8/14/2019 Caribbean Day Trip: Jamaica

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30 Caribbean Travel + Lie M A R C H 2 0 0 9

MICHAELMELFORD

ISLANDHOPPING I DAY TRIP

Usain Lightning Bolt, the

sprinting star o last sum-

mers Olympics, accelerates

out o the frst turn, already

a speeding blur. With nearly 700 me-

ters to the fnish line, the triple-gold

medalist grins, holds up his camera

phone and calmly snaps a picture. O

course, he would! Despite the quirky

renown o the national bobsled team,

tracks like this are not exactly com-

monplace in Jamaica.

Diving, winding and undulating

or 3,320 eet through a lush and

rugged landscape, Rainorest Bobsled

Jamaica at Mystic Mountain com-

bines amusement-park thrills with

green appeal: Who wouldnt want to

take a roller-coaster ride through the

woods? Five minutes west o Ocho

Rios, the unique diversion done

in one-man cars resembling the sleds

frst immortalized by Jamaicas team at

the 1988 Winter Olympics is the

centerpiece o a multimillion-dollar,

100-acre project constructed using

methods that minimize its impact

on the surrounding topography. The

attraction also includes a web o zip

lines and the Sky Explorer chairlit,

which ascends 700 eet to the summit

o Mystic Mountain.

Soaring through and above a

dense, mature orest o almond, pi-

mento and poinciana trees estooned

with bromeliads and wild orchids, the

cable car oers spectacular views o

the north coast, the islands moun-

tainous interior and, i you go early

morning or late aternoon, up-close-

and-personal encounters with abun-

dant bird lie, including the endemic

black-billed parrot.

At the summit, anchored by a pa-

vilion built to look like a rural railway

station, visitors can enjoy a swim-

BOBSLEDDING JAMAICA

Comin Round the MountainAn Olympian joy ride, no snow required

ABOVE AND BEYOND

Others rode the chairlitand zip line (opposite), but

Olympian Usain Bolt stuck tothe speedy sled (below).

RAINFOREST BOBSLEDJAMAICA AT MYSTIC MOUNTAIN

Open daily rom 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.,oering a variety o packages,

rom the Sky Explorer ($42)to the Sky Explorer, bobsledand zip-line combo, whichcosts $125. 876-974-3990;

rainorestbobsledjamaica.com

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8/14/2019 Caribbean Day Trip: Jamaica

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Caribbean Travel + Lie 31

ming pool, lookout tower, git shop

and R2@ 700 Feet, a contemporary

Caribbean restaurant with a menu

that eatures plenty o spicy jerk

specialties. There are also exhibits

that celebrate the islands diverse

auna and ora; national heroes such

as Nanny o the Maroons (a runaway

slave who led an 18th-century revolt

against the British); reggae legend

Bob Marley; and athletes including

ormer heavyweight champ Lennox

Lewis, Bolt and the original Jamaican

bobsled team (which inspired the

movie Cool Runnings). The summit

is also the launchpad or the zip-line

canopy tour, a circuit o fve tree-to-

tree transects that includes rides o

almost 400 eet and an epic, more-

than-550-oot crossing thatll haveyou shrieking like a juvenile macaw.

But the real star here is the bob-

sled. I clamber into a stylish, Ger-

man-built car decked out in Jamaicas

black, gold and green livery, push a

lever to release the brakes, and let

gravity work its hair-raising magic.

For about the next 45 seconds I dart

and dip through a tunnel o emerald

vegetation, banking through hairpin

turns as I plummet more than 300

eet down the mountainside beore

fnally coming to a halt in a cool,

shaded glade; then my sled and I are

slowly hoisted up a series o inclines

to the start.

Back at the top, I race to get Bolts

reaction to this exhilarating ride,

but Im too late: The worlds speedi-

est human is busy sliding down the

mountain. Again and again, aster

and aster. Christopher R. Cox

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