Amazing First Visit to Portland

Here's a little something for you Vince ;)

Prior to arriving in Port Antonio, we (husband and I) spend six nights in Negril. We just can’t stop going back to Negril, but there is so much more in Jamaica to be explored and Portland did not disappoint! We spent 4 nights in a Fairy Hill villa and 4 nights in Long Bay.

We departed Negril on the 7am Knutsford bus to Port Antonio. It was our first time on the bus and I would definitely recommend it! It’s inexpensive, comfortable, scenic and on-schedule.

After a few stops and a couple bus changes, we arrived at Errol Flynn Marina. We took a taxi to the villa we were staying at for 4 nights. We rented an Airbnb house in Fairy Hill, located on the road to Winnifred Beach. As usual with everywhere we stay in Jamaica, we were in awe at how beautiful the view and surroundings were of our rental house. After getting the tour from the owner, we enjoyed a drink, changed into our beachware and walked down the path to Winnifred Beach.

After paying a $200J per person fee at the entrance to the beach, we wondered over to the first little cookshop/bar on the beach to see what was cooking. We hadn’t eaten anything other than snacks and fruit all day, so it was time for some delicious chicken and rice and peas, with this view :cool:
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It was getting late in the afternoon, so the sun was going behind the trees to the west of the cove.
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Here’s a beautiful shot from our walk back to the house –
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Winnifred is a very lovely little beach that we returned to a couple times. It was great to have a nice beach so close to our villa. When the sea was rough, which it was for a day or so, we could hear the waves crashing from our verandah.

Some pictures of the house and from the verandah –
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Before I go much further, I must thank *vi* for helping me select villas, hooking us up with an awesome driver and answering all my questions during trip planning! Thanks so much *vi* for all of your help and guidance! We really had an amazing trip and you helped make it great! Someday we will meet and drink some overproof, on a beach in paradise :D

And thanks to everyone else on this board with all your posts and suggestions! Your trip reports and discussions are always very helpful when planning a visit to Jamrock :cool:

AHHHH, Thanks been looking out on this board for some PA pictures;) Big up!!!

And here I thought this was going to be a typical blah Monday. EXCELLENT start to your much anticipated trip report Miss Agregory. Thank YOU for visiting what I consider to be one of favorite places on earth. So glad you and your hubby enjoyed Portland. It was fun and a pleasure helping you plan for this. You actually helped me discover new places and meet some fantastic people in the process. Your pictures are beautiful. The shots of Winnifred have me longing to get back to that beach tomorrow!!! Keep them coming PLEASE!!!!

Vince…we all are in for a Portland treat! :cool:

What a nice surprise! Can't wait for more, great start!

Thanks for the nice words! I am finally writing some more!

My husband came down with a head cold before we left Negril and he was handling it pretty well, but our first night in Portland he was coughing a lot and had trouble sleeping. We decided to visit a local pharmacy and see what we could get to make him sleep better at night and breathe easier during the day. It was Ash Wednesday, which of course is a big Jamaican holiday (what day isn’t a holiday in Ja? lol), with most people off work and kids off school for the rest of the week. Tommy, our driver in Portland, picked us up and we went into Port Antonio to find an open pharmacy. The fourth one he tried was open, so we went in and found a bottle of cough syrup with codine and a bottle of decongestant (pseudoephedrine) for about $1500J. It was a steal compared to the same drugs in the US, which you can’t even buy over-the-counter :) And they both worked wonders for him too for the next couple of days. We are not normally “drug” users and opt for natural remedies and essential oils normally, but this was a quick and easy way to make him feel better.

It was a beautiful day, so we walked around Bikini Beach for a little bit and planned to eat there, but the restaurant was closed. We rode over to the craft market and each ordered a Jamaican breakfast and homemade juice from C&S Smoothie Bar & Kitchen. It was delicious! As we waited for our food, we wondered through the craft market and bought a few things. We met Rock Bottom, who I remember from Vi’s trip reports. He was a fun guy to talk to. We bought one of his carvings and he threw in another one as a gift, plus a bracelet that he made for me while we waited. His work is beautiful and he seems like a great guy! We bought something from each shop that was open that day, which was only 4 or 5. Very low pressure market with lots of great, real Jamaican-made souvenirs and gifts.

Bikini Beach
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Rock Bottom's works of art at the craft market
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We decided we would spend our day at Boston Beach. There was going to be a huge party there for Ash Wednesday, with lots of Jamaican families enjoying the beach. We picked up some ice and rode back to our house to get changed and pack a beach bag and our backback cooler with Red Stripes, Ting and overproof rum – yum!!!

