Living in Grand Cayman

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/

As  local, its easy to miss cool things in one’s backyard.  Just ask a person from a large city if they have recently been to any of the popular tourist spots.

Just recently, a good friend of ours introduced us to an awesome place close by.  A place near the ocean and where we have a good 50ft drop to the ocean.  Really nice.  Who knew we had seaside cliffs in Grand Cayman!!!

Here is the place.  The ocean was quite choppy today.

This person sure has a nice view.  The only thing that is not great is that there is likely no access to the water from that house.

The landscape at some places here is kind of like on the moon (minus the palm trees of course).  Lots of iron-shore.  Watch your step ; if you fall on this you will get really hurt.  Most of this is razor sharp.  Note to self: don’t go in flip-flops next time.

This location also has some Caymanite.  Its a semi-precious stone only found in Cayman and apparently a location in Hungary.  Here is the Wikipedia entry for Caymanite (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caymanite)

A bit further down the shore, we saw the waves crashing into the side and making massive splashes. Looks like a fun place for thrill seekers to jump into the water from high up.  However, I am told that depending on tides, currents can be very strong and pull people out to sea.  Not a good idea …

Now on to Spotts Beach; we know this place very well.  A great place for sunsets in winter (since Spotts beach is on the southern side of the island.  In summer, the sun sets to the right of the below picture and is not always over water depending on where you are on the beach)  The colors were great.

So my blog is quickly becoming a running blog!  Hope you don’t mind 🙂  In my latest sporting endeavor, I ventured into the world of Triathlons.  Those involve a swim, a cycle and a run.   The one I participated in is called the MercuryMan.  It is a “Half-Ironman” format that involves the following:

– A 1.2 mile swim (1.9km)

– A 56-mile cycle (90km)

– A 13.1mile run (21.1km – a half Marathon)

Needless to see, a lot of exercise. I did not do all 3, I was in a team where each team member did 1 of the 3 events.   I did the run.  Some courageous souls do all 3. Impressive.

There is only one problem with doing the run, one that I foolishly did not foresee: The run is last … which by the time you start running, its REALLY hot even in the Cayman winter.

Ok, so here goes.  (note: some of these pics are not mine.  Thanks to my friend Claire, one of the organizers)

A lovely morning for a race.  The race started/ended at the Reef Resort in the East End.  I love that area of the island and it was definitely an extra incentive for me to sign up.

Here the swimmers are getting ready to start the event.  Start time was just after sunrise at 7:15am.

Once the swimmers are done, they either jump onto their bike or pass the “chip” (timing device) to a teammate who does the second part.  There were definitely some very serious athletes. Look at this guy with his fancy helmet & all.

Meanwhile, while my teammate was out doing the 90km cycle, I was getting ready to do my part. Since it was by my estimates 33 degrees (+-91) with zero cloud cover by the time I got to run, I was glad I had a white hat & shirt. Not that it helped all that much.  Truth be told, it was the most difficult run I have ever done, but still was a lot of fun.   Once I was 1/2 through the run, I slowed down at every second water stop and took the time to completely drink the cup of water or Gatorade; I needed it. Also, they had sponges with cold water so that was nice.   The volunteers at the water stops were great and cheered us on.

Here is my buddy Craig finishing his 21.1km run … looks like it was tough out there Craig! 😉

The run route is as below.  We did 3x that loop.  So +-7km, 3 times. Mentally I divided the race up into 6 which I think helped me.

With my teammates Davison (Cycle – center) & Tim (Swim – right).  Good job guys.  We did well, had fun and no one got hurt.  We finished 1st corporate team.  We were the only corporate team … but who cares right?

Considering the heat, the medal we got was completely relevant!

So I loved my 1st Triathlon experience. I honestly have no intention of doing the other 2 activities though.  I’d have to buy a bike first and also learn how to swim fast ; diving does not require that!  Very well organized activity, at the lovely East End.  Cant go wrong.

When December arrives, I always look forward to the biggest sporting event on the island ; The Cayman Islands Marathon.  This event was recently nominated as one of the 30-best Marathons in the world. (http://dailyburn.com/life/fitness/best-marathons-in-the-world – see number 14)   Not bad for our “little” event.  Many large Marathons have thousands or runners.  Ours has +-1,300 so it’s quite an honor for the event!

