Amazing First Visit to Portland

[agregory]

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

[agregory]

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



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!



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

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.


Beautiful surroundings at Reach Falls -


Here’s some shots of the drive there and back –

[agregory]

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

[agregory]

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 -



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.

[agregory]

We settled in, packed our backpack cooler with Red Stripe, Ting and overproof and headed down to walk along Long Bay beach.

[Justlooking]

Your pictures are to die for, breathtakingly, amazing!!!

[agregory]

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

[sammyb]

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

[johng]

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

[JitterBug]

fabulous!