We arrived to a pretty quiet Boston Beach, but we knew from the 100+ speakers set up in the parking lot and along the road that many more were on their way :D
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We set up a spot in the sand for the day and enjoyed the sights and sounds. We witnessed our first sandball fights and determined that snowball fights are much cleaner. I’m sure the kids and teenagers throwing sand at each other tracked home piles of it after the day was done. Watching the teenage girls and boys interacting was amusing – lots of selfies and giggles, just like at home :) We also enjoyed all the football action and the surfers.
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Watching the Jamaican lifeguards can be amusing sometimes too. This one was determined to keep his shirt dry.
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After spending a few hours sitting on the beach it started to rain. We were OK in the rain for a little bit as we were protected by some trees, but then it started to POUR! We quickly picked everything up and ran to the top of the hill, taking cover under the roof of the restroom and changing area. It was actually kind of fun to stand around and watch the sky pour down together. The building was right next to 30 or so of the 100+ speakers, so it was bumping! I noticed that the handles on the bathroom doors vibrated enough to make the doors open up, due to the bass bumping :cool:

Eventually the rain stopped and we all returned to the beach. We had some great jerk chicken while we sat, plus lots of Red Stripes and rum. I found a great way to drink rum and ting that I’d like to share with you all. Get a cold jelly coconut and drink the water from it. Once its empty, pour some rum and ting in it, drink and enjoy :D The coconut stays cold for a long time, so there’s no need for ice to keep the drink cool.

We had planned to catch a route taxi back to our Fairy Hill villa. We packed up and started walking. Several taxis went by that we could have grabbed, but the walk was nice and we had never been to that area before. We ended up walking the entire way and returned just as it got dark out. I think it was about 1.5 miles to get home.

Here’s a view of the Boston Bay area. You can see all the smoke from the jerk huts – YUM!
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Every night we're in Jamaica we end with sitting out on our verandah and discussing the day. This is when we talk about what our favorite thing was that we did or saw that day. On this trip I changed it to talking about the craziest thing we saw each day. Everyone who's been to Jamaica can understand this ;)

Here's some more pictures from our villa -
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Now we are talking!!!! Chicken on da beach!! lol Stunning pictures!!!!!!!!

Done the rum and coconut thing before. Good mon!

Needed this today...thanks!

You're welcome sammyb!

I hope to write more soon...

agregory to the rescue!!!!

Tommy, our awesome driver, was great at knowing the weather in each area of Portland every day. He helped us decide each morning what we should do or where we should go based on the weather as it could be quite different from one area to the next. One of the must-dos for this trip was rafting on the Rio Grande River. The weather on our second day was perfect for this, so we packed up and Tommy took us to the river!

The drive was beautiful!
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I completely forgot to get a picture of us on the raft together, except for this one –
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The raft trip was amazing! These photos will not do justice at all to the beauty. We did not see a single other boat, car, house, power line, or anything man-made on the entire trip down the river. There were two other bamboo rafts at Belinda’s cook shop on the river bank, where we stopped for lunch and a couple Red Stripes mid-trip. We saw one man fishing on the side of the river during our float and I guess we also saw a few banana trees with blue bags on the hanging fruit. And I also must note that I did not see a single piece of garbage along our route. The water was clear and perfect for swimming and wading around in mid-trip :D Like I said, it was amazing!
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The food was delicious and Belinda is a sweet lady to chat with.
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Our guide was great and it was interesting chatting with him about growing up and learning to do what he does. He has a tough job. We had a discussion about the fact that it's difficult to find young people to do hard work these days (I sound so old here, but I'm really only 40!). My husband is a residential master electrician and we own our own company. He lost a young, hard working, smart guy into the Navy and hasn't found anyone worth replacing him with in the past 1.5 years. Hard work is not something that young people are made to do anymore, and they won't do it unless it's instantly gratifying to them. Or they can work really hard, but have no common sense. I know this is a very general statement and it's not true for all youngsters. But someday we will not have anyone to do these tough jobs and where will we be then? OK, I won't bore you anymore with my "rant" - lol.

The ride was very smooth :cool: This was one of my favorite excursions I’ve ever been on!
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After about 2-3 hours on the river, Tommy met us at a spot along the riverbank and we returned back to our villa. Time to hit Winnifred Beach again :)
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A spear fisherman swam in with his catch as we lounged.
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Thanks to everyone for following along! This trip report is taking forever and I'm only through day 2. 6 more days to go!

Pictures keep getting better and better!! Drooling!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks!!;)

Great report and pictures,thanks for sharing!!

Nothing but sweet niceness here mi girl. LOVE this post and the pictures are excellent. Darlin you have me putting the rafting trip back on my summer reach agenda. Yeah, I think I want to take that scenic, soul satisfying drift again and of course visit with Belinda. What did you order?

