Climbing Water Falls in Jamaica

We flew into Montego Bay and then traveled about two hours to Saint Catherine by rental car to get to the Airbnb. Side Note: My parents were born and raised in Jamaica and are used to the bends and curves of the extremely narrow rods there. If you are nervous when it comes to driving on the side of a cliff with 90 degree bends and no guard rails I would stick to a beach side all inclusive resort. But if you like adventure and don't mind taking the risk (because it is extremely risky) I would rent a car and explore. Yolo. It was a convenient location only an hour to half an hour ride to where ever we needed to go. Mainly because there is a new highway that was built maybe 5 minutes away from the Airbnb. The fair on the highway was about 5 dollars to drive all the way to the Montego Bay area.While in Jamaica we stayed at an Airbnb called "the greens at Caymans" in Saint Catherine Jamaica which I loved when I first arrived but as the days went on I noticed many things there that I was not pleased with and decided not to leave a review for the location. But you will see the location featured in the vlog as well. In the video I give a brief tour of the rooms. There was the master bed room, two guest rooms, a kitchen, laundry area, and two full bathrooms one of which was located in the master bed room. The Airbnb was secure in a housing sub division behind one manned gate and a second automatic gate. I learned there was a tennis and basketball court and also a swimming pool there as well. All of which I did not get a chance to explore. After all the excitement of the day I was well prepared for a good nights sleep.

Day two:

We woke up and made callaloo banana and ackee (which is a fruit) for breakfast. Ackee is typically made with salt fish but my plate consisted of all vegetable because I, my dear friends, am a vegetarian. I don't eat any type of meat including fish and other swimming sea creatures. After breakfast we use the local road to get to my aunts house. There she showed me how to clean ackee appropriately. Ackee is a deadly food if not prepared correctly. Apparently there is some type of gas that builds up in the fruit until it pops the outer casing and gets out. If you eat the fruit before this happens you can die, or at least that is what I have been told. So after it pops you can collect it from the tree then you can clean it and cook as desired. After leaving aunties house we went to the super market to grab essentials like water food for the week and toiletries. We then made our way back home to cook and prepare for he next day.

Was spent at a little gem of a place down the street and up the hill from Duns River Falls called Blue Hole. It was amazing and I almost died there. So we traveled down the road to blue hole and got lost and found our way and got lost again. Eventually we made it there to this rocky dirt road you walk up. And then downward on a slippery brick stairway that looked like it was being reclaimed by mother nature with tree vines and fawn growing every where. It was a little piece of heaven, so beautiful as if untouched by man. With crystal blue cool waters splashing on the rocks green with algae below. I marveled at the amazing sight. We got a tour guide to show us around and that is when our adventure began. I savored every minute of seeing this once in a life time spectacle. Walking over the rocks and wooden planks was a joy but we had to be careful because the algae was so slippery you were liable to fall into the river. Me being the accident prone individual I am, took extra caution and wore slippers I borrowed. I would bring a bathing suit a water proof camera and water shoes if your interested in going.

And so we went off on a adventure of a life time. We climbed up our first set of steps warn in to the side of a small water fall. When we reached to the top we looked back and the view was breath taking. We then proceeded to trek through the jungle and up the back of a school then a hard right turn into more jungle. We finally made it to this pristine blue oasis in the middle of the thick jungle. That is when we saw the big blue hole, I mean it was huge the pictures and video do it no justice. There were people swinging from thick ropes and splashing into the water below. My father and I decide to climb the big water fall. That my dear friend is where I almost lost my life. We made our way to the big water fall, which was not an easy task. Steeping over more algae ridden rock and into cold shallow pale blue water. We had to swim what felt like a hundred yards from the rim of the deposit to the bottom of the water fall. I was freaking out and my dad was encouraging me to keep going. All I kept thinking of was something swimming underneath me planning the best time to trying to eat me. Which was literally the number one thing that kept me moving forward. We finally reached the bottom of the fall and took a moment to catch our breath before we stared the arduous task of climbing up.

The climb was scarier that the swim. The tour guide was there to help us through it all and I needed all the help I could get. It was hard pulling my body weight up while trying not to slip on the algae infested rocks. But once I made it there the view was more than worth it. Looking down the river, I saw this awe inspiring mountainous gorge. It was an amazing sight and I only caught a glimpse of it before I had to climb down the water fall. This is when I almost died. With a stream of water to encourage me along the way, I was over thinking my decent and stated to psych myself out. But my dad was there to encourage me and my confident tour guide was there as well to guide me through it. I was helped down to a part of the fall that was less risky and then I did it. I jumped of the water fall back into the bone chilling water below and my Phagophobia was back. As soon as i hit the water I sped out of there like top fuled hydroplane and found the nearest exit I could find thinking I would see a great white following after me. My imagination always get the better of me I guess. Once out of the water I rested and thought some more of the amazing gorge I saw and how I needed to get my gopro. But it was time to go and my adventure had ended but I know it wont be the last.

Day Four:

On our final day we spent it with family and begin packing to be on our way home. Thank you so much for reading and I hope to be a source of useful information.