I realize I named this post “down the rabbit hole” but that was only the end of what was our most full day in Jamaica! Let’s get right to it!
When we were planning what we wanted to do for excursions, we couldn't decided between ATV riding, tubing, seeing a waterfall... and so we ended up signing up for the excursion that let us do it all, ha-ha! We left from the resort at around 8:30 (after waiting on a tardy and somewhat hungover couple in our group to get it together) and headed for the Chukka Adventure Tours Outpost - about twenty minutes from the resort!
The first activity of the day was ATV riding - and my new husband pointed out that maybe I shouldn't have chosen a white shirt - but what can I say, I live on the edge! We got a quick tutorial, hopped on our rides and off we went - through the weirdest landscape... not quite what either of us were expecting, I believe.
We rode through a portion of nature and around one corner - ended up on an active construction site! I wasn't planning to navigate around heavy machinery, but that was where we found ourselves! I also pretty quickly realized that while Ryan was supposed to be right behind me, his ATV had stalled multiple times and so I was fifth in the line of about thirty... and he ended up way back around twenty-fifth. *sigh*
We made a pit stop at a beach halfway through the ride and one of the guides joked that I should make sure my new husband new I was faster than he was, ha-ha! The beach was lovely - although a bit dirty, with some trash washed up along it... I tried to look past that and out to sea. Once we pulled away from the beach, Ryan made sure he was behind me - and I was glad because my ATV almost turned over when my tires slid down an embankment. Luckily Ryan and one of the guides quickly came to my rescue and we finished the ride!
After returning the ATV(s) to their parking lot, we assessed how much mud was on us. It was... a lot, ha-ha! One of the guides gave Ryan a flower to give me and told him "I'll take pictures"... and he surely did! Although everyone was a bit muddy - it was back into the bus and on to the Island Shopping Center for a traditional Jerk Chicken lunch! It was very good and refueled us for the afternoon's adventures!
Once we were fueled up, we headed into the hills of Jamaica and made our way to the Blue Hole! Our tour guide informed us that the higher we went, the smaller the roads would become and we didn't need to be backseat drivers... eek! I didn't think they were that bad, and the drive through the hillsides was pretty fascinating! We were able to see homes, farms, a church here and there and honestly - even more of the eye-opening poverty that seems to pervade all of Jamaica!
We arrived at the Blue Hole and we were told we could do the fifteen foot jump into the pool at the base of the falls - I quickly declined and Ryan immediately said "yes - I'm in!" Even though I didn't do the jump (I wasn't the only one), I still had to climb down the side of the hill, hang on to the rope stretched along the base of the falls and pull myself across the river in the "refreshing" water! I didn't know I'd be fully submerged in the water - thankfully the waterproof pouch I'd bought for my phone worked well - because my phone went swimming numerous times on Thursday!
Please enjoy the shots of my daredevil husband as he leaps from the platform and into the base of the falls. Eek!
All I could think as I watched him hit the water and waited for him to emerge was "we've only been married five days - you better pop up out of that water"... and he did! He then did the rope swing and flung himself into the water again! If there is adventure to be had - he's down for it in any form! We made our way down the river, passing numerous Jamaican locals who were set up alongside the river selling alcohol and food and "ganga brownies"... we passed on all of it.
The third and final stop of the day was in the White River Valley - where we went tubing down the White River and then went zip-lining! Our first stop was the tubing, so we popped on our vests and helmets and hopped into the "refreshing" water! The guides on the tubing portion of the day were easily our favorite (and that's saying a lot because they were all great) - they were hilarious and so fun to be around!
The water was so clear you could see to the bottom - and as you can see - the most perfect aqua color! I was glad that it was so clear, since I was one of the people who flipped completely out of my tube at the final set of rapids and ended up just hanging on to Ryan's tube and swimming along through the deepest part of the river. Like I said - my phone went swimming a lot on this day!
Last but certainly not least - it was time to zipline! Or, as our tour guides told us - they were hanging us out to dry! I've been zip lining before but this was Ryan's first time and we both loved it! Which is always a surprise to me because I'm not crazy about heights, but I love zipping along through the trees and over the river! We did five lines and the second to last was my favorite - we soared over the brilliant blue river and I managed to find snaps from online of us!
Since we'd missed out on the Speakeasy on Wednesday night, we headed back to the other side of the resort (after getting the password from our server) and passed some time until 8:00 - when the Speakeasy opened it's doors! We spoke the password "bootleg" and we were in! The décor is Alice in Wonderland themed and the whole set-up was fantastic!
We ordered drinks and settled into one of the snuggly black couches to listen to some music and just enjoy the evening! This was such a unique space and I'm so glad we took the time to check it out - we liked it so much, we decided to return on Friday night as well! We headed back to our side of the resort around 10:30 after a full day!
This was by far the busiest day of our entire trip but it was also such a wonderful day! We slept like logs and looked forward to a little less busy day on Friday. Also - doesn't the Speakeasy look like a hobbit house? I think it does...
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