On a recent visit to Little cayman, I had the opportunity to visit the Little Cayman Elementary School. Take a look...
In this video, the students in Miss Veronica Khan's classroom took Teacher John on a class trip outside of their school to locate and identify the varied flora in the immediate vicinity of their one room schoolhouse on the beautiful island of Little Cayman. Taron, Jovian, and Justin identified many different plants, such as oleander, jasmine, rose, cactus, orchid, and the national tree of Cayman, the silver thatch palm. Plans are underway for the students in Miss Veronica's classroom to use teleconferencing and other means of communication to begin education related and FUN activities with their counterparts at a school in Philadelphia. Miss Veronica and her able assistant, Miss Kerry Scott are doing wonderful work with the students in their care.
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Little Cayman Sunsets
We just returned from Condo del Sole a magnificent, 2 story oceanfront Caribbean condo located on the western tip of Little Cayman, the smallest and most beautiful of the Cayman Islands. Our first entry, shown here...
is a video compilation of sunsets from the Champagne Balcony at Condo del Sole. In the near future, look for other video entries that show what makes Little Cayman such a truly special place.
For more information about Condo del Sole and Little Cayman, go to:
www.littlecaymancondo.com. or just leave a comment on the blog.
is a video compilation of sunsets from the Champagne Balcony at Condo del Sole. In the near future, look for other video entries that show what makes Little Cayman such a truly special place.
For more information about Condo del Sole and Little Cayman, go to:
www.littlecaymancondo.com. or just leave a comment on the blog.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Burgess Meredith and Christopher Columbus on Little Cayman
On the remote North Coast of Little Cayman, two unlikely historical figures have ties to the island. Take a look...
Going up the North Coast Road, the blacktop ends at Olivine Kirk Road which straddles Little Cayman. About 3 miles up the gravel portion of North Coast, there is a tiny cottage with a warning sign out front: NO TRESPASSING. BURGESS MEREDITH. Sometime around 1960, the actor built his little house in this particularly beautiful part of the North Coast. Mr. Meredith could be seen on Little Cayman when he was "getting away", right up until his death in the mid-1990's.
Five hundred years ago, another historical giant found his way to Little Cayman. In 1503, on his last trip to the New World, Christopher Columbus made landfall at beautiful Snipe Point at the end of the North Coast Road about 4 miles from Mr. Meredith's home. Until his death, Columbus thought he had sailed to India and that the islands where he landed were located in Asia rather than in what we now call the "West Indies" in the beautiful Caribbean Sea.
It is said on Little Cayman that both of these gentlemen made landfall here to "dry out", each in their own way.
Going up the North Coast Road, the blacktop ends at Olivine Kirk Road which straddles Little Cayman. About 3 miles up the gravel portion of North Coast, there is a tiny cottage with a warning sign out front: NO TRESPASSING. BURGESS MEREDITH. Sometime around 1960, the actor built his little house in this particularly beautiful part of the North Coast. Mr. Meredith could be seen on Little Cayman when he was "getting away", right up until his death in the mid-1990's.
Five hundred years ago, another historical giant found his way to Little Cayman. In 1503, on his last trip to the New World, Christopher Columbus made landfall at beautiful Snipe Point at the end of the North Coast Road about 4 miles from Mr. Meredith's home. Until his death, Columbus thought he had sailed to India and that the islands where he landed were located in Asia rather than in what we now call the "West Indies" in the beautiful Caribbean Sea.
It is said on Little Cayman that both of these gentlemen made landfall here to "dry out", each in their own way.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
The Iguanas of Candle Road - Little Cayman
In this video, we see the Little Cayman Blue Footed Iguana in its native habitat. Take a look...
