Living in Grand Cayman

Once again this year, I have the opportunity to go to the British Virgin Islands for a few days of work. In my post last year, I posted quite a few pictures of the scenery.

See http://micho.org/cayblog/?p=165 for that post from last year.

This time i’ll discuss the place I stay at each year : The Mongoose apartments. (http://www.mongooseapartments.com/)  Instead of staying in town where my work is, I stay a 15 minute drive away, which is the other side of the island.  Mongoose is more a “home away from home” than a hotel.  You get a full kitchen, living room, walk-in closet, bathroom and of course bedroom. Its only a 6-unit operation which is ran by Sandra (canadian ex-pat) and Elroy.  Its located a few hundred feet from one of the most beautiful beaches on the island (Cane Garden Bay) and hidden away in a sort of jungle setting. Its definately different from your standard & vanilla luxury hotel, but for BVI, its bar none the best place in my opinion.  In any case, dont take my word for it.  Sandra gets rave reviews on Trip Advisor, a well known travel site.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g147354-d150624-Reviews-Mongoose_Apartments-Tortola_British_Virgin_Islands.html

This is the road that leads to Mongoose Apartments.

This is the place! 🙂

View from the kitchen.  Notice the laptop using the wi-fi connection and the TV on CNN for US election coverage!

View from the entrance of the living room & kitchen

Bedroom

The mango tree right outside.   They are not ripe yet, but will be in the next few week. Note to self : Next year come around mid-may.

Pineapples growing right behind my room.

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At the airport upon arrival, I spotted this Dassault Falcon with a Virgin logo on it!  Its Sir Richard Branson’s plane (The Virgin guy)  He owns one of the smaller Virgins Islands (Necker Island), so I was not suprised to see it at the airport.  Nice to be rich!

A final note about the trip to BVI.  A much as I like this place, getting here can be a bit of a challenge from anywhere in North-American and even Cayman. Its basically a whole day affaire to get here.

Below is the itinerary to get here.   Cayman -> Miami -> San Juan, Puerto Rico -> Tortola, BVI.  Going back home is the same.  But come to think of it, the place is so nice that its worth the trip.

Julie & I really love it here, so recently we have been shopping around for a property.  There was one that really stood out and I have liked it since our first visit to Cayman.  The current market is not great here and it has been on the market for a while, so we made an offer late last week on it : Its ACCEPTED!!!  We are thrilled. Now we have to get it inspected and clear the financing part.

Here is the picture of this Caribbean beauty:

And here is an aerial picture that the real estate agent gave us:

Its quite private and there is a staircase to the ocean where we have access to a coral reef for snorkeling, swimming and fishing.  Its also 33ft above sea level, so it is very well protected from hurricanes.  For me its a 30 minute drive to work and is in a gorgeous part of the island. It also has a 3-car garage and 4 bedrooms. Floors are ceramic throughout the house.

We just cant wait for you all to visit us … next April fools day 😉