Pray for Rain: The Tale of the Ocho Rios-Waterfalls Goooood

The next day we are up late after some much needed rest and grab some oatmeal before heading to the El Salto section about an hour away. What an hour too. Miles of small towns and lots of sugar cane. Lots of crazy dogs in the road too and even some cows!

The salto, I soon find, is well worth it. Let me just go ahead and say too that there aren't many runs in these parts that do not require a bit of driving. But it's all relative. Once at the river we put in the man made flow from the powerhouse after checking out the dewatered section upstream. Very cheoah like with a big stomping hole at the end. This one gets a big piece of Kim and sucks her back in for some trouncing. The next drop el nemo has some boogie in a channel made where you have to drive left to avoid the hole that ends this man made section and drops you in just above La Luminosa, a real purty waterfall that is just too much fun. Adam styles El Nemo and I soon join him and Kim in the hole above the big twenty five footer. We each roll off with Kim going first and deep which causes her skirt to implode. After several valiant roll attempts she is forced to slide out and swim for it. Adam goes next getting up on the boof flake and making it look easy and I follow his line. The rest of the river blurs as we run drop after drop of small travertine and paddle pool after pool in between. We get to the end of the section and still have the fifteen foot spout to contend with. Adam and Kim run it well. However when I drop off I am about two feet right of where I need to be, my stern clips the rock I should have had my butt on, and I spiral right dangerously close to a rock in the landing. I compose myself though and we head on down to the last drop an eight footer where Kim and I clip a rock in the landing. Adam and I once again decide to hit it one more time and Kim drives shuttle for us. This time we blaze thru the big hole above el nemo and thru nemo proper. I nearly run La Luminosa direct but fight the urge and join Adam in the eddy. We both line it up though and have some sweet lines off the lip with a group of seven boaters from Colorado watching us from above the big hole to below the falls. In one of the next few drops I flip and learn how unforgiving travertine can be on your hands. The rest of the run blurs again and soon we run the spout styling it and are at the takeout. On the ride back we check out Minas Viajas a definite second d possibility though quite low. But more on that later