Clarity, Markus and Jamar in Negril – Nov 2011 Trip Report: Day 1-3

[Hubby-man]

Once my face broke below the surface my cheeks were tickled by a million frantic bubbles all racing upwards along the surface of my skin. Every inch of my body suddenly felt like it had been dunked into a soda bottle.

My feet found footing about five feet down. I erected myself and rose out of the ragging water.

I hadn't paid much attention before, struggling with our cameras, focusing on little plant pods and details. When I finally opened my eyes to take it all in, it was overwhelming.




A turquoise stream meandered downriver from my torso. Its color was so pure and strong, it looked painted. Picturesque boulders covered the river bed , while a lush ribbon of flowers, vines, moss and fern completed the colorful composition with an accent along the winding banks.



The trees here and there rose sturdily from the ground, their weight supported by enormous buttress roots that circled the trunk like the radiating fan-blades on a jet-engine. Looking up their height was intimidating. Vines came down some 60 feet or more. When followed by eyes, they disappeared into a tangle of other vines near the crown. I could only ponder, what wonders might be waiting there to be discovered - in that strange, lofty world, the kingdom of epiphytes and clinging roots.

Daisy ripped me out of my thoughts: “You should put on your snorkel, see what's in here”.

That's right. There were discoveries waiting right here. I put the mask on and squeezed for some suction.

First, all I could see were bubbles. The force of the water, racing downriver, grabbed and shoved the air two feet down, below the surface. I struggled against buoyancy and downstream to get a view below the frothy layer. My snorkel was being pounded and wildly shaken by enormous commotion and thus utterly useless. I finally grabbed a hold on a boulder and pulled myself down.

Again, the view that opened underwater was absolutely breathtaking.

I have seen clean water. All of us living in the Western World have, be it filling a pot from the faucet or diving into a swimming-pool. Yet, this was something different. Maybe, because THIS was a river and it WASN'T SUPPOSED TO be that clean. Maybe, because the light shining through it, was somehow more brilliant, I don't know, but what I can say, to me it was like showing someone, who has seen nothing but VHS-tapes, a blue-ray movie on an HD-Screen. STUNNING!

I felt like I was treading on hallowed ground. Suddenly I was aware of all the crap on my body, the sun-tan lotion, the lotion-lotion, the leave-in conditioner, the traces of detergent in my trunks. This water was so clear, I felt like my body in and of itself was pollution, a slight moment of western self-disgust.

There were only two colors down there. The turquoise color of the water intensifying with depth, and the even brownish-gray of the rocks. Every living thing, conformed to that color scheme. The rocks had probably taken the color from the algae growing on them and the fish, snails and river-lobster conformed for the purpose of camouflage.

I rose up with a gasp for air: “Honey you got to see this!”

I tore the mask off my face and offered it.

Meanwhile Daisy and Jamar had been enjoying the force of the river in other ways. Between the biggest of the smooth, round boulders were gaps that smaller boulders were stuck in. The whole configuration created an underwater seat right where the water rushed down the successive steps that made these "the falls" rather than a river.


(still frame from the video footage)

Sheldon gestured me to go there and screamed: “Like a Jacuzzi Man, just like a natural Jacuzzi, Ya Mon!”

Daisy made room, taking the snorkel, as we traded places.

Sheldon: “Push Man, against the rocks, Man, with your feet.”

I fumbled and struggled against the current until my feet finally found what he was talking about. As if created by an ingenious interior designer, nature had placed a little foot board right here, which made it possible to push ones body back against the rushing water and take a seat in the gap.

Once planted there the water pounded against my shoulders violently. I shifted left and right and received a thorough Swedish message at no extra cost.