After the wedding in Denver, we headed south to Grand Cayman for a week-long honeymoon. Everything about the trip was perfect. It was the ideal blend of relaxation and adventure, and I could have stayed for months. The excursion gave us the first opportunity to get a tan that we've had in years, as living in Eastern Europe doesn't lend itself to sun-kissed hues.
We spent as much time as we could lounging on the world's most comfortable lounge chairs on Seven-mile beach - an idyllic beachfront with crystal clear water and white sand.
Playing with sea turtles as definitely my highlight of the trip and one of the reasons we chose this island. Sea turtles have been my favorite animal for as long as I can remember, but this was the first time I could hold one. We went to the Boatswain sea turtle farm where some turtles are harvested to provide meat to the island so they aren't poached off the beach, while others are grown for conservation efforts. The farm has released more than 30,000 of these endangered turtles back into the wild since the '80s.
Oh, darling Greenback turtle.
With our love of animals being far from sated, we also went to the Botanic Gardens, where we saw some gorgeous tropical flowers and bushes, as well as this endangered beauty: the Cayman Blue Iguana. This colorful fellow below is critically endangered as there are only a couple hundred left, most of which are at this preserve.
We couldn't resist stopping at the biggest tourist trap of the island: Hell. This "town" consists of a brightly painted building, which of course is a gift shop with catchy shirt slogans like "I've been to hell and back, and all I got was this t-shirt," and all types of kitschy merchandise.
Grand Cayman is an ideal place to scuba dive because of its lucid waters. Mike is a certified diver, so he went under the sea. I did a resort course on scuba diving, but I couldn't get my ears to equalize with the water pressure, so I couldn't dive. Major bummer.
I did get to go to stingray city - much to my dismay. At this sandbar, tamed stingrays allow you to pet and feed them. However, if you don't release your food (i.e. squid) fast enough, the stingrays will give you a hickie - I know this first-hand. The second I got off the boat, I was swarmed by the giant, rubbery beasts, so I found the experience unnerving although I tried to be a good sport.
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