Falling Edge Waterfalls Adventure
A few years ago, some friends and I were discussing exploring our beautiful country. It took one person to bring it to our attention once again at lunch one day in January, and the planning began!
At first, we were thinking of rafting on the Rio Grande in Portland or going to Sun Coast in St Thomas. But then someone mentioned Falling Edge Waterfalls which is off the beaten path. Suffice it to say, the latter won. In a very brief period of research, we found a few persons speaking about their trip to the falls online, and close to the date of travel, we found some directions. On Saturday, February 18, the journey began.
We all met up at my apartment sometime after 11am. We drove to Manor Park to buy food. We settled for KFC as that was the only food that is likely to taste decent enough when had cold. One of the 3-member team brought along fruits and I had some snack bars. Plus we each had our own water. Then we hit the road.
The journey took us to Stony Hill, where we turned off and headed to find Bowden Primary as this was to be our parking spot. We stopped at a small shop to ask a little old man where to find the school, and fortunately, we were on the right path. So we kept going. We passed where Boon Hall Oasis is and kept going. Then we came to a bridge, and passed that. We went further and found the sign to turn. Of course we had to stop and take our first set of pics.
The road thereafter was the worse part of the trip. Twasn't smooth at all! But it was very scenic! Beautiful trees blanketing the mountain sides. About 30 minutes after leaving KFC, we arrived at the school. We packed up our food and other essentials, applied bug repellent, said a silent prayer, and began the trek.
The walk was quite nice. The first picture stop we made was at a small bridge (thanks to those who've gone before). We were quite fascinated by the creatures swimming in the water beneath.
Admittedly there were areas where my fear of small paths along precipices kicked in, but I had good company that helped me to keep calm. We also were grateful that travellers before us took the time to plant arrows so we knew we were on the right path.
It took us about 20 minutes to get to the falls...and 1 second to have no regrets that we took the trip! It was mesmerizing!
There were also small pockets of beauty as the water continued downstream rolling over rocks.
The trip wouldn't be complete without pictures of ourselves with this beautiful backdrop. I must say we were like little kids with the pictures we took, but that was part of the fun.
After the first round of picture-taking, we paused for food. For the first in a long time, I had sugarcane. It was really good! I know it wasn't because I hadn't had it in such a long time. It wasn't too sweet, but at the same time, it was very refreshing. We also had our chicken strips and papaya and watermelon like we were having communion - from the same plate/bag. We were careful to pack all our garbage and, unlike a few who passed that way prior to us, left no evidence that we were there.
While we were there, we were joined by 2 (brave) ladies. We got to talking and found out that they travel to these places across the island together. For 2 ladies to do that in these (dangerous) times is quite something. They were pretty cool, so we chilled with them for the remainder of the time there. We even had a photoshoot session with them...well we taking pictures of/for them.
I can't forget to talk about the other part of nature - the bugs. They were aplenty! Maybe a little exaggerated, but they enjoyed our fresh meat! There were three or so spots where somethings (mosquitoes included) bit me that didn't go down for days. More than 10 days later, I still have a small scar on my hand as a reminder. It seems the bug repellent lasted but a short time and we needed to constantly apply it. I didn't allow them to spoil the trip though. And I suppose I was in their territory so...
The walk back to the car had no drama. Two of us wanted to "potty" so we went to the school (walking beside the wall) and fortunately, there was a restroom open. It was clean (especially for a school bathroom)! I saw some kids and chatted for a bit, asking them about school and then how we could get to the Hermitage Dam. A man came by after and more or less confirmed what the kids told us about the dam. We decided to skip it. However, we got a decent view on the leg back.
We made it home safely...and started talking about the next trip together. I'm looking forward to it! Jamaica is indeed blessed with scenes worthy of any postcard and it was such a pleasure to enjoy a small part of it with some cool people.
At first, we were thinking of rafting on the Rio Grande in Portland or going to Sun Coast in St Thomas. But then someone mentioned Falling Edge Waterfalls which is off the beaten path. Suffice it to say, the latter won. In a very brief period of research, we found a few persons speaking about their trip to the falls online, and close to the date of travel, we found some directions. On Saturday, February 18, the journey began.
We all met up at my apartment sometime after 11am. We drove to Manor Park to buy food. We settled for KFC as that was the only food that is likely to taste decent enough when had cold. One of the 3-member team brought along fruits and I had some snack bars. Plus we each had our own water. Then we hit the road.
The journey took us to Stony Hill, where we turned off and headed to find Bowden Primary as this was to be our parking spot. We stopped at a small shop to ask a little old man where to find the school, and fortunately, we were on the right path. So we kept going. We passed where Boon Hall Oasis is and kept going. Then we came to a bridge, and passed that. We went further and found the sign to turn. Of course we had to stop and take our first set of pics.
The road thereafter was the worse part of the trip. Twasn't smooth at all! But it was very scenic! Beautiful trees blanketing the mountain sides. About 30 minutes after leaving KFC, we arrived at the school. We packed up our food and other essentials, applied bug repellent, said a silent prayer, and began the trek.
The walk was quite nice. The first picture stop we made was at a small bridge (thanks to those who've gone before). We were quite fascinated by the creatures swimming in the water beneath.
Admittedly there were areas where my fear of small paths along precipices kicked in, but I had good company that helped me to keep calm. We also were grateful that travellers before us took the time to plant arrows so we knew we were on the right path.
It took us about 20 minutes to get to the falls...and 1 second to have no regrets that we took the trip! It was mesmerizing!
There were also small pockets of beauty as the water continued downstream rolling over rocks.
The trip wouldn't be complete without pictures of ourselves with this beautiful backdrop. I must say we were like little kids with the pictures we took, but that was part of the fun.
After the first round of picture-taking, we paused for food. For the first in a long time, I had sugarcane. It was really good! I know it wasn't because I hadn't had it in such a long time. It wasn't too sweet, but at the same time, it was very refreshing. We also had our chicken strips and papaya and watermelon like we were having communion - from the same plate/bag. We were careful to pack all our garbage and, unlike a few who passed that way prior to us, left no evidence that we were there.
While we were there, we were joined by 2 (brave) ladies. We got to talking and found out that they travel to these places across the island together. For 2 ladies to do that in these (dangerous) times is quite something. They were pretty cool, so we chilled with them for the remainder of the time there. We even had a photoshoot session with them...well we taking pictures of/for them.
I can't forget to talk about the other part of nature - the bugs. They were aplenty! Maybe a little exaggerated, but they enjoyed our fresh meat! There were three or so spots where somethings (mosquitoes included) bit me that didn't go down for days. More than 10 days later, I still have a small scar on my hand as a reminder. It seems the bug repellent lasted but a short time and we needed to constantly apply it. I didn't allow them to spoil the trip though. And I suppose I was in their territory so...
The walk back to the car had no drama. Two of us wanted to "potty" so we went to the school (walking beside the wall) and fortunately, there was a restroom open. It was clean (especially for a school bathroom)! I saw some kids and chatted for a bit, asking them about school and then how we could get to the Hermitage Dam. A man came by after and more or less confirmed what the kids told us about the dam. We decided to skip it. However, we got a decent view on the leg back.
We made it home safely...and started talking about the next trip together. I'm looking forward to it! Jamaica is indeed blessed with scenes worthy of any postcard and it was such a pleasure to enjoy a small part of it with some cool people.
Beautiful.
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