Living in Grand Cayman

In the last few days we have received copious amounts of rain. We have not has a tropical storm or the likes, just lots and lots of rain.  More of less 5 inches on Wednesday and then another 3 inches on Friday.  Flooding ensued in many places.  Of course, people who have cisterns at their homes will be happy.  Swimming pools are also nice and full.

Here is the system that is affecting the area.  See that big red blob on the middle-left? Right in the center of that there is a small white dot … That is Grand Cayman!

All of that rain gave us scenes like this around the island.

Along my running route I noted the cows field was essentially 1ft of water.  Although the cows did not seem to care and were munching on grass.  They seemed quite happy.

Sign that summer and the rain is here … the land crabs are out in force.   Once their burrows are filled with water, these guys start roaming aroud.  This one was particularly big and blue. Had a massive claw.

Ok here is very interesting part of the story.  I actually missed that day where there was 5 inches of rain.  I flew back to Cayman during the second day.  On final approach to Cayman, we ran into some nasty weather and turbulence.  The turbulence felt like a roller coaster ; some people on the flight did not enjoy it.  Anyway, the pilots diverted south and we were in a holding pattern as you can see in the picture below for +-90 minutes.  After that we were able to make a successful landing.

Since the pilots decided not to divert to Jamaica and did a great job in some very hairy moments during massive turbulence ; I decided to pop my head into the cockpit upon exiting the plane, just to say thanks for the great job they did.  To my surprise, they were all chatty and cheerful after what I though was an eventful flight.  For them it was probably just “another day at the office.” They even let me take some selfies.  🙂

Definitely one of the reasons why I often fly on American Airlines.  I think it’s safe to say that all the passengers were pleased to be on the ground.  We were also planning for a really wet Saturday and of course, we had a lovely dry day 🙂

I recently went to visit the National Museum of the Cayman Islands.  As a true local, I had often driven and even walked right by but had never gone in.   As you will see in this post, I found it to be a lovely visit and very worthwhile.

The Museum is in George Town, right at the harbor front in this building, which is the oldest public building in the Cayman Islands. It was built in the early 1800’s and at one point or another was a court house, jail and Post Office.

As you may imagine, the National Museum is likely about the history of the Cayman Islands ; you would be correct.  The displays cover a variety of themes. From the discovery, the traditions (e.g: fishing), key political events, etc.

Here we have a large display detailing all the key dates in the history of the Islands up to the current period.

This display, which was nicely done, showed us the mangrove habitat that can be found in many areas.

The bird on the 1c coin.  Unfortunately, as the display explains, the Old Truss is extinct and now only exists on the coin.

This display was of a “talking man” about the ’32 hurricane and fishing/turtling.  It was quite realistic and nicely done.

I spent about 90 minutes inside.  There is lots to see and read. I enjoy history, so took my time to check out each of the displays.  I suspect 1h would be enough for most people.  Museum hours and information can be found at www.museum.ky  If you are in George Town on a rainy day this could also be a welcome pause from the rain. Entry fee is very reasonable.

On the “outside” front, it is Mango season in the Cayman Islands.  I raided a friends tree – sooooo good. They taste nothing like the ones you buy at the grocery stores in Canada/US.  Its almost like eating candy 🙂

Hurricane season starts June 1st – fingers crossed that we have nothing, just like the last few years. Nothing since 2008 so fingers crossed.

A recent article in the local newspaper got me intrigued.  The article discussed a place that has a whole bunch of “Concrete sculptures” of different local animals.  Of course, I had to go check it out 🙂  Its on the North Side.  So when you drive from town to the East, head up Frand Sound Road to cross the island.  At the top, instead of heading left to Rum Point, take a right.  Then drive maybe 1km (.6mile) Its on the left hand side.

Here is the spot and you are  looking for.

Here are the statues.  They are BIG.  Difficult to appreciate the size. The top of this guy’s head is probably close to 5ft high.  Head to tail i’d say at least 10ft long. Impressive work.

Nice stingray.

Even some flying fish 🙂

Crab was quite cool.  Its also very big!

Claudette the crab … get it? 🙂

Even some concrete chickens and chicks

Of course there were some of the real thing on hand 🙂  I suspect someone here feeds them since they followed me around and seemed to expect food.

If you are in the area or driving around on the North Side (its <10 mins from Morritts/Reef Resort) and is well worth the stop.  I am sure most kids would also enjoy this.  There is no entrance fee – free is always good!

Here is the newspaper article in case you are interested.

http://www.compasscayman.com/caycompass/2015/01/30/Concrete-animals-come-to-life-in-North-Side/

Well this should certainly ramp up tourism … BIG TIME.

In some awesome news, it was announced that Grand Cayman will host a Formula-1 race, the first one in the Caribbean which is certainly an interesting and untapped market for them. After the withdrawal of the German Grand Prix from the calendar last month, Bernie Ecclestone, the F1 boss announced that Grand Cayman would now host its own race.  Cayman is no stranger to glitz and glamour, so this event will fit right in. Awesome!!! I have been to the Montreal race a few times so really looking forward to it.

Here is Bernie coming ashore (he came with his Mega Yatch) for the press conference. Was pretty cool to see him in person.

At the same time, they did some tests with actual F1 cars.  The race will be around the “East End loop” and a lot of it will be ocean side.  As you can see, it should make for some spectacular racing and pictures.

That is some huge news for the Cayman Islands which will put the country “on the map” for a whole new set of visitors.  Local businesses will also certainly agree.

Preparations are well underway for this event, which is scheduled for … next April fools day 🙂

Pedro St. James is a place I visited before, but had not blogged about. So here it is! Pedro St. James or Pedro Castle as it is also called, is the birthplace of the Cayman Islands democracy.  Pedro St. James is in the district to Savannah, east of George Town.   Here is the sign when we arrive onsite.

As you may have noted from the sign, Pedro St.James is a National Historic Site.  It is know as the birthplace of democracy. It took place a good while ago, in 1831.   Before that, management was via Jamaica.  Also, in 1835 slavery was abolished at this same location.

Here is a picture of this historic building.   Only the stone part is original. The stone in in fact a combination of ironshore, coral and Caymanite (see my previous post about Caymanite).

On the second floor  we have this room. It is where it was agreed that the Cayman Islands would become it’s own democracy.  Note, almost all furniture is made of mahogany.  The Cayman Islands used to be full of mahogany trees.  Many were cut down.  They are now protected and a person who cuts down a mahogany tree can face a very steep fine or even imprisonment.  When Pedro was restored by the government in the 90’s, the mahogany needed to be imported due to the protected status of the tree here in Cayman.

The visit of Pedro St.James includes a guided tour.  Very worth while.  Here we are being explained that the national tree, the Silver Thatch, is used to make extremely solid rope (the leafs)

Onsite there are many, many chickens. I saw them being fed by one of the staff members, so no surprise.

This donkey is also a resident.  I found him to be very friendly and happy to have someone pet him. I was told by the staff member that takes care of him that he came from the USA 30 years ago and is now 35 years old.  Who knew that donkeys live so long!

From this 1911 picture, we can see all that remains of Pedro ; the stone part.  All the rest is gone.  Note the next picture; the dual staircase is easily recognizable.

Today’s view, but partially hidden by trees.

I very much enjoyed my visit to Pedro St. James. It was a gorgeous day and there was a nice breeze due to the proximity of the ocean.  I also found the tour to be very informative and interesting.

Their Website:   http://pedrostjames.ky/