"No problem" at Dunn's River, Jamaica

No one over fifty, in my shape anyway, should climb up 900 feet of waterfalls, over rocks and through racing water. But two weeks ago, I did at Dunn’s River in Jamaica. I don’t know how many tourists the river guides take up the falls each day, but the whole experience is damn foolishness, that’s for sure. The photo of Deb and me was shot after we were soaking wet but shortly before I took a series of missteps on grassy boulders, into underwater holes, and was practically dragged up the last thirty feet of the falls.

An observation: the only requirement for being allowed to climb the falls was, besides payment, the wearing of water shoes or rubber-soled sandals. No helmets, no padding, no paperwork. And not a handrail in sight. This kind of nonsense simply isn’t allowed in the litigious, safety-conscious U.S.