Portland Parish Adventures...wandering on the green side

[askme]

Re: Portland Parish Adventures...wandering on the green side

Hey loops hope you had a good night ......

Where were these shots (directly up above this post) from???

[grandma2]

Re: Portland Parish Adventures...wandering on the green side

just wonderful (((loops))) and yes thats a wonderful couple

(((Rapo))) baby how yu doin

(((BND))) cant believe yu neve been rafting....if yu want a hookup wen yu goin link mi, my favorite thing to do

[Laurel]

Re: Portland Parish Adventures...wandering on the green side

Lovely!!

[halfwaytree]

Re: Portland Parish Adventures...wandering on the green side

Really Wonderful!

Just a nice read while enjoying my quiet Saturday morning coffee time. Soooo cold outside but soooo "Jamaica nice" inside.

[BND1999]

Re: Portland Parish Adventures...wandering on the green side

((Morning Milo))... me too coffee and photos... making me want to go back...

G2- Never really had any desire to raft down the river.. gosh i've been in the area enough.. and it's never been on my list of to dos... that's not to say i won't do it.. maybe i will.. the sunset time sounds appealing to me.. with fire glow.. and the moon....

[loops]

Re: Portland Parish Adventures...wandering on the green side

mornin Askme...those last two were from the top of a hill just outside Port Maria.

(((g2)))...so you say.

((Laurel))...you up early and still hangin in there...mornin.

((Milo))..Jamaica Nice...I like that...wish i were feeling it this mornin.

(((BND))) [img]/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] did you get your june plum? [img]/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[mountaingal]

Re: Portland Parish Adventures...wandering on the green side

mawnin, mawnin. here with my cuppa tea going over the thread in detail, enjoying again the pics. so beautiful, loops. seems like you got into that laid back vibe.

thanks for the info on Fern Hill, it sounds very reasonable for our purposes. the last time the girls and i went to Jamaica on our own was in 2000, for two weeks, spending our time between Kingston (visiting friends) and St. Elizabeth (visiting family). We stayed part of the time in Kingston at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Constant Spring (it's sold now). We loved it there, and a lot of the stonework and landscaping of Fern Hill remind me of Crowne Plaza.

We're hoping to go to Jamaica for independence, which my kids really love because they get extra doses of Jamaican culture. So we'd love to stay at a place like Fern Hill for part of that time.

thanks again for your photos and report.

[mountaingal]

Re: Portland Parish Adventures...wandering on the green side

Originally posted by loops:
[qb]

[/qb]

oh man! coo portland bush! it's so lovely, all that green.

[loops]

Re: Portland Parish Adventures...wandering on the green side

ennyways, let's put this thing to bed...

As we arrive back in Ochi...it seems busy, gritty, congested and noisy. I am missing the natural beauty and serenity that was Port Antonio already. We land back at the Hibiscus ...and it's still a nice place. We relax on the verandah and enjoy our last few hours in Jamaica. [img]/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

[mountaingal]

Re: Portland Parish Adventures...wandering on the green side

Originally posted by Island Girl:
[qb] We have been to Bath twice in our 5 trips. This, our third time to Bath, we will defintely overnite at the Bath Hotel, it is simply lovely. We have never been down any of the "non-official" side trips away from the baths themselves. The Bath Hotel and the springs are enclosed within the hotel complex. They are cleaned and refilled after each use, so are very sanitary.

No one has ever offered to "slap" us, that seems to be off the actual official Bath property up (or down?) the river away from the hotel. I hear you can bathe in the warm mineral river and get a massage from a local "Rasta", although we have never done and have no desire to do- have heard so many times it is a "ripoff" (not my words, lol)

As you can gather, there are a few "unofficial" tours. The pressure at the entrance is quite intense [img]/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] everyone is competing for your attention, almost like Negril Beach, LOL. BUT once inside it is very peaceful, almost surreal, which explains why we keep returning.

The bath itself: basically you are ushered into a tiled room with high windows and steps down to the bath, where you can regulate the hot-and-cold water, which is flowing constantly out of the pipes, to your liking. You can also drink the water, it is supposed to be beneficial. When you are sitting down, on the bottom of the tiled bath (like a giant square bathtub with room for a few people) the water comes up to mid-chest height, at least on me but I am short, LOL. They are supposed to leave you in there for 20 minutes I think but we have always gotten a much longer bath. I believe optional services, such as massage, are available at the hotel as well, but they are never pushed on you.

It is very relaxing and we have always enjoyed it, enough to make the rather bumpy journey there each time anyway, LOL [img]/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] The road we take there is very interesting, through banana and sugar cane, and cocoa plantations. quite idyllic and never boring, plenty of photo ops. [img]/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] OH you do have to bring your own towels, but no swimsuit needed as long as you know the people you are going in with [img]/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] It's part of the fun [img]/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]
...
By the way, there is only one entrance to the official Bath, that is at the hotel at the end of the drive. Do not let the hustlers distract you or drive you away and ruin your trip; once you get past a certain point they are no longer allowed.

IRIE! *IG [/qb]

i totally endorse this. in 2000, a mixed group of us (local and farriners) went to Bath, and believe me it was quite the thing to run the gauntlet of hustlers at the front. but inside the baths it was so different, so utterly peaceful and calming.

my daughters and I were given one cubicle, and it was painted red inside, so it felt so womblike. the water was hot and comforting. i felt moved to start singing to myself, which unfortunately, was not appreciated by my older daughter. she got mad, and the madder she got, the more i sang... [img]/forums/images/graemlins/704555_dwl.gif[/img] so she said i spoilt her time for her. i promised that i would make it up to her by taking her back there this year and keeping my mouth shut!

a friend of mine here in canada who is recovering from breast cancer went to jamaica over christmas and spent some time at Bath. she enjoyed it very much, said it made her feel better.

Jamaica's baths have some of the highest mineral content in the world. as well as Bath (in St. Thomas), there's Milk River in south Clarendon (which,unfortunately is prone to flooding), and also Rockfort on the outskirts of Kingston.

[loops]

Re: Portland Parish Adventures...wandering on the green side

yknow mountaingal...that independence celebration sounds fun. I hope you do get to stay at Fern Hill...and thrilled you are enjoying my pics.

and btw...the laid back vibe? I bring it with me. [img]/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

[mountaingal]

Re: Portland Parish Adventures...wandering on the green side

what i wanted to ask about Fern Hill: are there lots of young men around? I'm fretting, as my girls are of an age, and i'm wondering how big a bat i'm going to need to bring to beat the guys off...

[loops]

Re: Portland Parish Adventures...wandering on the green side



can't say enough about the breakfast at the Almond Tree at Hibiscus...some good grazing there! [img]/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]



stairs go from the restaurant down to the sea and back up under and to the pool. cool aviary under there...and some unreal plants clinging to the vertical drop. Very very pretty place.



ok...this is looking down over the railing to the water below. [img]/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[loops]

Re: Portland Parish Adventures...wandering on the green side





mountaingal...you're troubles are more off the resort than on...i've seen pics of your girls. [img]/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] There was hardly anyone around Fern Hill...not a huge staff. They were very polite and friendly. It's perfect for you. Anytime we were around the pools...there was no one else there.

[Green_Biscuit]

Re: Portland Parish Adventures...wandering on the green side

Awesome Loops. I was reading and rereading last night. AJ got all excited about the market and the fruits, and I told her that we were going to see one like it in less than 2 months - she was all excited, and spent a good deal of time scrolling through your photos. [img]/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] More please. I know there is more.