Climbin’ Up De Falls, Ya Mon!
One of the excursions we’ve done on our Caribbean honeymoon cruise was to climb up the treacherous “Dunn’s River Falls” in Ocho Rios, Jamaica.
These falls are world-famous and one of the most in-demand excursions in the Jamaican port of call. It was stunningly beautiful, and the falls were gorgeous.
But, the climb was not as easy as it seems. We had to climb up close to 1,000 feet up several steep rocks, while battling strong, raging waters hitting against you at 40 miles an hour.
And guess what? It’s all captured on video.
My family and I appear about 5 times throughout the video, for about 5-15 seconds each time (while there were about 300 people taking part in the excursion, there were several cameramen and ours followed our group, about 30 people, up the falls).
By the way, these cameramen were amazing. Barefeet, they climb up the falls without any problems, and made it all look so easy. Well, it wasn’t that easy, let me assure you!
These scenes were mostly at or around brief stops along the way, where the rocks were level enough to stand up. (There are about 5 of these “stops,” which were beautiful vantage points and a great way to take a rest!)
One particular scene is of Sylvie and I kissing under the waterfalls. It’s an absolutely amazing shot. (There’s a photo of it in the previous post, if you recall.)
You’ll notice my family when you see me in a white t-shirt, goatee and toasty tan. (I’m peeling right now, big time!) I was as red as a tomato when I returned to Canada.
The only one missing in the video is Megan, my dauther, who backed out at the last minute because she had a killer migraine.
I know my daughter enough to know this was true. She wasn’t being squeamish or scared, and using the headache as an excuse. In fact, she was really looking forward to the climb and felt pretty bad about missing out.
(She loves these kinds of things, anyway. For example, during the parasailing excursion, she was all excited while her partner on the ride, Sylvie’s daughter Celeste, was screaming for bloody murder! Megan was the kind of kid who, when she was only 6-7 years old, would run — not walk, run! — to the scariest rides at the local fair, making her nail-bitting dad cringe in horror.)
Anyhow, check out the video below to watch (about 20 minutes long). Simply click "play" (the arrow button below) to watch…
Still stay tuned for more pictures, including the family parasailing, dolphins, shopping, swimming, and more!
Comment by Michael Filsaime on August 30th, 2006
Way to go guys!
Comment by Ted Crowder on August 30th, 2006
That’s great! We didn’t buy the video and now I wish we had.
Comment by DJ Dave Bernstein on August 31st, 2006
This is almost like some sort of Jamaican baptism!
You are now official islanders!
Comment by Paige on August 31st, 2006
HAHAHAHAH i was so mad that first time you see us climbing… i tripped on a rock.
but all in all, it was a good trip, and that girl in front of me had soft hands
Comment by Paige on August 31st, 2006
I LOVE YOU MOM AND DAD!!!