Well it will certainly go down as one of the most interesting marriage rituals I have ever seen. For while we Island Gully Falls on Sunday 28th June 2015, a groom fully decked out in his wedding suit and led by a most competent guide, walked slowly
were at
down the falls then jumped into the deep, beautiful blue
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pool below.
Next came his new bride, also fully decked out in her lovely white lace wedding dress and she jumped in after him. The maid of honour and best man then followed in single file. Someone laughingly commented that it was clear that if you couldn't swim, you could not be a part of that bridal party!
The ritual was intriguing and certainly got our attention. The couple were east Indians who live in Virginia, USA and had traveled down to Jamaica for the important event which the bride laughingly told me was her best wedding yet.
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| The tour guides there are superb swimmers and divers |
I decided to hike on this trip for when I went to scout out the property with Chuck, Simpson and Ayatollah, I had seen far too many hills to ride over.
We started walking from Prospect in St. Mary and as usual, we initally walked in the wrong direction for about a mile before a local man we met disabused us, so we had to trek back.
It was in Prospect though that I met the only nice policeman that I can recall ever meeting in my life. His name was Sergeant Hanna and he was in charge of the Prospect Police station. Three of us wanted to use the bathroom facilities and from we walked into the station we were met by his most welcoming and accommodating smile.
And would you believe the bathroom had a fresh smell and was spotless too. Really a great experience for me in at a police station!
When we left the police station, we started walking in the wrong direction and only realised this when we met a young man walking in the opposite direction and prevailed on him to confirm our path. This added an extra mile to our trek which Chuck said was a distance of 6 kms, turned out to be 6 miles instead. I was disgusted to see that the residents in the area were using the entire stretch along the river bank as their dumping ground for all the garbage in the area. It is really disgraceful and the St. Mary parish council needs to become more environmentally proactive.
We stopped at Wata World which was not yet open but the very pleasant man in charge of security, cheerfully allowed us to enter and use the bathroom facilities and buy some water. This is a new attraction on the White River where they have water slides etc and the entrance free is Ja$1200. Wata World is on St. Mary side of the river but once you take the bridge going west, you arrive in St. Ann and it is that parish that Island Gully Falls is in as the White River separates both parishes.
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| One of the "Blue Holes" below the Island gully Falls |
We stopped at Wata World which was not yet open but the very pleasant man in charge of security, cheerfully allowed us to enter and use the bathroom facilities and buy some water. This is a new attraction on the White River where they have water slides etc and the entrance free is Ja$1200. Wata World is on St. Mary side of the river but once you take the bridge going west, you arrive in St. Ann and it is that parish that Island Gully Falls is in as the White River separates both parishes.
To find the falls, after leaving the JPS hydroelectric plant, you pass the two beautiful blue holes and head to Breadfruit Walk. It is wonderful to see how enterprising young people have now discovered this beautiful area and are now renting river shoes and life jackets as well as selling souvenirs, snacks and even "angel" muffins (made from ,ganja)
As my motto is "never pass up an AC vehicle when the sun gets hot," when Gail drove up in Simpson's car as I was getting really hot and tired, I jumped in, much to chagrin of my fellow hikers.
We had just barely arrived before Kim came barreling in closely followed by Howie and Bernadette. They had been among the group which started riding in Agualta Vale.
Once we arrived, it was immediately into
the fabulously, clear, cool water in a pool below.
That attraction which was developed by a wife and husband team named Hines, is really fabulous and in my book much better than Dunns River Falls.
The entrance fee is $500 but as we had a large group we got it for $250. And they prepared the most delicious breakfast for us and plenty to boot, as ace organiser Ayatollah was loudly inviting everyone to have seconds.
There was a sad aspect to this outing though as it is the last one for one of our dearest riders Pat, as she is migrating to Sweden next month. I will certainly miss her as she is one of the most pleasant and cheerful persons I have ever met.
Apart from that it was a great day which went off without a hitch as we have now become accustomed to expect from our miserable but competent organiser extraordinaire Ayatollah aka. Charles Williams.
Photos compliments of Bernadette Frankson.
We had just barely arrived before Kim came barreling in closely followed by Howie and Bernadette. They had been among the group which started riding in Agualta Vale.Once we arrived, it was immediately into
the fabulously, clear, cool water in a pool below.
That attraction which was developed by a wife and husband team named Hines, is really fabulous and in my book much better than Dunns River Falls.
The entrance fee is $500 but as we had a large group we got it for $250. And they prepared the most delicious breakfast for us and plenty to boot, as ace organiser Ayatollah was loudly inviting everyone to have seconds.
There was a sad aspect to this outing though as it is the last one for one of our dearest riders Pat, as she is migrating to Sweden next month. I will certainly miss her as she is one of the most pleasant and cheerful persons I have ever met.
Apart from that it was a great day which went off without a hitch as we have now become accustomed to expect from our miserable but competent organiser extraordinaire Ayatollah aka. Charles Williams.
Photos compliments of Bernadette Frankson.
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