Back from vacation...
We had a great time on vacation at Grand Cayman. I wish it never had to end.
The sunsets were beautiful. This was the view outside our townhouse:
We visited Botanic Park on the island. The park is a 65 acre woodland preserve. The park is used to help preserve the highly endangered Cayman Island Blue Iguana. The Blue Iguana is indiginous only to Grand Cayman and as little as 5-7 years ago their numbers had dwindled to 20. Through captive breeding and a reintroduction program, the park is home to more than 200 of these cool creatures. This is one we found along our hike. He was kind enough to pose for us:
My Dad told my boyfriend and I to go to Hell. So we did. Not many people can say they've been to Hell and back. Algae secrets acid that erodes the limestone and forms these incredible rock formations. Hell, Grand Cayman:
Our third day there and we finally get in the water!
Queen Angle Fish:
One of my favorite fish. French Angle:
Tube Sponges:
Rock Beauty:
Hog Fish:
Banded Butterflyfish:
Blue Tang:
Top 5 coolest thing that happened to us on this trip. My boyfriend and I went pale later that evening when our server suggested we try the local cusine of Sea Turtle Stew. After seeing one of these beauties in the wild it's the last thing we would ever think to eat!
What an awesome site! This is a juvenile French Angel that is starting to change its colors while growing into an adult. I've never seen one that still has the vertical stripes of a baby.
School of fish under mushroom rock formation:
Another Queen Angel (3rd dive):
Spotfin Butterflyfish:
Foureye Butterflyfish:
Top 5 coolest thing that happened to us on our trip. Stingray City! The Stingrays in this area are very friendly and you can swim with, feed and touch them. Very cool!
My boyfriend feeding the rays:
Umm...someone else is pretty friendly at this dive site as well. He smells food and doesn't want to be left out. When seen, Eels usually only peek their heads out of holes. It's very rare that they are this aggressive and in full view. Just don't hold out your fingers if you know what's good for you.
The second to last dive. The dive site was called Mainstreet and it is located on the North Wall. The Wall is a coral reef that on one side drops strait down to 6000 feet. This is considered a pretty deep dive to about 125 feet with caves and dark shafts abound. Needless to say, I sat this dive out and let the boys go ahead. After our experience last summer in Bon Aire, I will stick to 50 feet max. thank you!
The reason I should've gone on the deep dive. Spotted Eagle Ray. It's a good thing I've seen them before or I would have been upset!
As you can see we had a wonderful time. The people were very nice and the food was excellent! The island was still rebuilding from hurricane Ivan that happened to have hit exactly one year before the day we arrived. I bought a book by world renowned underwater photographer Cathy Church. She happened to be there so she personally signed our copy. Oh, and we had a bit of a celebrity sighting. A large group of guys (15) came into the restaurant and sat at the table next to us. I didn't really notice. My boyfriend came back from the bathroom with a huge grin on his face. He was like, "Holy shit, I just ran into Tony Hawk in the bathroom!" (My man was a huge skate punk back in the day). Sure enough, Bam Margera was there too. I think he's pretty cute, although a bit short. Danny Way was also there (extreme skater who just recently jumped the Great Wall of China).
Well, it's back to work and school for me. :( I'm depressed. I usually am after vacation.
The sunsets were beautiful. This was the view outside our townhouse:
We visited Botanic Park on the island. The park is a 65 acre woodland preserve. The park is used to help preserve the highly endangered Cayman Island Blue Iguana. The Blue Iguana is indiginous only to Grand Cayman and as little as 5-7 years ago their numbers had dwindled to 20. Through captive breeding and a reintroduction program, the park is home to more than 200 of these cool creatures. This is one we found along our hike. He was kind enough to pose for us:
My Dad told my boyfriend and I to go to Hell. So we did. Not many people can say they've been to Hell and back. Algae secrets acid that erodes the limestone and forms these incredible rock formations. Hell, Grand Cayman:
Our third day there and we finally get in the water!
Queen Angle Fish:
One of my favorite fish. French Angle:
Tube Sponges:
Rock Beauty:
Hog Fish:
Banded Butterflyfish:
Blue Tang:
Top 5 coolest thing that happened to us on this trip. My boyfriend and I went pale later that evening when our server suggested we try the local cusine of Sea Turtle Stew. After seeing one of these beauties in the wild it's the last thing we would ever think to eat!
What an awesome site! This is a juvenile French Angel that is starting to change its colors while growing into an adult. I've never seen one that still has the vertical stripes of a baby.
School of fish under mushroom rock formation:
Another Queen Angel (3rd dive):
Spotfin Butterflyfish:
Foureye Butterflyfish:
Top 5 coolest thing that happened to us on our trip. Stingray City! The Stingrays in this area are very friendly and you can swim with, feed and touch them. Very cool!
My boyfriend feeding the rays:
Umm...someone else is pretty friendly at this dive site as well. He smells food and doesn't want to be left out. When seen, Eels usually only peek their heads out of holes. It's very rare that they are this aggressive and in full view. Just don't hold out your fingers if you know what's good for you.
The second to last dive. The dive site was called Mainstreet and it is located on the North Wall. The Wall is a coral reef that on one side drops strait down to 6000 feet. This is considered a pretty deep dive to about 125 feet with caves and dark shafts abound. Needless to say, I sat this dive out and let the boys go ahead. After our experience last summer in Bon Aire, I will stick to 50 feet max. thank you!
The reason I should've gone on the deep dive. Spotted Eagle Ray. It's a good thing I've seen them before or I would have been upset!
As you can see we had a wonderful time. The people were very nice and the food was excellent! The island was still rebuilding from hurricane Ivan that happened to have hit exactly one year before the day we arrived. I bought a book by world renowned underwater photographer Cathy Church. She happened to be there so she personally signed our copy. Oh, and we had a bit of a celebrity sighting. A large group of guys (15) came into the restaurant and sat at the table next to us. I didn't really notice. My boyfriend came back from the bathroom with a huge grin on his face. He was like, "Holy shit, I just ran into Tony Hawk in the bathroom!" (My man was a huge skate punk back in the day). Sure enough, Bam Margera was there too. I think he's pretty cute, although a bit short. Danny Way was also there (extreme skater who just recently jumped the Great Wall of China).
Well, it's back to work and school for me. :( I'm depressed. I usually am after vacation.