KingstonWrey & Nephew Factory... Aging Rum in the Barrels
Red Stripe Factory
Mural in Trenchtown
Trenchtown Goat
Culture Yard
Sitting in the Government Yard in Trenchtown
Trenchtown
Tivoli Gardens
Kingston
Tivoli Gardens... Bullet Holes in the Buildings in the Background
KFC... Typical Jamaican Food
Schoolchildren In Kingston
Cricket Stadium
Controvercial Statue in New Kingston
Evening view from the hotel
The next morning, Trevor arrives to pick us up and take us to Port Antonio. Boston Beach, actually, a bit past Port Antonio. It was a nice drive, got to see some of the Blue Mountains on the way. After a few hours, we arrive at Boston Beach. We say our goodbyes to Trevor and thank him for all that he has done. After all the time that he had spent taking us around, all he wanted was gas money. That was unacceptable to us, and we gave him significantly more, which he was reluctant to accept until we insisted and told him if he didn't want it he could donate it to his church. I suspect that the church did get a nice donation that Sunday.
Boston Beach is considered the birthplace of jerk cooking. Located there is the Boston Jerk Center, a collection of several different places to try some great cooking. My goal was to try every place, and in the end, I think we did a pretty good job. Since this was going to be a major reason for staying on this part of the island, I decided that we should stay somewhere close. I learned that there was a "resort" immediately next to the jerk center called "Great Huts." This was where we decided to stay, and it was a fantastic choice.
Great Huts really was one of the coolest places we have ever stayed. Upscale camping was the way I describes it, but this does not do it justice. The name really is fitting. You stay in huts, all open to the outdoors. However, they take the definition of huts to a new level. Every one is completely unique, and really, really impressive. I mean, one of the huts was a full on castle. A giant tower overlooking the sea was another hut. Absolutely amazing.
The majority of the huts are fairly upscale and expensive, costing between $180-300 a night. However, there are a few cheaper huts under $80. These have a shared bathroom and no hot water. While not thrilled with sharing a bathroom, we were on a budget and booked one of the cheap huts. We arrive, and since they are not full, we get a free upgrade! Woohoo, no cold showers! And let me tell you, our hut was just fantastic. Full on living room and kitchen, and a huge bedroom. The amazing small details, such as the bathtub actually carved out of a giant log. Great bed, with a mosquito net, since all of this was still a hut and open to the outside. No way I can accurately describe it. Even the budget huts, which we checked out, were very nice. Just a beautiful resort, and the way they used the land that they have is just amazing. I would highly recommend this place for anyone.
Boston Beach is famous for its jerk center, and that was my dining plans for the next several days. There were several stalls, all similar, really, but I intended to try them all. The food was very good at all of them. However, maybe my expectations may have been a bit high. The specialty, we heard, was their pork. And yes, it was very good. However, the pork I have gotten in Negril is better. Both Red Dragon and Dean on the beach server better pork, in my opinion. The pork at Boston Beach reminded me of Ossies - good, but a slight step below that of Dean or Raggabones. The chicken was also good, but not any better than many places in Negril. The one thing that you cannot get in Negril was the jerk sausage. Both pork sausage and chicken sausage were amazing. We discovered this late in our visit to Boston, but it was the highlight of the jerk center. I have not heard of any other place on the island that you can get this, unfortunately, and now that I have a taste of it, I want more! Fantastic!
Nightlife in Boston Beach is, well, a bit lacking. There are a few small local's bars, but often felt the hassle to be not worth it. It seems they do not get many tourists, at least at the local bars, and some of the local characters can be a bit over enthusiastic. It was a quiet night at a bar, and everyone was watching a movie on the TV. We were three quarters of the way through, the entire bar watching, and one local comes in and just will not stop talking. We would tell him we were watching a movie, and he would still talk at us. Not with us, at us. The movie ended, and we moved on to the other bar in the town. Of course, he followed us. Would not stop bothering us. Probably my fault, I should have been more direct, I suppose, but damn did he get annoying. Finally, we got him out of the bar, but by then, I was tired and done. We walked out, and of course, the same guy was waiting for us. I lost it when he started walking with us home. No! I've had enough of you already! Go away!!! That was our last night in Boston Beach, and probably a good thing, since I was done with this guy. Negril often gets a bad reputation, but I've never been hassled in Negril like I was in Boston Beach.
During the day, the area is absolutely beautiful. Boston Beach is very nice. More waves than Negril, and surfing is available. The beach area there at Great Huts was very cool. There are several small pools to sit in that are protected from the waves. You can see the powerful waves crashing a few feet away, but by the time they reach you it becomes just a trickle. We hung out on the beach a bit here, and also visited nearby Blue Lagoon, which was gorgeous.
