Our fourth Wedding Anniversary. Has it been four years already? I will write more on that later. But, the day began pretty much the same way as Day 1 in Key West. We turned on the TV as soon as we woke up to see if we had docked. We saw that the ship was not exactly close to land, there was still some distance. So we thought we might get to see the actual docking, and thought of racing to Deck 9, when we noticed the speed was 0km/h. Strange. We went upstairs for coffee and we saw that ship was anchored where it was.
Turns out Georgetown of Cayman Islands was surrounded by too shallow waters to be able to let a big ship in. And apparently we were supposed to take a smaller boat to reach the shore. This might be a good time to talk about how the ship crew kept track of its passengers. Each of us are given a Sail Card, which has multi purpose use. One is it lets people in and out of the ship. Two, we scan it when we get off the ship and we scan again when we get into the ship. That way they keep track of everyone on the ship. And of course, the director said on the first orientation that the ship might not wait for those that are not on the ship on time. Its not quite all that fun to get stranded in an unknown island with not much of our belongings. The third purpose is, it can also be used as a credit card in shops and restaurants in the ship, and you are directly billed to the credit card on file for the room.
Moving on, Cayman Islands is under UK and we had to get our UK visas. The policies were not too clear, about cruise members, but we still had our documents anyway. The only hassle was we were going to be wet most of the day and it was risky to carry our passport and other important documents. DH suggested not taking any of the documents with us, saying they might not check as they know we are cruise passengers. But I insisted we take them just in case something happens.
Seriously vacationing with important documents on you is such a pain. More so when you are surrounded by water most times. We got off the ship, on to a boat which was somehow attached to the entrance of the ship. The boat was making rounds picking and dropping passengers from the ship. As the boat moved away from the ship towards the land, we got to see our ship up close, just how huge it was!
Nobody asked for our visas or passports as we went on land. We had to find our excursion group. There were Cruise Line helpers all around the port helping us, it was all really made easy. We got on our bus and were on our way. The people of Cayman Islands, I was surprised to note, very much resembled South Indians. Our van driver was showing us the important buildings in the town as we drove to Stringray City, one of the popular attractions of Cayman Islands. The driver's accent was a bit tough to understand. The country looked well developed than I expected, may be because it is still under UK thats why. Plus it was hot, super hot.
We were dropped by the shore, where we got into a catamaran, which took us to the actual SandBar, right in the middle of the Sea! Of course as we were sailing deep into the sea away from land, my mind had to conjure up all kinds of mishaps that could happen. If the boat overturned and our documents got wet, we would not be allowed into the courntry again. If one of us dropped a wet suit near the document, if it got wet, I would never be able to forgive. As I applied loads and loads of sun tan on myself and got ready for the sand bar, I pulled myself together. If that were to happen let it happen, I am not going to waste my vacation time worrying about the What Ifs. Peace reigned. I kept the bag in the middle very protected from the splashing water, as the catamaran cruised to the sand bar.
Here is a short story on the Sting Ray Sand Bar for those who are interested. Long story short, the sting rays voluntarily come to this place, right in the middle of the sea, albeit a shallow, because early fishermen used to come here and clean their catch, the water was calmer, and throw the useless in the water, providing the much needed food for the sting ray. SO as soon as we reached this place and 'parked' we saw little black things under water, the water was sooo transparent, swimming towards the catamaran. It was a welcoming site. The sting rays knew we would feed them so they came. The point to note is they are not captive or anything, we are seeing them in their own habitat, which is kinda grass itching aint it?
We dressed down to our swimsuits. There was snorkel gear available too, but I opted out. I didnt want my hair wet. :--P So the initial group that stepped into the water, were the brave ones. I heard a lot of shrieking and screaming. DH stood still after getting down, wary of the creatures swimming underneath. I took my time to apply my sun tan lotion yet again. I took some pictures from the boat of DH and of the sting rays. Nope. I couldnt muster the courage to get down just as yet. DH kept calling me. Those dark creatures swimming underneath, scared the hell out of me. Of course they arent dangerous. The worst they could do is apparently give a hickey, as they try to suck through their mouth.