These magnificent creatures can be found throughout the little island and particularly at a dense forest on Candle Road, near Preston Bay. For more information about the iguanas of Candle Road, visit our website at: www.littlecaymancondo.com
These magnificent creatures can be found throughout the little island and particularly at a dense forest on Candle Road, near Preston Bay. For more information about the iguanas of Candle Road, visit our website at: www.littlecaymancondo.com
Monday, October 22, 2007
A Bird's Tale
It is a 5 minute bicycle ride from Condo del Sole to Joseph's Village Liquor Store on the North Coast of Little Cayman. Riding up there for a six pack of Carib to while away the late afternoon on the cool front balcony. About halfway there, alone on the road on my bike and, BAM!, something whacks me hard on the back of my head. Quickly turning around, I see a Caribbean mockingbird flying away about 8 inches from my head. Words cannot describe the crazy sound that emanated from my mouth after that bird literally slapped the back of my head. In some crazy way, experiences like this are why I love Little Cayman. Here is a short video and a small sampling of the 300 species of birds that are either native to or are regular visitors of Little Cayman. Take a look...
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Government Response to Hurricane Dean on Little Cayman
In the August 28 edition of the cayCompass, Gladys Howard, world class chef, Proprietor of Pirates Point Resort, and prominent resident of Little Cayman has written a powerful letter calling the Cayman Islands Government to task for their response to Hurricane Dean on the island of Little Cayman. In the letter, Gladys asks why the one hurricane shelter on Little Cayman was locked, why there were not enough flights out to get all residents and visitors off the island despite the fact that there was a mandatory evacuation, and why electricity and telecommunications was cut off from the island for such an inordinately long time. Click here for Gladys' full letter, a must read for anyone interested in news about Little Cayman.
Friday, August 24, 2007
Hurricane Dean Eyewitness Report - Gay, Ed, and Martha
John: hello.
Regarding hurricane Dean: as we tracked the hurricane on the Weather Channel and NOAA website frequently, we kept seeing it was coming directly for Jamaica, and south of Grand Cayman. So whatever hit Grand Cayman, we are 80 miles away. This helps us, with the winds being a bit less dramatic, but these storms, can always at the last minute change course (as we saw happen.). Since we knew it would be a category 5, we acted as if that was going to happen. All of our guests left the island on Saturday, August 18th, on the morning flight, except for four who decided to stay, at least they thought they would stay, but then a mandatory evacuation was announced.
Saturday morning, we started prepping. The top pieces of the dock were dismantled, put on a trailer and brought to the resort. The idea is that the base of the dock, will survive (although ours did not this time). There were about 4 docks that were taken out and about 4 docks made it. We put away anything that could be flying debris. Rope lights, chairs, tables, water maker pump pulled from the beach, hammocks, coconuts off the beach. Anything that can be made airborne, can become a danger to property and surely, people. That is why during a hurricane you NEVER go out, until the winds have subsided. That is how people get hurt. They want to “see” what is happening, and flying palm fronds, etc, become very dangerous.
At about 3:00 we were looking good, but still had the dive boat to secure up on our hurricane mooring (the anchor is about the size for a cruise ship, HUGE rope also.), pull the skiff, and board up the windows. At about 3:30, our guys had heard about a charter flight out of Cayman Brac, and they wanted on it. Martha and I convinced Gladys to go. So, Ed, Martha and I continued putting up the boards, until late in the day. There was an outside chance of an early flight out, but we knew we would not make it, timewise. Martha also has a cat, and did not want to leave her cat. Our decision was based on the securing of our dive boat. That was more important to us than getting off the island. A policeman came by, and had us sign waivers if we “chose” to stay.
