Simulacra or how symbols have overtaken reality.........

What a wonderful day today has been.

We've got to know some guys down at the beach who organise trips all over Jamaica and so we decided to go to Blue Hole with them.

A twenty minute taxi drive out of Ochi saw us up in the hills in the rain forest and making our way down to the river for an adventure with our own guide to lead us.

We signed the obligatory waiver that if we died we wouldn't hold the tour company to blame (How exactly I'd do that if I was dead was not something I was going to ask about at that moment in time!).

It was a short stroll to White River where we were confronted with a riot of colour that was so beautiful it looked false. The exclamation that it looked like Center Parcs made me realise that we were experiencing something Jean Baudrillard the french philosopher called 'Simulacra' where reality is replaced with symbolism. The reality is the rain-forest and CP is the symbol but we'd got it the wrong way round and mistakenly thought the rain-forest was a copy of the symbol. 

We jumped in the river on rope swings, swam in plunge pools, walked through verdant forest and leaped from what felt like a cliff edge. 

The area was quiet and we felt privileged to be

experiencing such a beautiful location almost to ourselves. It cant be good for the local economy but we were told now was the quiet season and the place is a lot busier when a cruise ship comes in.

We made the decision not to visit Dunn's Falls, the standard trip for many who visit Jamaica. We'd heard, although it was beautiful it was so popular you ran the risk of feeling like herded cattle as you walk up the waterfalls. We were vindicated in our decision and thoroughly enjoyed the Blue Hole's quiet yet spectacular nature.

We've discovered Jamaica has a lot to offer to visitors and as we look to leaving have some fantastic memories of a wonderful country that has suffered greatly in the past.