Seeing the Forest Thru the Trees

[jagypsy]

Re: Seeing the Forest Thru the Trees

I gotta tell you, I am really loving your report...the pics, the videos and the narrative! Thanks for sharing.

[Nylah]

Re: Seeing the Forest Thru the Trees


Thanks jagypsy

[Nylah]

Re: Seeing the Forest Thru the Trees

Still waiting on my lazy brother to upload my videos I dont know why he is taking forever and a day.

In the meanwhile here are some random shots around Portland.

Shots from the veranda of Ivanhoe's



I am in love with the houses in this nieghborhood



I had all kinds of ideas for this one



This one is occupied.I believe the boys said it is a woodeworking/carpentry business being run out of the place. Since most of the houses have been long abandoned by their owners, people will move in and take over the homes either to live or work.



The main road where Ivanhoe and Ocean Crest guethouse is on. The JDF compound is to the right. I think it is West Street it is on



Mrs. Burke, the owner of Ivanhoe's, is an avid horticulturist. Her landscaping, if you are into that kind of thing, is gorgeous. Another guest and I were talking about the flowers one day while I sat outside waiting for C and G to arrive. This woman was impressed as well. Turns out she is a landscaper from Kingston so she was a wealth of informaiton about JA flora. Too bad I have a bad memory and cannot remember most of what she explained to me







I asked the Kingstonian about these flowers that I just loved but I cannot remember the name other than it starts with a <span style="font-weight: bold">M</span> Some like moon....something something something. I love how these big, heavy, fragrant blooms look.

[Nylah]

Re: Seeing the Forest Thru the Trees

One hell of a Fern plant

[Nylah]

Re: Seeing the Forest Thru the Trees

Inside shot of the <span style="font-weight: bold">St George Mall </span>in Port Antonio. Ivanhoe is a 7 minute walk from the Mall and the <span style="font-weight: bold">Errol Flynn Marina </span>is directly across the street.

One the far left corner is the nice little bistro I had breakfast a few times. They make this juice from <span style="font-weight: bold">otaheite apples and fresh ginger </span>that is to die for The last day I was there I had about 4 glasses back to back
The woman does some nice things with eggs Only thing I didnt care for were her pancakes.




Back entrance to the Mall. This leads to the sea wall where there are pathways for you to walk on.
Titchfield High School is up the road.

[Nylah]

Re: Seeing the Forest Thru the Trees

Our trip is slowly winding down and the unavoidable is fast approaching We were supposed to meet with the lawyer but in true lawlyerly fashion I couldnt get him on the phone to confirm a date and time. Feeling really irrtated by it all since it felt like the Sword of Damocles was hanging over my head, I decided we were going to head to Kingston on Thursday and he will have to see us once we arrive. There is no way he can say no becuase he knew I was coming to the island and I had left enough messages with his assistant.

Driving in JA wasnt as death-defying as I originally had envisioned but I drew the line at Kingston Too many one ways and I simply had no idea where I was going once I was in the city. I knew where the office is on New Kingston but not how to get there. I wasnt gonna mess around with getting lost in Kingston.....

So, the boys hired a local driver who knew Kingston well. The last time I went to Kingston the driver didnt know Kingston that well and I was late for the appointment. So, it was important that the person actually knew the city and was not just used to driving about the place.

C hooks us up with his friend &quot;owlie. Here is another driver I would recommend in a heart beat for trips around Portland and to Kingston Excellent driver, comfortable car, and just a good ecent person overall. Very quiet but personable.

We head out at around 8:30am to Kingston. I fell asleep for most of the trip but when I woke up we had hit the city edge around 10:20am.







Shots of the new Spanish Court Hotel. Originally Egghead an I were going to spend the night in Kingston and I planned to book this hotel. However since the ride from Portie A is so much shorter than our original trip from Ochi I decided against it. I was happier to just retrun to Port Antonio once we were done.

Kingston was well HOT that day

[damswell]

Re: Seeing the Forest Thru the Trees

how long was the drive from boston to reach falls? curious as ive been all over jamaica but never ventured past boston on travels.

