Without a doubt Kingston. Shorter cab ride and a much much less busy airport. Customs and Immigration coming in and leaving was a complete breeze.Originally Posted by Treasure BeachBum
Without a doubt Kingston. Shorter cab ride and a much much less busy airport. Customs and Immigration coming in and leaving was a complete breeze.
Never heard of Portland until now. What a gorgeous spot! Thanks for the post and pictures.
Continuation of Day 2
After finishing our shopping we headed back to the house to go for a swim but first we wanted to stop at the Errol Flynn Marina. What a beautiful property. Not only is this a great little marina for all of the caribbean sailors to anchor for a couple of nights, it is also where smaller cruise ships sometimes dock. They have the customs building, Immigration,etc. I thought to myself, cruise ship; what a cool way to get to this part of the Island. I wondered if I could get a cruise just to here and then fly home (remember; I had eaten a giant sub earlier and my mind was wandering). Ms. Laura pointing out the view of Port Antonio from the marina snapped me out of my deep thoughts and I was back in the present. These pics are from when we were coming back from town later on in the week and quickly drove through. I did want to get these pics since I had forgot my camera.
I wasn't expecting the Marina to be such a large space but it was pretty impressive. I hear there is a bar there, and Bikini Beach is close by, but we didn't stop. We had perishables from our visit to the market that needed refrigeration and we just wanted to get back to the house and in the ocean.
Once we got back to the house it was time to crack open some Red Stripe, set up some tunes and do absolutely nothing. The weather was perfect; high clouds, a gentle breeze, soul warming sun. I set up what was to be my throne of laziness for the next week. The throne consisted of a large,solid reclining lounge chair, covered with a thick cushion, and multiple towels. It was from this perch i was ready to watch the world go by.
One of the cool things about where we were staying is it is right across from Pellew Island. The island has a small white sand beach and is completely protected from any waves. The majority of the visitors to the beach seemed that they were either vacationing Jamaicans or locals looking to go for a swim. Either way, there was a fairly light amount of boat traffic constantly going to and from the beach. Both regular fishermens boats and bamboo boats would visit the beach. I had a great view to observe the comings and goings and was provided a constant source of entertainment.
I had been lounging for about 10 minutes, about half a beer (that's how I keep time while on vacation since I don't wear a watch), and Ms. Verona says from the kitchen "The fishmon is here." Way cool he delivers. So fishmon comes out to the patio with a beautiful Red Snapper. Verona whispers "I think the fish is light, more like 4".I had no idea what she meant.I didn't know the correct protocol for purchasing a fish brought to your place buy some random fishmon. It was then I realized I needed to barter both weight and price with this guy. So fishmon comes out with 7lbs as his opening bid. I look at him solemnly and say "No, that looks more like 4lbs". He looks at me like I am out of my mind. Fishmon then counters with 6lbs. I take a much closer look at the fish, I grab the dorsal fin and pull it up. I try to make it look like I know what the hell I'm doing. I ask him to hand it to me, he does, and I hold it out like I'm weighing it in my mind. As if I could tell tell the difference between a 6lb fish and a 4lb fish.I say "How about 5?" He says"Done". We then agree on $650 JMD per pound.
After we exchange the money he gets down to business. He takes off his red shirt, and in his t-shirt he walks down the stairs to the water and starts cleaning the fish. He scaled it first with a fork and then dressed the rest of the fish with a filet knife.. The guy was a total pro and he was done in no time. I gave him a Stripe for the road and it was back to the throne.
We had mentioned to Verona that we wanted to have lobster 2 of the nights that we were there. One night garlic butter style, the other night curried. Sure enough, 1 and a half Red Stripes later, I hear "Lobstahman here." So I get up to meet the lobstahman. Now that I was well versed on the appropriate way to conduct a fish or crustacean transaction, I confidently introduced myself. Lobstahman was a very nice older gentleman and he had a box full of lobster. When he opened the box and I saw them I said "Wow those are huge lobsters!". However, as soon as I said that, I knew I had lost all of my bargaining power with lobstahman.We quickly settled on a fair price that I know made him happy. I slipped him a Stripe for the road and all was well.
All transactions for the day being completed. It was time to do some snorkeling and relaxing.
As the sun starts to go down, we sit down to eat. First we had a delicious pumpkin soup. That was followed with Red Snapper escoviche and steamed vegetables, fried Irish, and salad with a herb vinaigrette.While sitting there, watching the sunset, eating a great meal, listening to the peepers I remembered how cool this island really is. More later.
Last edited by bigbamboo; 12-13-2015 at 07:39 PM.
Fantastic, man. Keep it coming.
just about perfect i'd say!! . . . love porty for the vibe . . .
Great report and pictures,thanks for sharing!
Drooling.....
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
LOVIN every single second of this....sweet Portland sigh
Tagging along and loving it....
How is verona?
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