Beautiful shot of the fisherman…hard work dat…

Your entry about the young not giving more energy than they need to is true for most of them. I’ve been working two jobs for years and the young ones I talk to said they would first live with family, friends or foes before they would work two jobs or even ONE full time job. The major reason for terminations at the PT job is excessive call-offs. Dem nuh want fe work fe a nanny. I go out of my way to commend the ones who stick it out and sacrifice their Saturday nights.

More please ms. agregory…you doing great with the report.

clap clap clap

Catching up as we are 6 sleeps away, this was magnificent! Cannot wait to get back to Portie!! I'm also putting the drift down Rio Grande back on the list this year, love both the quietness of the ride and that great meal with Belinda! Thanks for the pics!

Thanks to everyone for your nice comments! It's a cold June day here in Southern Wisconsin so of course I'm thinking about Jamaica :)

Vi - I'm pretty sure I had a chicken and rice dish at Belinda's - lol. Husband had crawfish and he LOVED it! I'm not a shell fish fan, so chicken for me. It was good I'm sure ;) I do love fish though, it's just shell fish that I've never cared for. Although mussels are delicious and they're in a shell :)

I-Ri - Have a fabulous trip! We're hoping to come back in early December :cool:

OK guys, I really need to get going with this report. You may get mostly pictures with descriptions from here on out…

The weather Friday was perfect for visiting Reach Falls, another must-do on our list. Tommy took us on a beautiful drive into the country and along the coast to get to the falls.

Reach Falls - This place is magical. We have been to numerous waterfalls around the Caribbean and Central America. This was the best we’ve ever experienced :D
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Curtis, one of the guides at the park, took us on the tour up the falls. It was absolutely amazing!!! The beauty is indescribable! If you are physically able to do it, do not pass up this tour! He took my camera up the falls and took several pictures along the way while amazingly keeping the camera dry!
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My husband walked up alongside the falls and through the shallow ones as he doesn’t know how to do more than doggy paddle. I swam through the water. It was a gorgeous and almost surreal experience. Similar to our Rio Grande rafting trip, there was not a single person above the falls on our route. I didn’t see anything man-made anywhere along the way. The water was perfectly clear and blue and the greenery was amazing. There was even a spot along the trail where fresh water flowed in through the rocks. Curtis took a drink and said it’s the best water for drinking. We each took a drink of it and couldn’t agree more :D

I swam into a cave, through a rushing waterfall, into this little spot. It was a little nerve-racking because I had to go underwater and feel my way through, but it was so cool. Curtis helped describe it to me before I went through.
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Beautiful surroundings at Reach Falls -
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Here’s some shots of the drive there and back –
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Since it was Friday, we planned to have dinner and see the Jolly Boys at GeeJam. Tommy took us there and he came back for us after the music was finished. It was a fun night, but the Jolly Boys didn’t play that night. There was another mento band there instead and they were great! The views, pool table and grounds at GeeJam are pretty awesome. We really enjoyed playing pool for an hour or so before dinner. It is an outdoor table, so it is pretty warped. And the pool cues didn’t have tips, so you never knew where the ball would go. 4 out of 5 games ended in scratching on the 8 ball :p
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It’s Saturday, time to move from our villa in Fairy Hill to one on Long Bay. Tommy picked us up at checkout time and took us to our new residence for 4 nights. Here’s our view -
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We stayed at Villa Rasta. It was amazing! It’s a bit rustic, which we don't mind. We really enjoyed our stay! Bigga, the owner and cook, was a great guy to be around and an awesome chef! We had him make us breakfast and dinner everyday and every meal was wonderful! He even made mint tea for me with mint that he grew on the property each morning.
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We settled in, packed our backpack cooler with Red Stripe, Ting and overproof and headed down to walk along Long Bay beach.
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Your pictures are to die for, breathtakingly, amazing!!! :)

Thanks Justlooking! As you may imagine, it is even more breathtaking and amazing in person :cool: It was tough to sort through 1300 pictures!

WOW! Your photos actually made my soul ache for Portland. Beautiful !!!!

Very Nice agregory!!

Shooting 1300 pictures of SLR 35 mm would be about about 40 rolls of film and you wouldn't know what you had until processing sometime later. With your digital cam you save a ton of time and money. I encourage you next trip to Portland try using some options that your camera allows to control depth of focus and depth of field also try your shutter speed priority to play with the motions available by the scenes as they unfold.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59SeO2iM_4k


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fabulous!

Portland is Cool


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agregory, your pictures are fantastic. The quality is so good I can actually appreciate the colors on my horrible monitor. I can hear the rush of the waves at Long Bay Beach. I was supposed to have drinks with Bigga, but it rained like crazy that day so it didn't happen. I'm glad you treated you well. I plan to have sample his cooking skills this visit. I can't wait.

You took 1,300 shots?????? Well what are you waiting for, sweetie???? bring em on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_QDn5MJInc


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