It was some time before I slowly stepped down into the soft sand, into the water. Water was till your chest, not much. I waded towards DH, and held on to him, as sting rays of different sizes swam past me. We were warned to walk dragging our feet so we dont step on a resting sting ray and agitate it. There were these so called 'guides' who caught a sting ray each and were holding it for us tourists to touch and feel. They told us how it eats and all that general information about the fish itself. I did touch it. It was weird.
Then the guide told us how we can kiss it. I wouldnt have done it if I hadnt seen the others do it, even kids. I stood in the small line that was formed waiting to kiss the stingray and get picture taken. DH ran to the catamaran to get our camera. As it was my turn I told the guide that I was scared. In reply, he said," Dont be scared, you just sailed with a boat full of humans the scariest and most dangerous creatures on earth!!" :--) If you think of it, it is indeed true. Most animals would only hurt for two things, their safety and their offsprings, or for food. Its only man that hurts, animals, just because, and for pleasure too.
Anyhoo, the guide held the sting ray still while I took my mouth close to the front part of the sting ray. And guess what it did something like pouting lips, as it touched my face! That was the kiss! It was sooo cute. All my fear of it vanished and I wanted to spend some more time with it.
Now the guide showed us how we can hold it if we extend our arms and support the two sides of the fish. I tried too. It was soo funny. I would just hold it and it would swim away, it would just stay put. Me and DH took a picture with it, as I tried to hold it in my arms. Its just too cute for words. An experience one of a kind.
Soon it was time to get on the catamaran and head back. We dried ourselves, made sure our documents were safe for the millionth time, applied sun tan lotion, and waited to be taken ashore. The guides accepted dollars are tips. In fact everywhere we went even though native currency was not dollars, they were accepted nevertheless.
Out next stop was the Turle Farm. It was not so interesting, except that we got to hold the turtles too. I felt sorry for the turtles, being picked up and looked at and dropped back so many times a day as tourists came in and out. I almost made a story for them, like Finding Nemo or Madagascar. But DH convinced me that they are having a good life with regular food and shelter, if left in the wild not all of these would have survived.
Soon we were done with the farm went out to where the van was by the shore. Sadly that was all we saw of the beautiful beaches of Cayman Islands. Our next stop was a place called Hell, which was sooo not worth its salt. There was a small post office from where you could mail your friends, saying you were mailing from Hell.
We got talking to the var driver and he said he great great grand parents were from India, Bhopal and had migrated to Cayman Islands long long time ago! DH joked saying Europeans explored the world after they found the ship, but namma oors had probably long before then only started sailing on planks into the sea and settled whereever they could. Its really amazing how civilization works, how people migrate from one place to another, how people even inhibit islands like these, and hawaii, and tahiti, splat in the middle of the ocean. They must have had some guts to take up the venture of sailing into the unknown.
Anyhoo. We were back by the port, and we had a couple of hours before the ship set sail. We shopped a bit for some authentic Run cake of the Caribbean, bought some for friends at work and ourselves. We were hungry as it was past lunch time, so we just decided to go to the ship for lunch. We got in the boats to the ship pretty easily, nobody checked our documents. So much for spending on getting the Visa and so much for worrying about getting it on time and so much for carrying it with us and making sure it was safe!
Evening we went to the gym, that was good, and then spent more time on the deck, lazing under the sun, people watching. Both of us dressed up for dinner. This day and the day before too, there were several portait photographers who had put their set up to take pictures of the passengers. Since it was our anniversary we decided to take some portraits done as memento of the occasion. It was fun, we just had to go take pictures, and then they would put the pictures on display and you can buy them if you wanted to. Actually there were photographers taking pictures in several places, like went we get off the ship to any place, or while dining.
Then we headed for dinner, which was sumptuous as usual, Italian this time around. Our waiters got to know our choices better, our green tea at the end of dinner, and the melting chocolate for dessert on most days. I was sleepy as usual, sooner than usual and we retired for the day content and happy. We were officially in the second half of the trip.
PS1: I know, pictures arent that great, we were too busy having fun :--)
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