Living in Grand Cayman

We often go for sunset walks on Seven mile beach ; its a great place for a stroll and the sunsets are often breathtaking.

When we go for walks on Saturdays, there are usually one and sometimes two weddings going on.  Either we see the actual celebration, the photo sessions or the meal with tables setup on the beach.   I highly recommend this for someone thinking of having a wedding in the Caribbean or just want something different ; people seem to have a great time and the fabulous blue ocean and white sand make for great pictures.

In any case, as I was walking down Seven Mile Beach this Saturday evening, there was a rather large group of people, including a new bride and groom having their pictures taken.  As I walked by, some of them seemed to notice my Husky Aipa … bear with me, you will see where I am going with this.

Aipa & I kept on walking for 10 minutes or so and then doubled back.  As we approached again the wedding group, the groom left the picture session and came to see me asking if they could borrow my dog for some pictures!  Well, that’s a first!  Of course, I accepted, and here are the results.

Thanks to the photographer, David Wolfe, for sending these to me!  He does many wedding & corporate type shoots on the Island. He can be found at http://www.davidwolfephotography.com

I don’t know either the bride or the groom, but if they ever read this, wish them much happyness in their lives together and hopefully they have or will get a dog for their household.

In closing this post, I dont think this could have happened in a big city or the likes.  The fun and happy beach setting is perfect for this kind of encounter!

Happy Easter everyone!  Hope you have not eaten too much chocolate! In Cayman, we have a lovely 4-day weekend.  On that 4-day week-end, many caymanians hit the beaches, for the entire time. Let me explain …

There is a tradition (not sure how it started …) where the locals go camping from Thursday PM (or Friday AM) until Monday PM.  Whole families & groups of families find the best spots, bring tents, tarps for the rain, BBQ’s and the more sophisticated ones rent port-o-potties and even generators.  As for us, we’ll sleep in our bed with the A/C thank you very much! 🙂

Here is a small setup of just one test on Seven-Mile beach.

This seems to be 2-3 families and behind the tents was their rented potty!  They had a BBQ & lots of gear for the week-end, a make-shift shower, etc.

While venturing around today, we noticed that many cotton plants were … well, showing cotton for lack of a better term.  There does not appear to be any organized growing here in Cayman, since all the plants  we say today were on vacant lots.

Last but not least … I saw the largest snake I have even seen in Cayman and it was right on our front lawn. I estimate the it was 2.5-3ft long and the size of a garden hose at its largest. Here is a pic and a short video of the critter!

Electricity in the Cayman Islands (and in most of the Caribbean) is very expensive.  Most islands do not have rivers to turn turbines or the critical mass (or the will) to have coal or nuclear generators.

Just a few weeks ago, a new promising technology was launched in Grand Cayman by our local utility, the Cayman Electric Company (CEC).

The company expects 60% of homes in Grand Cayman will use this technology by 2012.  Its not a new idea, but definitely a first on such a large scale. In a nutshell, its Pedal Power!  CEC will install a home power generator that can be connected to any regular bicycle.  According to the article I read in the local paper, the company estimates that “1h of cycling every day can reduce the average family’s bill by 30% and help ’em lose some weight at the same time”.

Here is a demo that was given last week by CEC at the George Town park by a local kid.  He was “plugged” into a specially designed electrical panel to show just how much electricity pedal power can generate.

This is the gizmo that will be installed in homes (on the electrical box)  The company says that it will take less than 30 minutes for the technicians to “patch” it into the homes electric box.  Installation & all equipment costs 200CI (about 250$US) for the setup.

Being the eco-friendly people we are, we signed up immediately for the program.  Here I am testing it out with the portable generator & the cord to plug into the electrical grid.  Cant wait to see if next month’s bill will be lower.   Not bad at all. It can be moved from room to room. We are leaving it in the living room so that we can pedal & watch TV.

All-in-all, a great step for Cayman power generation.  Honestly, if it is to save us lots of money, I may spend all of April fool’s day pedaling! 🙂

As every year since we got here, I took Aipa this morning to the annual Cayman Islands dog show.  About 150-200 dogs (and their owners of course) showed up for this event which is to raise funds for the local humane society (an equivalent to the SPCA). Dogs from all walks of life and all kinds were there.  Some arrive in more style than others though …   I saw one dog riding shotgun in his owners Porsche 911 ; riding in style 🙂

Here I am with Aipa in the ring getting judged for one of the contests. No prizes today.  There is some heavy favoritism for dog with 3-legs & other ailments.  That’s OK .. they probably deserve it!

These guys were quite popular with the kids (everyone actually) So cute!!!

This gives a good idea of the setup (and my friend Sau’s backside …)  and the people that showed up with their pooches on a Saturday AM.  Here her dog is being “evaluated” by the judges.  Its mostly petting the dogs, hearing about their story (many of the dogs there are rescued dogs) and chatting a bit with the owners. Its all in good fun.

Not much else new here in Cayman. Its election time here ; I am curious to see if elections here are like in Canada.  We cant vote though as expats.

Summer is definately getting close though ; we have been turning on the A/C earlier in the day and its been much hotter in the last week or so.

A few days ago I had the opportunity to do some snorkeling ; something I really enjoy and that I should really do more of.  Cayman is the ideal place to do this activity : the water is super clear, many coral reefs are easily accessible and even if you swim far from shore, there are rarely currents to pull you out to sea.

My guests who are staying with us both brought underwater cameras ; amazing!  I should have got one one those a long time ago.  We had a great time taking pictures during this snorkel.

From about 10ft away, you can see how clear the water is.

Genevieve, Julie’s friend.  My snorkel companion for the day 🙂

A very pretty sea fan

A very colorful parrot fish.  I was impressed at how well the colors came out in this picture.

A school of about 15 Tarpon’s.  Its difficult to tell, but these fish are about 3.5 – 5ft long each. It was quite a sight from a distance to see the large fish just “hanging around”.  Could be quite scary for someone who does not know that they are 100% harmless to human.  They could easily be mistaken for sharks.

Probably the prettiest fish we saw. I think this is a “coral beauty”, but not sure.

These pictures were all taken at Smith Cove. Most of the time we were 80-100 meters from the shore and way beyond the “standard” swim zone.