Yeah, Mon! We Are Going To Climb A Waterfall Today!

Our first port on our cruise was Montego Bay, Jamiaca! It was a little weird spending two days surrounded by nothing but ocean and then Bam! at breakfast we could see land.

Why hello Jamaica! Fancy meeting you here!

When we finally docked in Jamaica, we got aboard a tour bus that took us to Dunn River Falls. Dunn River Falls is a 600 foot waterfall that was formed by deposits of calcium carbonate and sodium from the river. The Falls is actually referred to as a living phenomenon because the Falls are constantly being rebuilt by the calcium carbonate deposits. The Falls was also used to film a scene in the James Bond movie Dr. No. It's the scene where Bond and Honey are in the river.
Actually on the way to the falls we passed several more locations where several different Bond movies were filmed. I just wasn't fast enough with my camera to get pictures. We also saw the bay where Christopher Columbus first docked in Jamaica. I did get a picture of that!

Please excuse the telephone pole, the tour bus was moving quickly not to mention that they drive on the left side of the road in Jamaica.

So the whole reason we went to the Dunn River Falls was to climb the waterfall! It was awesome and felt delightful! I'm the only one who did it. Mom, Dad, and Grandma watched from the sidelines which was good because they got pictures of me doing it! I realized while writing this post that I never got a picture of the full falls from the beach, so I stole one from the internet. So here's the falls in their entirety!

The Falls are very pretty as well.

How awesome is it that I climbed that! Now time for some action shots. Some of them are a little blurry since dad was figuring out my camera and I apparently have a knack for moving at the exact moment he goes to take a picture.

I can't see me but here's some people climbing the falls.

To climb the falls, the guides made you hold hands and climb up the falls in a single file line. This was a blessing and a curse at the same time.

It's a blessing because the person ahead of you can keep you from tripping and falling on your face. But it's a curse because sometimes the person behind you doesn't keep up and almost yanks your shoulder out of the joint. Not that I'm bitter or anything, but dang that hurt! I'll forgive the older lady who was slightly drunk who happened to be the person behind me in line.

I'm not sure when you'd have time to carve your name into the rocks but apparently someone found the time.

It almost looks funny how you have to climb. But I have to give it to the guides. They sure knew what they were doing. Our guide made sure that the 70 year old couple who climbed made it safely to the top. I'm a little jealous that the guides could do the climb barefoot whereas they made me buy water shoes.

I think this is my group which means I'm in there somewhere.

Oh, look! I found me!

That little old man in front of me saved me from tripping a couple of times. But he told me that I must be related to a mountain goat since I didn't trip as much as his wife in front of him did.

I kinda feel bad. I literally dragged that lady up a few of the steeper rocks. At least she said thank you.

Each group is assigned 2 guides. One who actually leads the group up the falls and the other films the whole adventure. I didn't buy the video.

Climbing the falls was super fun! And I had to laugh at the guide filming the whole thing. He said the funniest things.

I got to hold hands with a cute boy. Too bad he's way too young for me.

Somehow we got rearranged and I ended up behind a young family who is from around Philly. The boy in front of me is going to be attending John Hopkins in the fall so me and him had quite the discussion on the way up!

Here's an action shot!

The poor drunk lady had a hard time keeping up.

Here's another instance that I literally dragged the poor lady up the falls. Mental note: never try to climb a waterfall even slightly tipsy.

This spot was fun! We were waiting in line to go down a natural water slide!

Our guide telling us that we were number one! I probably should have given him a tip.

I'm here somewhere under the water since I just came down the water slide.

This hike was so much fun! And it felt so nice in the heat!

We got to stand under the water fall and it felt so good. I didn't want to come out. I did get hit in the head by a stick though.

I couldn't help but laugh. Only I could stand under a water fall and get hit in the head by a stick. The guide thought is was hilarious too!

Here's a better picture of how we climbed the falls in a single file line.

We're almost to the end!

After the climb, I wanted to go back and do it again! Unfortunately we were on a strict schedule so we could get back to the ship before it sailed. We lost Dad on the way back to the bus because he stopped to haggle for some souvenirs. I'm not complaining since I now have a carved sting ray that sits on my entertainment center at home.
We ate lunch at a restaurant called The Ruins. It had a pretty cool water fall as well.

It was a pretty place for lunch! The food was good too! I was starving by the time we got there!

I got a picture with the waterfall because I'm a tourist and I can.

After lunch we got to do a little shopping. I now own a mug that says smile, mon! Overall, Jamaica was awesome! I hope I make it back someday!