[Nylah]

Re: Seeing the Forest Thru the Trees

I just thought this funny that this guy was parking his bike on the sidewalk





As we are driving towards the office I get a call from my lawyer's assistant. She calls to tell me that he will see my at 11:00am today. I said it is a good thing I am a mind reader because calling me at 10:30am to tell me of an 11:00am appt when I was more than 2 hours away would have been difficult to pull off if I didnt have these mind reading abilities. She didnt really know how to respond to that comment but whatever. Everything is working out.

We do the lawyer thing and was glad for it to be over. Only because I always feel to strangle someone after we meet.....


Anyhoo, I hadnt eaten breakfast yet again and Egghead needed to purchase a bigger memory card for his camera. O'wlie drives us up the street to a mall that is a few blocks away from the lawyer office. I cant recall the name.



accross the street



I was really jonesing for some Sushi and figured that I should be able to find some in Kingston The driver points to Little Toyko in the Mall complex. We walk over and I go in to order an Egghead goes and does his business.

Looking at the menu board I realize something is off about Little Toyko....the name implies Janpaese food but the vast majority on display is Chinese I mean I dont think there is a General Kung Pao in the japanese army....I sigh and thought if they cant get the basics right
then I dont think I will give their Sushi a try



I ordered some chow mien and some breaded type chicken instead.





I ate enough to fill my belly somewhat...that should give u an idea of what I thought of the food

[Nylah]

Re: Seeing the Forest Thru the Trees

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: damswell</div><div class="ubbcode-body">how long was the drive from boston to reach falls? curious as ive been all over jamaica but never ventured past boston on travels. </div></div>

The drive was about 45 mins to an hour. A good portion of the road is somewhat decent but once you get into the Long Bay area you are dealing with some serious potholes courtesy of the last hurricane that hit its shores.

[damswell]

Re: Seeing the Forest Thru the Trees

Thanks thats not bad at all. We will be in porty next sunday and figured it might be a nice little side outing....how much was it to get in? im not sure i saw it in your report. Love the pics btw....

[Nylah]

Re: Seeing the Forest Thru the Trees

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: damswell</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Thanks thats not bad at all. We will be in porty next sunday and figured it might be a nice little side outing....how much was it to get in? im not sure i saw it in your report. Love the pics btw.... </div></div>

oh I envy you

You know, my brother paid so I dont recall the prices.
I think it was about the equivalent of 10USD per person. There are kids rates and then rates for Jamaican nationals as well.

Enjoy your trip

[hannahcommunications]

Re: Seeing the Forest Thru the Trees

Oh what a treat! I haven't had the time to log on properly in weeks and look what I find - Nylah's trip report...couldn't believe it!

I'm just going through it now, but had to post after watching one of your videos.I stopped breathing for a sec because listening to you speak is like listening to myself...spoooky!

Okay heading back to look at these beautiful pics - love JJewel's place...

[damswell]

Re: Seeing the Forest Thru the Trees

Thanks i appreciate the info....as long as i lived there and travel around i tend to stay on the north coast alot....since moving back to canada and going back for visits i have tried to see more of the portland side and south coast.

thanks again

[Nylah]

Re: Seeing the Forest Thru the Trees






I wanted some Devon House ice cream - rum and raisin so I asked if we could go to Devon House. Since we were already heading in the other direction and would have to double back thru the one-ways, the driver sugested we have ice cream at the Devon House shop in Portie A. I should have stuck to my guns and said no, let's make our way back thru Kingston. Once we got into Portie A I was disappointed that they had only 3 flavours available and 2 I couldnt eat b/c they contained nuts

Before all of that here are some shots of the ride out of Kingston.





Instead of taking the route near Spanish Town the driver went thru St Mary's. What a beautiful drive This was my first time thru this parish.

Making our way thru Stony Hill

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Thru Stary. I noticed a lot of new signs for Banna plantations going up. In partnership with EU

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[Nylah]

Re: Seeing the Forest Thru the Trees

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: damswell</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Thanks i appreciate the info....as long as i lived there and travel around i tend to stay on the north coast alot....since moving back to canada and going back for visits i have tried to see more of the portland side and south coast.

thanks again </div></div>


Welcome

This is what I love about JA - the diversity. I never venture farther than Ochi to visit family and was taken aback by how different and beautiful the parishes farther east are. I would love to explore the south side on another trip as well.