Another port, another country, another tour and another botanical garden - the Coyaba River Gardens to be exact. But, to be honest, they were rather idyllic.
The gardens only occupy a small area, but the layout makes you feel that you are somewhere much larger - the plant life is luxurious, the only problem for us westerners were the caged animals. Funnily enough, the Jamaicans had only recently installed the cages thinking they were a good idea. The lizard on the left is not caged though, but he was cute.
One of the highlights of the gardens were the Mahoe Falls, which apparently you can climb. Unfortunately none of the guides within the gardens explained this to us, or indicated the route down to the bottom of the falls where you could paddle or swim. A shame, and something to remember if we ever come this way again.
It was lovely there though.
In the afternoon, we decided to go for a perambulate around the town. To be honest, the port seems to be intent on keeping the tourists close by. There is a tourist "village" right alongside with bars, a beach, walkways and souvenir shops, but that isn't really our thing.
We managed to eventually find our way out and get to streets. We'd already visited the craft fair earlier, where the market vendors harangued us into not buying anything. In a way it smacked of desperation, and we didn't want to go through that again, so we avoided it.
We eventually found a little bar where we could listen to a guy playing Reggae on the steel drums. Finally we felt like we were in the Jamaica that we've read and heard about.
Tomorrow it's another sea day and Peter will have another art class. Will there still be 50? Or did he frighten them off with that last session? Hmmmmmmm.............
The gardens only occupy a small area, but the layout makes you feel that you are somewhere much larger - the plant life is luxurious, the only problem for us westerners were the caged animals. Funnily enough, the Jamaicans had only recently installed the cages thinking they were a good idea. The lizard on the left is not caged though, but he was cute.
One of the highlights of the gardens were the Mahoe Falls, which apparently you can climb. Unfortunately none of the guides within the gardens explained this to us, or indicated the route down to the bottom of the falls where you could paddle or swim. A shame, and something to remember if we ever come this way again.
It was lovely there though.
In the afternoon, we decided to go for a perambulate around the town. To be honest, the port seems to be intent on keeping the tourists close by. There is a tourist "village" right alongside with bars, a beach, walkways and souvenir shops, but that isn't really our thing.
Ocho Rios was is so full of character. Women sported hairstyles that were a work of art, braiding and colours included. A man with one leg, dressed in bright yellow, including striped socks - climbed out of a car and immediately joined a shouting match with two other guys in a garage. The shops spilled colours and patterns out into the streets and car horns pipped away constantly as drivers tried to race each other along the high street.
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