Blogs from Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, Central America Caribbean - page 4

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We were in Grand Cayman in 2014, so are happy this time to do our own thing, rather than doing something organised by the ship. Grand Cayman has strong connections with Britain / UK. There are six big cruise ships in dock today and ours is the last to arrive. It is 11.00am by the time we get off the boat. We head off to the public bus station and are soon on our way to a little village we have heard about called Hell. Your eyes are not misleading you. This village had grown up around a small area of strange looking volcanic rock looking very much like a lunar landscape. They have a quaint village post office that can post mail with a Hell post stamp, and can also do passport stamps, which we ... read more
MSC Divina in port - Not a cruise line we like
Freedom of the Seas in port
Disney Magic moored nearby


Geo: 19.3086, -81.2521 We arrived at Grand Cayman around 9:00 this morning with an all ashore time at 9:30. Today we had booked an excursion not from the cruise line. Our tour was with Captain Bryan’s to take a Catamaran to Stingray City and snorkeling. Originally we were booked on a tour at noon but it had been changed to 1 pm due to cruise ship arrival times. We got off the ship at about 10:30 and looked to find a place to eat and decided on Dairy Queen (because there wasn’t many other choices near the cruise terminal). Then we went to meet up with Captain Bryan’s. We were informed that due to the weather, they were not taking the cruise out and it had been cancelled. They arranged for us to go with a ... read more
Welcome to the Cayman Islands
Stingray
Stingray


We had the morning to ourselves, spent some time looking at maps of West Bay and Georgetown….opted for a walk to the beach…only a few minutes from the house. We had the whole beach to ourselves…nice sand for walking on at low tide, but rocky with turtle grass in the water. Probably best swimming is at high tide so the rocks can be avoided. Back at the house, went in the pool….so refreshing after getting hot and steamy on our walk. A nice lazy morning before heading into Georgetown for Fred’s interview at the hospital later this afternoon. We found our way into Georgetown on our own, had lunch at Legendz….we knew we could find it…then to the hospital for Fred’s interview. I waited in the car, reading tourists guides about restaurants on Grand Cayman. I ... read more
Conch Point condos - for sale!!!!
West Bay beach...in the other direction
Freddie


Our trip began with an hour drive to Burlington Saturday afternoon. Our flight leaves at 5:45 am Sunday so we thought it best to get a hotel room close to the airport. Nice room with comfy king sized bed. We were both falling asleep watching TV at 4:30 pm so decided we’d better get an early dinner and picked the 99 Restaurant near the hotel. We sat at the bar, Freddie got a tropical drink made with their pineapple infused vodka, I had a yummy Manhattan….off to a great start. I got a text from my mother’s live-in aide agency…more aide drama…Fred said “shut your phone off”…I complied. After more cocktails and dinner we were waiting for our check, and nature called….no not in the way you usually think. Fred and I both had colds and ... read more


Jerry tells us about a Easter weekend tradition for the locals here...they camp out on the beach...you could see the tents and shelters all along the beach as we drove into Georgetown. We started our day with breakfast at the cafe next to Legendz. Good omelets....ham and cheese, jerk chicken...home fries, etc. then drove out to the eastern side of the island. Checked out the areas of Prospect and Savannah...going farther east there's really not much for shops within walking distance of residential neighborhoods. We drove around Georgetown, past the hospital where Fred has his interview on Wed. There are free clinics for hospital employees....might be a good place for me to get my aching knee replaced! Lots of jewelry and clothing stores that cater to tourists and cruise ships that come into the harbor, making ... read more
View down Seven Mile Beach looking towards Georgetown
Calico Jacks beach side
AARRGGHHHH!!!!!!


Schmoozing, bluesing & cruising with those Darn Dangerous Binkleys Part 4: Where the rich find Hell is their Heaven. I always thought Hell was where the souls of the wicked go when they die...enduring eternal damnation. Not the sort of place you'd willingly go...not unless you were really bad. But now I'm thinking Hell is where rich people go. Not all rich people mind you...just some...like that guy who invented Styrofoam. I always thought Hell was a place of fire and brimstone...not enough to burn you...but enough to make you gnash your teeth with regret...for eternity. But now I'm thinking Hell is not a place of fire and brimstone...but a hot bed of lizards. Not all lizards mind you...just some...like dragon lizards. But how would this humble dancer know? Cause I've been there...That's how I know! ... read more
Charlie Musselwhite
Pirates
Welcome to Hell


STING RAY CITY GRAND CAYMAN When I stepped up into the van that would take me to the boat for Cayman’s Sting Ray City excursion, I said something about Cayman not being a backpacker’s kind of place. The driver glanced back at me and said a bit accusingly, “A bit old for that, aren’t you?” I was surprised that he had said this out loud. So was he, I think. He tried smoothing it over by saying, well anyway, he was too old for backpacking. I told him that was how I managed to travel for the last two summers. Then he did the, “Oh, you’re much younger than me” thing, and we exchanged ages. He was surprised that I was two decades older than he (or was he feigning it?) I had a nice chat ... read more
A Pair of Rays, synchronized swimming...
Here the ray is searching for an elusive bit of squid.
One other person with a snorkel


Queen Elizabeth II Botanical Gardens It was a regular hot, sultry day when I caught the bus to the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Garden. The fare was only $5 and I saw a lot of Grand Cayman from the window. It was interesting to watch the people, too. They come in all sizes, like on any public transport, and each of them has a story. I make up my own stories if I don’t get to talk to them. I was grateful that the bus took me all the way to the Visitor’s Center, since the driveway must have been at least two miles long. There, in the middle of the parking lot was a living breathing Blue Iguana. I went in the doors and paid the admission fee, and was informed that the Iguana Recovery ... read more
Orchid Garden
Color Garden
Many of the blooms were fragrant.


Diving the Kittiwake When I moved to Darlene’s apartment I had already done eight dives with Don Foster’s dive shop. I gave some thought to what I wanted to do with the time remaining in Grand Cayman. I wanted to do the snorkel trip to Sting Ray City, and visit the Botanical Gardens, and I decided to go ahead and book the Sunday dive on the well-known wreck, Kittiwake, with the dive shop. I figured these were activities that most tourists do and people might ask me about. Usually the dive shop requires four divers to do this dive as it is quite far away, however when I arrived I discovered that the dive was four staff members and me. Luckily some of the staff were new and needed experience on the wreck in order to ... read more
Plaque on the sunken USS Kittiwake.
Resident fish silhouetted against light through a porthole.
Walking?


A Generous Gift…A Gracious Hostess Between dives I was still worrying, wondering how I was going to get back into my budget mode. I did some internet searching looking for cheap accommodations in Cayman Brac and Little Cayman. I had hoped to dive these other sites as long as I was in the vicinity. However, from the information I could glean, they were even more expensive than Grand Cayman and I finally gave up the idea of diving there. What now? On dive day three our dive boat was staffed by an all women crew; two dive masters and the boat captain. There was another woman diver, Darlene, and the only man on the boat, Ed whom I had dived with the day before. The dives were easy, not confused by multitudes of divers and I ... read more
Comfort and Color
One of Darlene's sea sculptures
Window on the Sea




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