Our main excursion while in the area was to go rafting on the Rio Grande. These are the bamboo rafts that are shown in the travel brocures. There are two places to do this in Jamaica, the Rio Grande near Port Antonio and the Martha Brae near Montego Bay. The Rio Grande is where this kind of rafting originated, and is a bit of a longer trip as well. The Bamboo rafts were originally used to transport bananas to the coast. Errol Flynn convinced one of the raft operators to put a seat on the back, and a new tradition was started.
We had made arrangements with a raft captain to go in the morning. He would meet us at the resort. He arrived at the scheduled time. Transportation was not included, but he would guide us in the right direction. We took a route taxi into Port Antonio, and walked a few blocks to where the taxis went into the mountains. We arrived at the rafting start, and were offered beers and other provisions for the trip. We walk down to the river, board the raft, and settle in for several hours of pure relaxation. It was very enjoyable, with no one else around. We apparently were the first people on the river that day, and we never saw another raft the entire trip, aside from locals bringing the rafts back upstream. It was so relaxing, beautiful, and peaceful. The sun never quite got out enough to make it hot, so we didn't do much swimming, but the option was there. We also made a stop midway through the trip where beers, food, and souvenirs were sold.
Definitely a great trip, and we enjoyed ourselves for a few hours on the river. The last portion of the trip our raft captain started hinting about tips. The cost for the trip was $70, so I had originally planned to give $80. After his talk, I raised it a bit, so it was $88 we gave him for the trip, not including transportation. Worth it, and I thought it was a reasonable tip. I mean, it's well over 20%. Apparently, that was not enough, and he kinda gave us some attitude. A great trip, but that put a bit of a bad ending to it. Were we cheap? How much was he expecting?
Anyways, the Port Antonio area was nice. Very beautiful. Again, happy to have been. Would absolutely recommend Great Huts to anyone, and the sights were very nice to see. This part of the trip we were kinda winging it. We were not sure how long we wanted to stay in the area, so we had nothing booked or planned, really. We had booked 2 nights, and the next week we would just wing it as we go. We extended in Boston Beach for a third night, but after that it was time to move on. The beauty is there, and if we were the "chill and relax" types, we would probably have stayed a bit longer. However, we also enjoy the nightlife and socializing, so it was time to head over to Negril.
Pushcart in Negril has Jerk Sausage and it is VERY good! Had it for the first time on our last trip back in October (2011)
Loving your report, we have done a lot of the same things and it is always fun reading about others experiences! Just loving your report AND the pictures! Thanks again for sharing.
Oh and by the way, it was most likely Damian you saw at Bob's house. When in town they spend most all of their time there, and usually will just be hanging out in the yard or sitting on the front porch area, or even in the back in the studio recording. With the exception of Stephen, every car I have ever seen them driving is usually an older model car or just a regular truck or something. I always saw Julian in a red honda civic? maybe? and Damian had a Rav4 back in the day.....now in the States....well that's a different story! LOL
I'm loving everything about your report-esp the way you two travel-really get out and about to see and exp. all the culture, etc...and love how you two kind of "wing-it too"..
This is my kind of report and looking forward to more...
Thank you so much for sharing..
" Ones destination is never a place, but rather a new way of looking at things." (Henry Miller)
Great report! Love the pictures from Kingston. Government Yard brudda, sweet!! That's a lifetime moment right there. Pork Pit in Mo Bay has jerk sausage. The lady in front of me ordered it, when I asked what it was she gave me a slice, delicious. Pic's of Great Huts?
What's so funny 'bout Peace, Love and Understanding?
Jerk sausage??? GET OUT! Have mercy, my husband is going to want to eat there every night. I absolutely love their jerk platter!Originally Posted by marley9808
Kiknbak, I am loving the pictures you're posting, especially of Kingston. Your hotel views were amazing...can't beat a combination city/tropical view, IMO.
This is a great report - makes me want to revisit Kingston and PA .. made about 4 trips to town during the late 1980s. I really liked your photo's of the Kingston - beautiful pic of the Ward Theatre (I went to Pantomine some 20 plus years ago and saw the late Miss Lou at her finest in the live production - hopefully the theatre can be restored to its former beauty in the years to come. When I was there is was like faded elegance, but several hurricanes have severely damaged her since - I know there is a foundation set up for donations for just that purchase). I never made it to Trench Town (in fact I recall several Kingstonians telling me that even if I wanted to go there I would not be able to find a taxi willing to take me to that area). I did spend quite a bit of time in downtown Kingston, including the National Art Gallery for a full afternoon.
Loved the idea of using priceline for hotel room in Kingston and will give that a try before my next trip to JA (I go for long stays now that I am retired and 3 nights in Kingston and 3 nights in Port Antonio would make a nice break from Negril). Great Huts has been on my wish list for a couple of years also.
Looking forward to hearing more of your trip and more pictures!
Yep! It was delicious! I have a picture of it somewhere I will find and post.
My hubby ordered it (I had the Pepper Shrimp like always) but he loved it and gave me a bite and I had to agree it was fantastic!
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