Cruise Pt 11
Table of contents for Jeff and Suzanne go on a Cruise
{G R A N D C A Y M A N I S L A N D}
This will be our last shore excursion. We’re going to Grand Cayman Island, in the British West Indies, to see the sea turtle breeding facility and swim with the stingrays. We have to take another ferry, but this one is a placid, calm ride to the pier. Grand Cayman Island is completely unlike Mexico. It’s beautiful, calm and serene. Suzanne and I would both love to live there.
The cruise line has things all divided up for people going on different excursions than ours, so we find the spot we’re supposed to be in before being led to a bus. Frank is our bus driver; I had expected him to have an accent, but he doesn’t. Sounds like he lives on Chapin St., actually.
There are many interesting things you observe. One of the first things you notice here is because they’re British; they drive on the wrong side of the road. Of course, if this isn’t the first thing you notice, you may not be around to notice all the other interesting things.
Capitalism is alive and well here. I take note of one merchant’s sign: ‘Duty Free Liquor and Bakery’. Hmm. I also see the ‘Lone Star Saloon’, which informs you that ‘Texas-friendly is spoken here’. I see. We pass the ‘Office of the Leader of the Opposition’. Our City Council doesn’t do anything like that.
The cemeteries here are all located right next to the beach, and all the graves are aboveground box tombs. This is because they have no dirt here. The beach areas are the only places you can dig, and only about 4 feet down. Inland is just rock. I see that many of the tombs have ‘Reserved’ stenciled on the sides. I do not, however, see any that say ‘No Vacancy’.
We get to the turtle farm and go inside. This is very cool. They show us the main pond, which has huge sea turtles swimming around, and a breeding beach at the far end. The guide leads us over to other smaller ponds that have turtles of different ages. We are invited to pick them up and have our pictures taken. They said if you stroke them under the chins they like it and will clam down and not flap. This appeals to Suzanne. We’re not here quite long enough, and it’s back on the bus.
We are going to swim with the stingrays.
