Our Day with Mark Morris

[jenyates]

Due to hurricane Charley, we didn't get our internet connection back up until less than a week before our cruise, so I only had a few days to locate a tour guide in Ocho Rios. Since we'd been there before and did Dunn's River Falls then, we wanted someone to take us around to less popular attractions.

 

Fortunately, Mark Morris came through for us. He e-mailed me back promptly, and promised to take us around for the day for only $20 each. (Obviously we would pay admission for whatever we wanted to do.) Since we had a sea day before getting to Jamaica, we had time to convince 2 of our table mates to come with us on our tour. When we got off the ship, we asked a few of the guides milling around the port, and one led us over to Mark. Mark is very nice and out-going. He's lived in the states, so he doesn't have a trace of a Jamacain accent unless he's talking to another Jamacain. We climbed into his nice air-conditioned van and set off. First he drove us through Fern Gully and stopped to show us a bunch of local plants - banana tree, plaintains, pineapple, marijuana plant (there only for educational purposes, he assured us ;)etc. Next we went to the Coyaba Gardens for a tour. It's small but pretty there, and a girl led us around telling us what plant was what (although Mark seemed to know more than she did - he corrected her a few times!) At the gift shop they sell locally grown spices and nutmegs and things - good souveniers.

 

Next we went horseback riding. It was a definite experience... See, we didn't go with one of the large tourist companies, we went with some people Mark knew. Driving up, we were all a bit apprehensive; it was a wooded lot with tons and tons of Jamaican men lounging around on the ground and a bunch of horses tied to trees here and there. After making sure that Mark knew these people and trusted them, we agreed to get out of the van. :) It was a bargain, that's for sure - only $35 each for an hour ride, where most of the other companies charge double that. Now, I hadn't been on a horse since I was a kid, but after the first few scary moments of figuring out how to balance (the saddle had no pommel to grab on to) I really enjoyed it. We each were given a guide, and all the guides were kids (this was a summer job for them), so that was more comfortable, too. The kids led the horses where necessary, answered our questions, took pictures of us with our cameras, and picked flowers for us girls to tuck behind our ears. The ride itself wasn't exactly scenic, since we went through residential areas and then to a tiny patch of beach, but I think it gave us a better picture of the real Jamaica - not the picture post card Jamaica, ya know? And I really enjoyed it. Next time, I think we'll look for a plantation trial ride, but I still enjoyed this one.

 

After our ride, I had Mark take us to the Ruins for lunch. The Ruins is an outdoor restaurant buffet built around a natural waterfall. There are lots of big trees around the courtyard where you eat there, and they all have lights wrapped around them - it must be gorgeous at night. Anyway, it was so pleasant there with the shade and the sound of the waterfall (and the open bar didn't hurt, either) that we stayed a little while after eating to enjoy the live music. The music was provided by a bunch of old old native guys (and all of them together couldn't have made a full set of teeth) with odd instruments singing Bob Marley songs. They were surprisingly good, but maybe that's the rum punch talking. :) Oh, and the jerk chicken was great, too.

 

After the Ruins, we went to the Wassabi Pottery factory, which we all agreed was much better than we expected. We got a short tour, from the bags of clay all the way to the finished product, and Maria - one of the table mates who came with us - even sat down at the wheel and threw some pottery. That was fun. And the finished products at the factory are really gorgeous, although we made the observation that the subject matter on a lot of it was either graphic sex acts, or flowers. Kinda funny.

 

Mark then took us to a beautiful waterfall down a steep path tucked away on the side of the road. He told us it's from the same source as Dunn's River's Falls, and this is the ones the natives go to for swimming. We took some pictures, and wished we had our suits on, the water looked so inviting. ;)

 

I think that's everything from our day in Jamaica. Obviously, we did a LOT, but were still back on the ship by 4PM, I think it was.

 

If you'd like to get in touch with Mark, his e-mail address is marco@anngel.com.jm . Please let me know if I can answer any questions about him or our time in Jamaica!