Underwater world

November 30, 2007 Maurice Leave a comment

Lots of gorgeous fish today. This big ass fish is over 3 feet long. They like to come over and swim with snorkelers, just kinda cruising around, in mini-schools of three, four or five.

First couple of times, you kinda think – oh man – are they stalking me or sizing me up for dinner?? We’d send Tim in first to see if things were ok for us to follow!

The fish like to hang around the coral. These are mostly yellowtail snapper, although squirrel fish, blue grunts and others hang with them.

The picture on the right is of a juvenile French Angel, but we have not seen an adult French Angel. We should though!

Grand Cayman, Vacations

Downtown Georgetown

November 29, 2007 Maurice Leave a comment

Lots of colorful characters in the Cayman Islands! Here are a couple of love birds – Macaw Parrots – making lots of noise and attracting big crowds!

Georgetown is a fairly small town, but there are approximately 14,000 duty free jewelry stores in the downtown core alone! Truly a remarkable site – quite dazzling, in fact. There are rows and rows of diamonds and emeralds and sapphires and rubies and something called Black Coral that is turned into wonderful art and beautiful jewelry.

Since the islands were notorious for the pirates that plagued her seas, it only natural that the ocean is littered with sunken ships everywhere – and you can buy “treasure” from all the wrecks around the islands. You can find everything from pieces of eight to 5th century BC Greek Alexander coins to cannon balls!

Grand Cayman, Vacations

The Big Show

November 28, 2007 Maurice Leave a comment

Here we are just before the Big Show at the Comfort Suites Caribbean Luau. It features Abdul the Fire Eating Dancer, limbo (with crowd involvement!) and Island Music too. We had a great time, but it was a bit slow to start, and a bit long over all.

They started with music, we had some drinks. We got some food. Then Abdul did his thing when it got dark. Watching him do the limbo is really quite amazing. And humbling.

No smoke and mirrors here, this guy just got down and moved under that pole.

This is film of Abdul, the fire eater, that you really should watch.

Grand Cayman, Vacations

Exploring the ocean

November 27, 2007 Maurice Leave a comment

We picked up some snorkeling equipment – fins, mask, and snorkel – and it has really changed how we’ve been exploring the ocean. It is an awesome thing to see all the variety and color of fishes and coral! Just never dreamed there were so many fish to see!

The size of some of these fish is astounding. While some, of course, are quite small, others are quite large – 3-4 feet! Or even larger! We’re told that Eden Rock, near the cruise ship docks, has tarpons that are over six feet long!

The sunsets have been amazing, to say the least. Everyone comes to the beach with a drink and a camera and watches the sun go down.

There is a myth, rumor, story – whatever! – that when the sun goes down, there is a flash of green. If you see that flash, it’s a sign you’ll get lucky! And not like at the casinos.

Anyway – here is a movie I took while I was swimming with da fishes!

Grand Cayman, Vacations

Seven Mile Beach

November 26, 2007 Maurice Leave a comment

We’re quite close to the beach, about a five minute walk, at the most. I’ve been able to get in the ocean quite early, as the sun is coming up. It’s been fun, but some mornings it has been a little murky. It’s crystal clear usually. It’s quite amazing how far you can see under water here!

As you can see, the hot tub is quite inviting. We’ve found some local beer to drink and of course you can’t come to the Caribbean without having rum! Cuz Time Flies When You’re Having Rum!

Grand Cayman, Vacations

First looks – Grand Cayman

November 25, 2007 Maurice Leave a comment

This is our first look at Grand Cayman Island. On the lower left of the picture is the start of 7 Mile Beach, where our condo is located.

We’ve had a lot of fun already splashing around the ocean and chasing fish around the coral. You wouldn’t believe some of the things we’ve seen!

On Saturday night, we were at Coconut Joe’s and watched the Toronto Maple Leafs get plastered by the Phoenix Coyotes on the CBC (Cayman Broadcast Agency) with their star Don Cherry.

(Click the pic if you don’t believe me!) Quite surreal…

Then on Sunday the Grey Cup was on big screens everywhere. The waitress told us there were “butt-loads” of Canadians down here! There were a lot of Saskatchewan fans around, that’s for sure.