Day Four of Our Visit to Grand Cayman
Turtles, Pirate Cave and the city of George Town (Sunday)

Turtle Farm

On Sunday, the day most everything is closed, we went to the Boatswain's Beach Adventure Park, the updated new home of the Cayman Turtle Farm (the farm link is the most interesting one if you want to learn about turtles). The people of the Cayman Islands have a history tied to the turtle. Go here for the very interesting story of these turtles and the farm.

We arrived fairly early in the morning and had a great time looking at some of the 16,000 sea turtles at all stages of development. This is the only place in the world that raises turtles for meat, replacing what man has killed and education

The huge containment area held the largest number of sea turtles on display along with a sand area for them to go to when they wanted to leave the water. It was sort of like a containment farm. Not the best way to live, but a way to protect and replace wild turtles as well as provided the turtle meat that people desire to eat. It was also a great opportunity to educate.

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Big Turtles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Small Turtles

To learn more:
Boatswain's Beach Adventure Park, the updated new home of the Cayman Turtle Farm.
Go here for the very interesting story of these turtles and the farm.

Pretty Much Dead Ends

Then we went for a short drive to the rum cake store, but since it was Sunday, it was closed. We also tried to go to a bird sanctuary, but, while it was not that great, the restaurant there (also closed) had some seven parrots and, like everywhere else, some chickens running around.

A Great Place To Eat

Then we ate lunch at The Cracked Conch Restaurant. Actually, we walked through one restaurant and down stairs in the rear to a large open area for outdoor eating in another related restaurant. It was on the sea with great food and divers entering the water as we ate. The divers were from a dive shop located in the same building. I have no idea how so much food came out of a building that looked so small from the front. It was a fun place to eat and we all recommend going there for good food and a real touch of the island.

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Then we all went to Hell

Would you like to say you’ve been to hell and back and really mean it? Well you can! Hell, Grand Cayman, take pictures with the devil send postcards postmarked from hell and view the spectacular rock formations created by weathered ironshore. The Hell post office opened in 1962 to accommodate requests from tourists to send post cards home to their friends and families from “hell”. The iron shore formations have been estimated at 1.5 million years old. Learn more from Wikipedia.

While in Hell we saw at least four iguanas in bushes or on the ground as well as a bunch of chickens running around. The Green Iguana was about two feet long.

As you will see later, some of us soon changed our ways and went to paradise.

 

Pirate's Caves

Bonnie, Cam and the boys went to the Pirate's Caves in Bodden Town. They are natural limestone caves located below the southern part of Bodden Town on the south shores of Grand Cayman. However, they are equipped as a sight for kids. There is a talking parrot, a petting zoo and a gift shop. Inside the cave are plastic dinosaurs, and fake bones lying about.

The caves are said to have once extended underneath Bodden Town with openings out to the sea. Legends tell about a pirate's treasure, which still lies buried in the caves! Due to many storms over the years, the openings out to the sea have been buried and the locations of treasure troves have been entombed. Visit web site

These ships are really in George Town, not Pirates Caves. Just thought they fit with the idea of pirates..

Seven Mile Beach and George Town

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We four grandparents went on to George Town after a special drive down a short street to see some of the traditional smaller homes of long ago - mixed with some really expensive newer ones. We then stopped at a hotel and walked behind it to have a view and take a short walk along the famous seven mile beach.

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In George Town we walked around a bit and then went to a restaurant called Paradise. Well, we had just been to Hell and it seemed appropriate. Good food on the patio next to the Sea as a chicken walked around eating food dropped on the floor. Behind the restaurant was a floating trampoline with a large and long tubular raft behind it. Young folks would swim out to it and jump on the trampoline and try - unsuccessfully - to stand on the tubular raft behind it. We could also see two pirate type sailing ships and the dock where every day necessities were brought to the island.

Then we went home

We all got home at close to the same time, despite doing different things. Some played in the water and then we had supper and, once again, Bonnie had found something - a hermit crab (much larger than the one I had found the day before.

 

This has been fun. Big surprises so far is that we have seen so many lizards and iguanas. One day we even had to slow down to keep from running over a two foot iguana. We never suspected we would see so many - what we think to be wild chickens running around everywhere. Today as I was driving home (on the left side of the road) a came close to running over a huge 6 to 8 inch crab that was crossing the road. One day we saw a dead parrot in the road that had probably been hit by a car. Shucks, you even have to watch out for coconuts that drop into the road.

 

Go back to the first page.......
Day 2: Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park - and more. (Friday)
Day 3: Swim with 20 to 25 stingrays and near-by coral area with lots of fish and a morey eel. (Saturday)
Day 4: Turtles, Pirate Cave and the city of George Town (Sunday)
Days 5, 6, 7: Mastic Trail, Blow Holes, Driving the East Side of the Island, Swimming & Going Home (Mon. Tue. Wed.)