The “packet pickup” this year was the day before at the Westin.  It was a gorgeous day so ventured out towards the beach.  Such a nice view.

At the packet pickup, there was this guy who gave a really interesting talk about running, where it can take you and the impact it has had on his life.  His name is Bart Yasso and in the running community is very well known.  He is also the CRO (“Chief Running Officer”) at Running World magazine. He has run all over the world and through his running has met many interesting people and overcome some extremely challenging courses.  Really interesting!

So after the packet pickup was the traditional “pasta loading”.   All runners know that you need to eat pasta the day before a long run.  Well, I ate plenty of it! 🙂

I then drove home via a most of the race path where I would be running less than 12-hours later.  The mileage signs were already there.  They were all different and colorful.  Very nice.

Here is the track.  The green line is as per I ran it via my GPS watch.  The path does not change at all each year due to its certification. If they would change it, they would need to have it re-certified.  My understanding of the certification is that once they have it, runners can use their times to qualify for other races around the world which require runners who are able to make a certain time (e.g: the Boston Marathon)

So once the race is over, plenty of snacks, fruit, drinks, etc for the runners.  Lovely!

In the middle of all this excitement, there was one local gentleman that was running for an awesome cause and was doing … awesome!  His name is Derek Haines and is Cayman’s former chief of Police.  His challenge, “6 marathon challenge” was to raise 1M$ for the Cayman Hospice.  The Cayman Hospice is a non-profit organisation that provides care to individuals who are terminally ill with cancer and the likes.   Mr. Haines is 65 years-old and the Cayman Marathon is the 6th and last Marathon in his fund raiser.  In the picture below he is completing his journey.  Right after, it was announced that his objective was met and even exceeded.  Well done!  To boot, he finished in under 4h was1st in his age category.   A great way to finish 🙂

Ok, so how did I do?  I am pleased to say that this year I did really well and am extremely proud.   I came in 16th out of just under 700 participants in the half-Marathon.  The best part is that I won my age group (Men 40-49) coming in 1st 🙂  I also beat my previous years time by +-5 minutes coming in at 1h36min.  I’m pleased!

Here I am at the podium getting my trophy!  The guy next to me came in second.

This picture is with my office colleague and friend Beth.  Beth is a force of nature!  She won 1st place for overall for the women in the full Marathon. She has won it 5 times in the last 6 years. Last year she did not run due to having a baby! 10 months after the baby she is right back where she left off.  Impressive!

A close up of my trophy!  All-in-all, it was a great day.  Last year we went to the beach after the event.  This year, with all the excitement, it was home and a long nap 🙂

By the way, walkers are welcome for the 1/2 Marathon, so if you are in Cayman and are fit enough to walk in the cool December early-morning weather, there is no excuse not to join in! 🙂

*Apologies for those that got the email alert twice.  The company hosting Micho.org had a crash and this post was lost*

Once again this year I participated in the Halloween 10-10-10 run.  To remind those who saw my previous posts, its a 30k relay race where each team member runs 10km.

I enjoy this race a lot since its in the East End.  The race starts off at Morritts condo’s and does a whole loop back ; essentially the running with the ocean to ones right hand side and crossing the island at Frank Sound Rd. Visitors will know Frank Sound Rd as the road to cross the island to go to Rum Point.

Last year I ran leg 3.  This year my team mates left me leg 1 (I let them chose first) so I had to run at 6pm and in the dark.  In my opinion its the best leg since the sun is not up so obviously much cooler.

I was able to take some pics of my team mates though.   Here is my favorite … its the “baton” handover between leg 2 and 3.  Here Gautam (right) seems somewhat relieved to have finished his 10k and we can see Dan is off ; we will see him at the finish in 50 or so minutes.

The team after the race is over. Cant believe I am the shortest at 6ft!  Our team name was “KPMG Canucks” … all 3 of us are Canadians!

So how did we do?  1st Corporate team!   Not bad at all.   Its difficult to read but it says that we are the 1st Corporate team in the 10-10-10 race. There is also the name of the main sponsor, Krys Global, a local firm.

Here was my leg via my GPS watch; starting at the green dot top right and all the way along the north shore and down the first 1/5 of Frank Sound Rd.