This morning began early, with 17 of our group as well as our guide Sheree and driver Andrew on a day long excursion that took us from the pristine deluxe confines of the resort, into the REAL Jamaica.
The drive was one of a kind... winding roads about the size of the cart paths at Cooke... road conditions like we had never seen, and two hours of this before our first destination. The drive was made to seem more perilous, as Jamaicans drive on the left side of the road, and the winding, undulating roads were combined with speeds that would make Jeff Gordon pee his pants...
Anyway, the first stop alone was worth the trip... we stopped at Black River, and boarded a boat that took us up river... narrower and darker as we went, with a canopy of mangroves, thousands of birds and ... crocodiles! About an hour on the boat then back to the dock for a nice lunch, then on to stop number two.
A series of waterfalls with pools of warm clear water on each one, suitable for some of us to cool off.
Then the final stop, the famous Appleton Rum Factory... employs 1200 people, and has been making some of the worlds best rum since 1749. The tour took us through the process from sugar cane to a type of molasses, the distilling process, then to the oak barrels... hundreds of thousands in each of 17 warehouses... where they sit for years... the oldest is 50 years old... we did not sample that stuff, as it is worth $5000 per bottle!
The REAL Jamaica does feature some delicious fish, that stared at you... not for me
Anyway, the day ended as it began, with a death defying trip through the mountains and winding roads past brightly coloured tin roof shacks, selling jerk chicken and Red Stripe... back to home... back to the resort, which only resembles Jamaica because of the staff... who are wonderful...
A good day
Another batch of folks made an afternoon trip to Negril... and had good fun watching the cliff divers, shopping and stopping off at Margaritaville for refreshments.