Sunday, we finished boarding up the resort, then went and boarded up two of the four condos at Sunset Point. Then we went to secure the dive boat, and pull our skiff out of the water, and tied it to a telephone pole. Once we had everything secured, we started getting set up, for however many days, we would be bound inside. The first shocker was that at 8:00 a.m. Sunday morning, they shut the power. Typically, they will run until it looks like a threat to any lines, or damage to the power plant. Power was DOWN, Sunday 8:00 a.m. We found out later that they told the power plant’s engineers that they HAD to leave. They were willing to stay. So, now with NO power, we set about getting flashlights, food in igloos, water, drinks, pillows, etc, to get as comfortable as possible. We made a port a potty, because no running water, with no power. Ed rigged up a car battery, a converter, and for about 5 hours on the stillest night, we had two fans, that helped us sleep for a few hours. You could not open windows, because of possible damage, or rain. We stayed at our new house, which is like a fortress, with all the block. The condo did well also, and we were lucky that the new sea wall, deterred any waves from coming and stealing our sand. Ha. So, not knowing how bad the storm was, where it was, was the scariest part. I read as long as I could by flashlight, then slept a little. At 6:00 a.m. it sounded as if there was a lull in the wind, so I went to the beach to see HUGE breaking waves, crashing the shore. As I looked from our house, to Gladys’ about 1/ 4 mile away, it looked like the waves were breaking and they were matching the size of her house, from where I was………. Unreal. Looking towards the sound was this solid white water, and white mist flying off the sea. The sound was almost deafening, as the waves crashed on the beach. At our condo, the huge rollers were coming from the south, and coming from the north, and at our corner, for some reason, that is where they meet. They come together in this high spray of water, and help each other cancel the other out. The leftover water, washes towards the beach, but since all it sees is a seawall, it rushes up, gives up, then falls back to the ocean. We were lucky on this one.
Monday, with no power, we decided to get outdoors, after being cramped inside with no power. Ed ran the generator at the resort, so we could shower, and also, for a couple of hours, to keep the food. Many of the residents, thinking to buy up food, so that they could survive for awhile if needed, lost their food, since the power was shut off.
Martha and I walked the beach by Pirates Point Resort, and found LOTS of conch up by the tree line. The waves were so big, they crashed on the beach and threw conch up high. We walked about a mile from the resort, and threw about 25 conch back into the water, hoping they would stand a chance of surviving. They could have never made the march back down to the water. the hard part, was finding a quite spot between waves, to get close enough to throw the conch back in. !!!! This area is inside the reef, yet there were 4 foot rollers coming in! Crazy.
Tuesday, about 9:00 a.m. power came back on. That was three full days without power. Neither of the other islands, lost power at all. Along with loss of power, came no phones. We could not call and tell people how we were doing, until Tuesday. Even cell phones would not work. That was a bit scary. Tuesday afternoon, people started coming back in. We lost only a dock, and that is due to the fact that the storm took a huge turn and went somewhere else. What is scary is……….. what if it would have hit us full force?? I never worry about the rain, or the wind. It is the sea conditions that become dangerous. Flooding, surge,,,,,,,,,,,, it could have been really much worse. We are SOOOOOOOOO glad that Dean, decided he liked Mexico better than Cayman. Safe in Little Cayman.
Gay and ed and Martha.
Regarding hurricane Dean: as we tracked the hurricane on the Weather Channel and NOAA website frequently, we kept seeing it was coming directly for Jamaica, and south of Grand Cayman. So whatever hit Grand Cayman, we are 80 miles away. This helps us, with the winds being a bit less dramatic, but these storms, can always at the last minute change course (as we saw happen.). Since we knew it would be a category 5, we acted as if that was going to happen. All of our guests left the island on Saturday, August 18th, on the morning flight, except for four who decided to stay, at least they thought they would stay, but then a mandatory evacuation was announced.
Saturday morning, we started prepping. The top pieces of the dock were dismantled, put on a trailer and brought to the resort. The idea is that the base of the dock, will survive (although ours did not this time). There were about 4 docks that were taken out and about 4 docks made it. We put away anything that could be flying debris. Rope lights, chairs, tables, water maker pump pulled from the beach, hammocks, coconuts off the beach. Anything that can be made airborne, can become a danger to property and surely, people. That is why during a hurricane you NEVER go out, until the winds have subsided. That is how people get hurt. They want to “see” what is happening, and flying palm fronds, etc, become very dangerous.
