Going to add a few final thoughts and observations, although I reserve the right to add on after.....
After reading about the unfortunate jet ski accident it got me thinking. I saw only 2 jet skis the entire time we were in Portland. They were privately owned by a family that had a very sweet beachfront property in the cove where San San beach is located. I only saw one in operation but you could see them sitting by a dock when were in the area. I never saw anyone trying to rent them out at anytime, anywhere.
One of the most peculiar things I noticed was the countless number of guys either carrying (walking or on bicycles) Stihl gas powered grasswhips. I don't know if this a country wide thing or some kind of make work project for the area. Maybe this is common around the entire island now, but I don't recall seeing many in my past trips.
Something else I don't think I mentioned regarding frenchmans cove. We spent 5 days there and every day at one point a police boat would approach within maybe 100 meters from the shore, and have a good look at the goings on. I don't know if they are just doing regular patrol or what, but I never saw them anywhere else.
Now the BIG question - would I go back??
The easy answer is yes, I "would" go back. But saying that it's hard to say if we will go back. Before this trip, we missed 2 winters of travelling to Jamaica. We travelled to Holguin, Cuba; Puerto Vallarta together and when my wife helped chaperone a school trip to Costa Rica I did a week solo trip fishing in Puerto Rico. I think it's safe to say we still love Jamaica, but just as much enjoy seeing other parts of the Caribbean, and the world for that matter. Because my wife is a teacher we are very limited as to extended winter vacations, and we both agree Jamaica is a 2 week minimum trip. Just for us to do our recent Portland adventure, she had to use 1 of 2 personal days for the year. Its easier for me, the company I work for shuts down over the Christmas holidays so I never had to take any extra time at all.
There are a couple factors that explain not going next winter. The big one, and easily the best one, is we are planning a 3 week trip to Europe this summer. She is off school so no problem for her, I still have to get the blessing from my employer. Rosie's family have close family friends in Denmark, so we will be flying to Copenhagen and stay with them for several days before starting a tour, first stop Amsterdam (naturally lol). From there we go through Germany, stopping in Fussen where we will run in the marathon/half marathon. Then into Austria, and over to the Czech republic before returning to Denmark. The whole tour will be done via the train, I am very pumped to ride some of the 320km/hr high speed trains. I have never been to Europe, Rosie has been once, shortly after she finished university. One of the couples we befriended in Port Antonio are Austrian, although the now live in the USA. But they still have a place in Austria and will be there this summer. They have invited us to visit, so hopefully that works out.
So because of this summer trip we will limit ourselves to a shorter one next winter, most likely we will go back to Puerto Vallarta. My wife and I both enjoyed our first trip there. We stayed in the "gay" area, which I would say is the best area to go unless you want to travel the coast. We will go over the Feb school break, as the Christmas coming up will be spent at the in-laws farm. We are getting close to being banished from the family after ditching out on so many Christmases. With over 5000 acres of farmland I need to stay close to father in law LOL.
So that takes care of next winter. The following winter we plan to go to Costa Rica together. Rosie really liked it there and I want to go see it too. That will be another 2 week or so vacation, which will once again cover all her available time off over the winter.
I guess the earliest we will return to Jamaica will be 3 winter from this one. One factor holding us back is the cost. Our recent trip, we were gone 16 days. Not including spending money, it cost around $6000. I laugh when I see people on the other site discussing flight costs. They have no idea what expensive flights are. We have a good supply of air miles, but good luck using them over Christmas. We will be using them for our Europe trip, hopefully. Anyways, if things go according to plan (3 years is a pretty long term plan), we will return to Jamaica, and probably go back to Negril. We both missed not being able to visit several "friends" we have there.
I will still be frequenting the boards though, regardless of when we return. And I have to say, I will follow with interest the seemingly increase in crimes against visitors, which will have an impact on our final decision. Putting myself in harms way is one thing, but I cannot fathom anything happening to my wife (again). Things could have turned out much worse last time, and that's not why we travel.
Still have a selection of pictures to post, thanks for reading.
