Amazing First Visit to Portland

[agregory]

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


It was getting late in the afternoon, so the sun was going behind the trees to the west of the cove.


Here’s a beautiful shot from our walk back to the house –


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 –

[agregory]

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

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

[Vince]

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

[*vi*]

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!

[sammyb]

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

[agregory]

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


Rock Bottom's works of art at the craft market


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


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.







Watching the Jamaican lifeguards can be amusing sometimes too. This one was determined to keep his shirt dry.

[agregory]

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

[agregory]

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

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 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!


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 -

[Vince]

Done the rum and coconut thing before. Good mon!

[Vince]

Now we are talking!!!! Chicken on da beach!! lol Stunning pictures!!!!!!!!