At about 3:00 we were looking good, but still had the dive boat to secure up on our hurricane mooring (the anchor is about the size for a cruise ship, HUGE rope also.), pull the skiff, and board up the windows. At about 3:30, our guys had heard about a charter flight out of Cayman Brac, and they wanted on it. Martha and I convinced Gladys to go. So, Ed, Martha and I continued putting up the boards, until late in the day. There was an outside chance of an early flight out, but we knew we would not make it, timewise. Martha also has a cat, and did not want to leave her cat. Our decision was based on the securing of our dive boat. That was more important to us than getting off the island. A policeman came by, and had us sign waivers if we “chose” to stay.
Sunday, we finished boarding up the resort, then went and boarded up two of the four condos at Sunset Point. Then we went to secure the dive boat, and pull our skiff out of the water, and tied it to a telephone pole. Once we had everything secured, we started getting set up, for however many days, we would be bound inside. The first shocker was that at 8:00 a.m. Sunday morning, they shut the power. Typically, they will run until it looks like a threat to any lines, or damage to the power plant. Power was DOWN, Sunday 8:00 a.m. We found out later that they told the power plant’s engineers that they HAD to leave. They were willing to stay. So, now with NO power, we set about getting flashlights, food in igloos, water, drinks, pillows, etc, to get as comfortable as possible. We made a port a potty, because no running water, with no power. Ed rigged up a car battery, a converter, and for about 5 hours on the stillest night, we had two fans, that helped us sleep for a few hours. You could not open windows, because of possible damage, or rain. We stayed at our new house, which is like a fortress, with all the block. The condo did well also, and we were lucky that the new sea wall, deterred any waves from coming and stealing our sand. Ha. So, not knowing how bad the storm was, where it was, was the scariest part. I read as long as I could by flashlight, then slept a little. At 6:00 a.m. it sounded as if there was a lull in the wind, so I went to the beach to see HUGE breaking waves, crashing the shore. As I looked from our house, to Gladys’ about 1/ 4 mile away, it looked like the waves were breaking and they were matching the size of her house, from where I was………. Unreal. Looking towards the sound was this solid white water, and white mist flying off the sea. The sound was almost deafening, as the waves crashed on the beach. At our condo, the huge rollers were coming from the south, and coming from the north, and at our corner, for some reason, that is where they meet. They come together in this high spray of water, and help each other cancel the other out. The leftover water, washes towards the beach, but since all it sees is a seawall, it rushes up, gives up, then falls back to the ocean. We were lucky on this one.
Monday, with no power, we decided to get outdoors, after being cramped inside with no power. Ed ran the generator at the resort, so we could shower, and also, for a couple of hours, to keep the food. Many of the residents, thinking to buy up food, so that they could survive for awhile if needed, lost their food, since the power was shut off.
Martha and I walked the beach by Pirates Point Resort, and found LOTS of conch up by the tree line. The waves were so big, they crashed on the beach and threw conch up high. We walked about a mile from the resort, and threw about 25 conch back into the water, hoping they would stand a chance of surviving. They could have never made the march back down to the water. the hard part, was finding a quite spot between waves, to get close enough to throw the conch back in. !!!! This area is inside the reef, yet there were 4 foot rollers coming in! Crazy.
Tuesday, about 9:00 a.m. power came back on. That was three full days without power. Neither of the other islands, lost power at all. Along with loss of power, came no phones. We could not call and tell people how we were doing, until Tuesday. Even cell phones would not work. That was a bit scary. Tuesday afternoon, people started coming back in. We lost only a dock, and that is due to the fact that the storm took a huge turn and went somewhere else. What is scary is……….. what if it would have hit us full force?? I never worry about the rain, or the wind. It is the sea conditions that become dangerous. Flooding, surge,,,,,,,,,,,, it could have been really much worse. We are SOOOOOOOOO glad that Dean, decided he liked Mexico better than Cayman. Safe in Little Cayman.
Gay and ed and Martha.
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