special time with his girl.

The Green Grotto Caves
This was our chance to to visit a Jamaican attraction as a complete family. So complete in fact that we got to take our Jamaican Nanny, Tina as well. You really have to love the openness with which the Jamaicans 'milk' their tourists. The costs for tourists to visit was something like $15 Jamaican for adults and J$12 for kids. For locals, it was $2 Jamaican and if they are accompanying tourists for work - free. Don't get me wrong here, I'm not complaining, I just shake my head in disbelief at the blatant 'tourist milking'.
The trip was perfect for a family, it was short, cheap and easy for everyone to do. The caves themselves were quite different to most other systems that we have visited. These were a comparatively shallow system, almost like tunnels that spread out in many directions from large central chambers.

Large social functions are held in these caverns.

The system is lit by a number of coloured lights in order to induce some interest in an otherwise bland limestone system. Personally, I didn't think that anything other than normal path and natural lighting was needed. The accessibility of the caves was deceptive, as once you began to penetrate the cave system proper, you soon realized how easy it would be to become disorientated and lost. 

Where are we?

Somewhat to my chagrin, we were unable to lose the children and instead had to bring all three home with us. Ah well, better luck next time (we must stop letting them take bread-crumbs on these trips).

Don't read the sign Ash, it says don't touch!

Descending into the depths.

Apparently these caves were used by slaves fleeing from their captors way back when slavery was common in the region. I wonder how many slaves and pursuers never found their way back.