JAMAICA: OCHO RIOS AND DUNN'S RIVER FALLS AND KONOKO FALLS

 February 18, 2023

Ocho Rios (Spanish for "eight rivers") is a town on the north Jamaican coast. Many believe Christopher Columbus first set foot in Jamaica just outside the city.

Our hotel in Ocho Rios was a once grand multi-building complex, but it is now in a bit of a dilapidated state. Our room had no hot water, no AC, no wifi, and a cockroach on the bed.

However, they had a great sign on the office wall.

We were worn out by heat, humidity, and walking, and in spite of all the hotel issues, we just needed sleep.

The next morning we were in no rush to get started. Chad was snorkeling, and we had a plan to meet at 11:00, so we drove down to the Ocho Rios Craft Market. It was about the junkiest tourist trap we've ever seen, not even meriting a photo. Nothing was original. It all looked like it was made in China. There were multiple stalls, all selling the same items, and every vendor claimed to have made the items in his/her booth. We decided we needed breakfast instead of shopping.

Definitely not a breakfast spot:

As we left the market and started up the street, a man approached us saying he could show us where the farmer's market was, but after a block or more with no farmer's market in sight, we told him we were not interested in his help.  We stopped at a Circle K for drinks (again, no diet anything), and I got a roll. Then we went to Burger King where Bob got a Double Whopper, which took them more than 25 minutes to make. Jamaica is crazy s-l-o-w. 

We drove up the hill to pick up Chad at the hotel, then drove to Dunn's River Falls, a spectacular recreation area with a multi-level waterfall that ultimately empties into the ocean. However, we waited at least 30 minutes in line whole they tried to straighten out some problem with a previous ticket sale. Meanwhile, the line next to us was moving slowly forward and no attempt was made to service our line. For a tourist site, they were maddeningly slow--no automation and multiple steps and different locations to enter and with different employees for each step. If Jamaica (outside of the resorts) wants to join the world travel market, they are going to have to make some changes. 

The problem in front of us was finally solved, and we were able to buy our tickets, get our wristbands (in another place), and move inside.

Bob Marley was born in St. Ann's, not too far away, and so of course there was a tribute to him in the park. He is definitely the Jamaica icon.

The 180-foot-high, 600-foot-long falls really were breathtaking, and there were a lot of people in the water enjoying themselves. I have read that the falls are featured in the James Bond film Dr. No. I'll have to check that out!

Human chains made by people holding hands and led by a guide made their way up and down the slippery rocks in the water fall. 

We attempted climbing up the side where the water moved more slowly and was more shallow, but we only made it partway before we had to turn around here:

We walked pathways that followed the falls until they (and we) reached the ocean. See a video of the falls meeting the ocean here.

There was a nice beach, and it was a beautiful, cool day with a light breeze.  Bob and I were happy to sit on a rock wall in the shade and watch the happy families and couples playing in the shallows. Chad launched out to sea with his mask and snorkel, swimming far past the ropes looking for fish.

On our way back to the parking lot, we noticed a huge spider in its web. We also noticed that there was a man-made web (which is tough to see in the photo) over the koi pond. Does it protect the fish from dive-bombing birds? I'm not sure.

Our next stop was the lesser known Konoko Falls. Like the Greenwood Great House, this site is almost impossible to find, even with GPS. There is almost no visible signage and the awful roads don't seem like they could possibly lead to a big tourist attraction, but they do--more or less.

We ended up in a service vehicle parking lot trying to figure out where the main lot was located. Luckily, one of the employees saw us and let us in the service entrance, then acted as our guide for the next hour or more. He focused primarily on the arboretum rather than the falls, identifying many trees and plants and their uses.

Signs in the gardens list important people in the island's history and important phrases in the Jamaican patois.

We stopped for a few minutes at a small, two-room museum that had some information that was very important to Bob--the endemic birds of Jamaica.

Some of the few references to slavery we saw in Jamaica was in the little museum.

Both Marcus Garvey and Bob Marley were born in the area.

Another display pays tribute to the island's indigenous people, the Arawaks.

Still, the botanical gardens are the best thing about Konoko Falls. 

But let's not forget the "zoo," which is four or five cages that may or may not be occupied.

They did have a beautiful, relatively friendly macaw.

I also "got" to hold a big Jamaican Boa, endemic to the island. Lucky me.

The falls themselves are beautiful but less approachable and torrential than Dunn's River Falls.

A lookout point gives a pretty good view of Falmouth and the jungle between the park and the ocean.

Happy (and hot) travelers.

One last thing--we ate a pretty good lunch in the park. Chad and I had chicken wraps and sweet potato fries. Bob had chicken wings and fries. As far as park food goes, it was tasty and relatively cheap.

Time to go. We had a 2.5 hour drive ahead of us to our next destination.