Grand Cayman

   It doesn't really matter, but I said that I would finish our cruise by talking about Grand Cayman Island. So here goes.

    On the last "at sea" day of our 2 week Panama Canal cruise, we woke up to find ourselves in the bay outside of the island of Grand Cayman. FYI.....there are 3 island that make up the Caymans. Most people stop at Grand Cayman, which is as it's name states, the largest. They were and are under British rule and so the people speak with a British accent....kinda fun. Native people are very black but there are all colors and sounds of people there.

    From what we were told, it had been rainy and bad weather there for  over a week.We were very glad that the weather was wonderful or else both of our planned day excursions would have been canceled.
First stop: shopping. I still needed to find my 3 girls back home something "real" from our trip. We stumbled upon a little shop where we were able to buy and afford some very pretty black coral earrings for each of them. This is one of the few places left in the world where they allow people to harvest, polish and sell black coral.
    If you've ever read anything about Grand Cayman, the words, "stingray" always pop up. They are famous for the stingray sandbar. You get on a boat, beautiful blue skies, crystal clear gorgeous water, out to a sandbar. You get off the boat and are standing in clear warm water up to your waist. The bottom is sandy and you are instantly surrounded by large stingrays. They are used to people coming here and feeding them. Your guide shows you how and you carefully hold the squid in your hang for the stingray to suck out of your fingers.

It was a bit scary for me at first, cause these stingrays are big, not afraid, yes they still do have their stingers, and they are aggressive. The guide will pick a ray up and let it rub on your arm or back if you want!!! They are velvety soft and almost feel like stuffed animal fur. We did have one man get a bit of a bloody hand and one stepped on a ray. So it can be a bit interesting. We were on a boat with quite a few older people and half the boat didn't even get out of the boat. They just watched from the boat.

The whole experience was super. It was one of the best things we did on the whole trip. I love the warmth and the color or the Caribbean Sea. And the rays were incredible to be around. I would highly recommend that anybody that goes to the Caymans, do this acitivity. It is worth it. And kids would love it.....albeit ones that are tall enough to stand in the water.

     After the rays, we were taken over to another area where those who wanted to could snorkel. Even less people than the first stop, tried this. I was the first one off the back of the boat. As I said, the water was clear and warm, we saw lots of fish and even a turtle and a tailless ray. Not long enough for me before they were wanting us to get out. I did bang my shin good on the metal ladder and still had the bruise a month later. Do remember to take a water camera!!!

       After the boat trip, we were driven to a turtle farm. Yes you do have to pay to get in!! They have many large tanks full of various sizes of turtles.....from babies to 5 year olds that are BIG. They also have a "beach" for the mommy turtles to climb up onto the sand at night and bury their eggs. They use these farms for 3 reasons: 1. to raise and release turtles back into the wild  2. for educational purposes  3. for turtle meat!!! This is the only place that you can legally buy and or eat turtle meat. A few people on our boat tried a turtle burger.....tastes like chicken!!!
     Our tour guide grabbed a few of the smaller turtles out of the tanks and we were allowed to hold them. They are heavier than they look. You  have to have them face away from the water and rub under their little necks and they settle right down.....if not they flay madly trying to get away. It works!!

   

     So, we had a great day with 2 wonderful side trips there on Grand Cayman. Like I said before, this island is one that I would come back to again and even one that I would consider flying into and staying  for a week. Anybody game to go along???