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We spent another day at sea, mostly resting as we had two busy days in a row ahead. Wednesday morning we arrived at Grand Cayman. This island doesn't have a deep water pier for the cruise ships, so we had to tender to the pier on boats. Once ashore, we met our tour representative who walked us to our tour van. As we crossed the street, I had to remind myself to look for traffic coming the 'wrong' way before stepping off the curb...this is another one of those place where they drive on the left side of the road!
Our driver took us to a dock on the other side of this small island, a bit north of George Town, where we boarded a boat that would take us out into the North Sound for our first stop. There is a very shallow sandbar across the mouth of the North Sound, with large populations of stingrays. It was a beautiful warm morning, and we chatted with the others on the boat: two families from Canada (one from Quebec, the other from Alberta), a family from Kentucky and a Portuguese girl who turned out to be one of the nurses from the ship.
As the boat pulled up to the sandbar and anchored, we could see dozens of stingrays swimming towards us from every direction. Once we were anchored and had been given a safety talk, we climbed into the water to get close and personal with the stingrays. They were quite tame, swimming right up to you and allowing you to touch them. A bag of food was passed around, and many people fed the stingrays, which started rubbing up against us in a fashion strongly resembling a cat rubbing against someone's legs.
When we had arrived, we were one of only two boats, but when it came time to leave (far too soon, it seemed), there were over a half dozen boats anchored in the area, with more sailing across the sound. We returned to the dock, reboarded our van, and continued our tour of the island.
We drove north past Seven Mile Beach, with its hotels and resorts, while our driver described the ongoing rebuilding efforts to repair the incredible damage inflicted by Hurricane Ivan in 2004. When we reached our next stop, the Turtle Farm at Boatswain's Beach, we further learned that Hurricane Ivan had severely damaged the original turtle farm facilities, and that they were working to rebuild their breeding populations so they could begin releasing sea turtles into the wild again. The turtle farm is a sparkling, new facility with dozens of artificial ponds full of sea turtles of varying sizes and species. They are working with the Mexican government to breed a Mexican soft-shelled sea turtle that is among the most endangered sea turtles in the world. After learning about their breeding and conservation programs, we were allowed to touch and hold some of their green sea turtles before heading back to the van.
The final stop on our tour of Grand Cayman was Hell. Hell is what the locals call a desolate rock outcropping in the northern reaches of the island. The rocks have a very volcanic appearance, but are actually weathered limestone. A small industry of tourist-trap shops has arisen around this spot, all selling souvenirs with variations of the theme "I've been to Hell and back". There is even an Official Cayman Islands post office, so you can send friends postcards from Hell.
After visiting Hell, we returned to George Town, where we spent an hour or so shopping before getting in line to catch a tender boat back to our ship. The line stretched from the pier, down the street and around the corner into the parking area where the tour vans were dropping people off. Forty-five minutes later, we finally were back on the ship and ready for the evening's activities.
Stingrays
Originally uploaded by ResQgeek.
Welcome to Hell
Originally uploaded by ResQgeek.
Our driver took us to a dock on the other side of this small island, a bit north of George Town, where we boarded a boat that would take us out into the North Sound for our first stop. There is a very shallow sandbar across the mouth of the North Sound, with large populations of stingrays. It was a beautiful warm morning, and we chatted with the others on the boat: two families from Canada (one from Quebec, the other from Alberta), a family from Kentucky and a Portuguese girl who turned out to be one of the nurses from the ship.
As the boat pulled up to the sandbar and anchored, we could see dozens of stingrays swimming towards us from every direction. Once we were anchored and had been given a safety talk, we climbed into the water to get close and personal with the stingrays. They were quite tame, swimming right up to you and allowing you to touch them. A bag of food was passed around, and many people fed the stingrays, which started rubbing up against us in a fashion strongly resembling a cat rubbing against someone's legs.
When we had arrived, we were one of only two boats, but when it came time to leave (far too soon, it seemed), there were over a half dozen boats anchored in the area, with more sailing across the sound. We returned to the dock, reboarded our van, and continued our tour of the island.
We drove north past Seven Mile Beach, with its hotels and resorts, while our driver described the ongoing rebuilding efforts to repair the incredible damage inflicted by Hurricane Ivan in 2004. When we reached our next stop, the Turtle Farm at Boatswain's Beach, we further learned that Hurricane Ivan had severely damaged the original turtle farm facilities, and that they were working to rebuild their breeding populations so they could begin releasing sea turtles into the wild again. The turtle farm is a sparkling, new facility with dozens of artificial ponds full of sea turtles of varying sizes and species. They are working with the Mexican government to breed a Mexican soft-shelled sea turtle that is among the most endangered sea turtles in the world. After learning about their breeding and conservation programs, we were allowed to touch and hold some of their green sea turtles before heading back to the van.
The final stop on our tour of Grand Cayman was Hell. Hell is what the locals call a desolate rock outcropping in the northern reaches of the island. The rocks have a very volcanic appearance, but are actually weathered limestone. A small industry of tourist-trap shops has arisen around this spot, all selling souvenirs with variations of the theme "I've been to Hell and back". There is even an Official Cayman Islands post office, so you can send friends postcards from Hell.
After visiting Hell, we returned to George Town, where we spent an hour or so shopping before getting in line to catch a tender boat back to our ship. The line stretched from the pier, down the street and around the corner into the parking area where the tour vans were dropping people off. Forty-five minutes later, we finally were back on the ship and ready for the evening's activities.
Stingrays
Originally uploaded by ResQgeek.
Welcome to Hell
Originally uploaded by ResQgeek.
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