Days Five, Six and Seven in Grand Cayman
Mastic Trail, Blow Holes, Driving the East Side of the Island, Swimming and Returning Home

Mastic Trail - Monday

Monday morning we mailed the last of our post cards and then drove to a couple of bad choices as we tried to find Mastic Trail which is part of the National Trust for the Cayman Islands which tries to safeguard the survival of the diversity of native wild plants and animals on these islands. When we finally found it (at the "formal", but not that easy entrance) we began a walk through the mango swamp on a small and winding trail. We saw a diversity of plants, a snake or two and a number of lizards - including one new one - at least for us. Guided tours are offered on this old nature trail that takes visitors through several of the island's various ecosystems - but we foolishly decided to do it by ourselves. OTOH - The boys were mostly just too small to do the whole trip. We stopped after a reasonable walk because the trail was often muddy and sort of the same stuff over and over. Had we gone on, I am sure we would have seen other things, but we were satisfied - mostly because, while interested, we were not that interested.

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If you want to see a short moving slide show of the trail, GO HERE.
The best source just might be at this site. Or just do your own search.

On the way home we stopped at two stores (it was Monday and they both were open) and I was happy because we now had enough milk for my last two breakfasts. Milk is costly here in Grand Cayman. I suspect it is all imported because even thought we saw 5 cattle this morning - with chickens mingling - we have seen no herds of cattle. The land is not cattle friendly. I also bought an extra set of goggles and snorkel so that more of us could watch the fishes.

In the afternoon we played on the beach and some of us did some snorkeling. Later we went to Rum Point and saw two parrots in a tree.

Blow Holes and the Eastern Side of the Island - Tuesday - - - MERRY CHRISTMAS - - -

On Tuesday morning, Christmas, we drove east to the eastern end of the island. There were even more large (and I must say solid) houses along some of the shore as well as on the inland side of the road. There were also some hotels that Cam said were among the highest rated you could get. Very expensive indeed. Anyway, much of the inland area was pretty much wilderness, as was the mangrove swamp, and that was very good. Eventually, after missing it, we turned back and found where the blow holes were on Frank sound on our way to the Eastern Districts.

We parked our cars in the remains of an old fruit stand and walked across the road and down a pathetic set of stairs to some of the most inhospitable rocks one would ever encounter. Each step on the sharp rocks caused me to think I would lose my balance and I sure did not want to fall on any of them. Soon a wave of the right sort came and water shot up out of the hole. It was a very interesting sight. I took plenty of pictures to get the best shot I could of the whoosh of water that shot up thru the hole and it did not take long to figure just which waves would provide the best whoosh. Blowholes are created by the water moving through natural tunnels cut in the rock by the coast. As the tunnels get closer to the coast, they turn upwards, creating a fountain.

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The Blowholes on Grand Cayman Island (not our video)

When we got back home, we ate lunch, I worked on the computer a little and then joined the others to play in the Caribbean Sea. Rachel was in the "floating bed" and I towed her out a bit and used the goggles and snorkel to watch the fish swimming under me. Others had seem some pretty impressive fish, but I was happy watching my finned friends that were closer to shore. It was very enjoyable and a great way to just watch the fish being themselves in their own environment.

Later we walked to Rum Point to see if we could find the parrots again. They were not to be seen, but we did find, a not that uncommon, banana quit - this is my best picture of one (see above).

After that we ate, put the dishes in the dishwasher, put the kids to bed and got ready for the next day and our trip back to our real homes.

Our last day and the trip home - Wednesday

On Wednesday, December 26 we prepared our suitcases, travel bags for the trip back to our real homes. We drove the 45 minutes to the airport, filed the two rental cars with gas and went thru the kindest security we have ever experienced. Our plane took off at around 1:45 and we headed straight north from the airport, over Cuba as I listened to my friend, Robert Rouse and other music on the iPod, flew over Florida and arrived in Atlanta, Georgia at about 4:20. In the picture we are flying north over the North Sound and you can see four cruse ships at George Town. This was our last view of Grand Cayman.

After we arrived at Atlanta, immediately went thru the process to be sure we were legal - passport check. Then we got our bags and immediately dropped them off so they would go on to our next plane. Then we went thru customs, said "Good by" to Peter and Stephanie and went to the correct concourse for Bonnie, Cam and the boys and waited and played with them until their plane was ready to leave for their home. Rachel and I got back on the shuttle and went to our concourse and walked and walked to the very end where we waited another two hours for our plane to take off. Once again I listened to the iPod and did some work on the computer. Just before we were to get on the plane, we opened the back pack and each got our our warm jackets and put them on for the first time in a week. Now we were ready to return to colder weather. The plane left well after 9:00 and we got to Fort Wayne at 10:30 - a bit earlier than expected.

Our friend Marc picked us up at the airport and brought us home. There we turned up the heat (the thermostat had been turned down while we were gone) and quickly unpacked the essentials. When I looked for the lock on the bigger suitcase, I noticed that the lock was gone. Inside was a NOTICE OF BAGGAGE INSPECTION from the Transportation Security Administration. Oh well ! ! We quickly went to sleep in our familiar bed . . . life is very good.

We woke up the next morning to snow on the ground. It was a great welcome back to Indiana.

 

Go back to the first page.......
Day 2: Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park - and more. (Friday)
Day 3: Swim with 20 to 25 stingrays and near-by coral area with lots of fish and a morey eel. (Saturday)
Day 4: Turtles, Pirate Cave and the city of George Town (Sunday)
Days 5, 6, 7: Mastic Trail, Blow Holes, Driving the East Side of the Island, Swimming & Going Home (Mon. Tue. Wed.)
The birds we saw (including some lifers)
Flowers, leaves and other beautiful things
- - Bonnie and Cam's tons of pictures are HERE

If you want more picture punishment - Go with us on our Rocky Mountain train trip in Canada,