Wednesday, December 20, 2017, Mystic Mountain Rainforest, Ocho Rios, Jamaica

-

Steeped in African, Spanish, and British traditions, Jamaica boasts a lively culture all its own. From its mountainside coffee plantations to scenic tumbling waterfalls, the island is draped in lush beauty and ringed by white-sand beaches.


The photo above is of a larger tree surrounded by a smaller tree that is chocking the "host" tree.  It won't be long until the chocking tree kills the host tree.


We are docked at Ocho Rios (eight rivers).  From our dock it was less than a mile bus ride to Mystic Mountain Rain Forest where we enjoyed beautiful vegetation and a river.


 Mystic Mountain is also where we had thrills on a bob sled ride and a five-segment zip line!
On Our "ski-lift" ride to the top of Mystic Mountain we had great views of our and one more cruise ship in the Ocho Rios harbor.  Our ship, the VikingSun, is on the right.

 Our first adventure of the day was riding a bob sled down Mystic Mountain.  We had the option of riding down the rails in separate cars or in tandem.  We chose to ride tandem.


 After lunch of Jamaican Jerk Chicken (it was OK), our next adventure was on zip lines.  As our pulleys whizzed down the lines, they actually "zipped" in sound, making it seem we were going faster than it seemed.  Although it was a great experience, one worth another go in our life times.


A note to our kids and families:  The GoPro worked very well but thus far I have not figured out how to transferred to laptop.  Once we get to LA (Jan 4), I have a phone number I plan to call for technical help.  I ran out of time before leaving KC.  Thanks very much for an exciting Christmas gift!  If files are small enough to e-mail I will, otherwise I will put into a cloud for you to see.

In the meantime you could look at this website:  http://www.rainforestadventure.com/

.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Days 1-2 - Intro 2024 Viking World Cruise/Santa Barbara, CA

-
Image
Snow pictures at noon Tuesday January 9, our original flight day at 3 PM. The pictures above were emailed to us by friends "back home."  We watched forecasts for over a week and did not like our favorite TV weather forecasters.  On Monday (1/8) we had an extremely rushed day!  We were to fly Tuesday (1/9) afternoon, however when our travel agent called Monday morning suggesting we fly that afternoon, we agreed but had to step on the throttle to get to KCI on time.  Part of our jumping thru hoops Monday morning was to cancel KCI hotel reservation.  Thankfully our travel agent made the LAX reservation when she changed our plane reservation from Tuesday to Monday, same times. A few days earlier we made reservations at a KCI hotel to spend Monday night then take a shuttle to the airport the next noon (3 PM flight).  This way our friend would not have had to drive to and from KCI in the snow.  But that all changed,  per paragraph above.  We did get off the KCI ground Monday aftern
Read more

Tolin's 2024 World Cruise blog posts, Day 103, Apr 21, 2024, Dakar, Senegal, Bandia Reserve Safari

-
Image
  Dakar  is the  capital  and  largest city  of  Senegal . The  department  of Dakar has a population of 1,182,417, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.9 million in 2023. The area around Dakar was colonized by the  Portuguese  in the early 15th century. The  Portuguese  established a presence on the island of  Gorée  off the coast of Cap-Vert and used it as a base for the  Atlantic slave trade .  France  took over the island in 1677. Following the abolition of the slave trade and French annexation of the mainland area in the 19th century, Dakar grew into a major regional port and a major city of the  French colonial empire . In 1902, Dakar replaced  Saint-Louis  as the capital of  French West Africa . From 1959 to 1960, Dakar was the capital of the short-lived  Mali Federation . In 1960, it became the capital of the independent Republic of Senegal. Dakar will host the  2026 Summer Youth Olympics . More info:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dakar   htt
Read more

Days 10-15, Jan 18-23, 2024 Five Sea Days + a Day on Bora Bora, a French Polynesian Island

-
Image
On the fifth sea day of this leg, the night before visiting Bora Bora, we were treated to a marvelous 'surf 'n turf" pool-side lobster tail and beef evening meal.   . Bora Bora  ( French :  Bora-Bora ;  Tahitian :  Pora Pora ) is an island group in the  Leeward Islands  in the  South Pacific . The Leeward Islands comprise the western part of the  Society Islands  of  French Polynesia , which is an  overseas collectivity  of the  French Republic  in the  Pacific Ocean . Bora Bora has a total land area of 12 square miles. The  main island , located about 125 nautical miles northwest of  Papeete , is surrounded by a  lagoon  and a  barrier reef . In the center of the island are the remnants of an  extinct volcano , rising to two peaks,  Mount Pahia  and  Mount Otemanu ; the highest point is at 2,385 feet. Bora Bora is part of the  Commune  of  Bora-Bora , which also includes the atoll of  Tūpai . The main languages spoken in Bora Bora are  Tahitian  and  French . However, due
Read more