Today we did some more site seeing. It is 85F with high humidity (it rained last night). We hit Georgetown which is the busiest part of the Caymans. It was extra busy as a couple of cruise ships off loaded their "over fed, newly wed or nearly dead". We did some shopping and had lunch at a Caribbean style chicken restaurant. It was quite good.
In this shot you'll see the smaller ship that take the passengers from the cruise liners to shore
After lunch Ross took us to an area hit hard by Hurricane Ivan in 2004. These photos are of a high priced condo complex that a friend of his lived in. Apparently this was quite the place to live in prior to the hurricane. His friend barely escaped with his life and suffered a broken collar bone. The area is currently for sale but there have been no buyers:
A fancy chandelier used to hang from this chain
The remains of a kidney shaped swimming pool:
There was a 20 foot storm surge. The waves were 8-10 feet ABOVE the surge. Water entered the second floor of this complex. In this photo you'll see new condo's a little ways down from our location. New building code now requires a "sacrificial 1st floor" be built to allow water and storm surge to (mostly) flow under the building, minimizing damage:
There is a small hamlet in Caymans called Hell. Almost there:
The reason for the name is both the fact that there is a large outcropping of volcanic rock in this area and due to the fact the area is isolated from ocean breezes, it is also the hottest spot on the island:
A little redemption can't hurt either!
We finished the afternoon by snorkeling at 7 mile beach. My first ever attempt! It was fantastic! We saw lots of interesting fish. Sorry, no photos of me in my goofy mask and fins! The ocean liners were heading out by now:
7 mile beach is actually only 5.5 miles...
Did I already say I don't want to go home? Only 3 more days!
Todd, are first stop on our cruise was Grand Cayman. The Carnival ship in your picture is a sister to the Carnival Valor we were on. By far this was the best place we landed. I would have been happy to spent the week there. We took a tour of all the high spots to visit and Hell. Sent a post card to my mother-in-law.said"wish you were here" just kidding, she is a great lady. Spent our last hours in Margaritaville. Wild for a Tuesday afternoon.
It really is one of the best kept secrets of the Caribbean. I think the reason is there aren't a lot of tourists. Most foreigners are working there. The rest are cruise ship passengers. They don't have those inexpensive all inclusive resorts there. We just heard our friend Ross who works there had his work permit renewed for another 7 years. You know what that means!
