Cruisin' Caribbean Style (Part Two)

The next stop on our Caribbean tour takes us to the island of Grand Cayman. We had arranged a tour from Captain Marvin that would include the highlights of the island, including time to snorkel with the stingrays. Unfortunately, the water was choppy, and the company recommended we did not do the snorkel part, and refunded our money. This was good because we wanted time to shop, but not good because I really wanted to snorkel with the stingrays.

We boarded this small bus, about 19 passengers probably and our driver took us around the island. He was knowledgeable and funny and made the trip more interesting. I'll let the photos and captions tell the story. Have a blessed week.

Beginning of 7 mile beach which is, you guessed it, 7 miles long. All of the beach is public so the hotels cannot rope of private sections.

Looking down 7 mile beach to my beach house :)

Nice clear water

Small town on Grand Cayman with a bar, post office, and souvenir shop.

This is why they call it hell. It appears to be dried coral. There must have been an inlet or pond here in the past.

More of Hell

There is this huge turtle farm on the island that mates and raises turtles, releasing most back into the wild throughout the world. The oldest one there was 135 years old and weighed 595 pounds.

Small turtles, 2-3 years old

We could hold them. This guy was 10 I think

Not sure why there was an alligator or crocodile at a turtle farm.

These were just 11 weeks old.

There were iguanas all over the island, just relaxing in the sun.

Do you see it?

How many can you find in this picture?

It was a popular day in Grand Cayman with a total of 5 ships in port.

Cayman Pirate ship

Cruisin' Caribbean Style (Part One)

When we went on our European cruise in October 2010, my mom was the lucky winner of the win a cruise bingo game. They chose to take a Caribbean cruise, upgrade to a Verandah room, and invited me along for the third person reduced rate. Not going to turn that down. We ended up changing our original plan because a similar itinerary was available on the Nieuw Amsterdam, which was the same ship we sailed on in the Mediterranean. Not that I don't think the other ships in the Holland America fleet would not be as great, we knew what we were getting on the Nieuw Amsterdam.

We boarded in Fort Lauderdale Florida, and sailed to Holland America's private island in the Bahamas, called Half Moon Cay. I took a shore excursion that let me ride a jet ski for about an hour throughout the Cay and into the Caribbean for a brief moment, although it was hard to drive and try to take pictures, so there were not many. The island also had a nice beach to relax on, and lunch was a complimentary island buffet. From Half Moon Cay, we set sail for Grand Cayman after a day at sea. More on the other ports of call in the next blog. One thing I noticed that was different on this trip was that we spent much more time on the boat. On the European cruise we often had 10-12 hours in port, whereas we only had about 6 on this trip. Likely contributed to the longer distances we had to travel between ports, and the ship maxed out at about 25 mph. Enjoy the first set of photos and check back soon for part two.

The Allure of the Seas, world's largest cruise ship, 6000 passengers

Apartments right on the waterway out of the cruise port, this one was waving the Holland America flag

End of the beach in Fort Lauderdale

Beach from Fort Lauderdale to Miami way in the background

The show on the first night introduced all the shipboard musical entertainment,

dancers

All the Holland America entertainers

The first night we ate at the specialty Asian restaurant called Tamarind, these are my dumplings

My duck entree

Sauteed Asian vegetables in oyster sauce

Mushrooms

Carmelized banana dessert. YUM!!

Dessert Extravaganza

The beach on Half Moon Cay

M.A.S.H. like sign telling us how far away certain places are

Our ship chillin'

View from the beach

This bird landed on the tray right by our table and started eating the leftovers

Venturing into the water, it was pretty cold

Spoons Are For Serving

When you ask a college student what they plan to do for spring break, odds are good that they will say a beach vacation, or a week of relaxation. For Martin Luther Chapel (MLC), at Michigan State University, you will not hear those answers. You will hear the words “Servant Event”. For several years now, MLC has sent as many as four mission teams to various locations in the United States and Central America. YLM is an annual choice for one of the mission teams. This year, the team consisted of 10 servants, only one of whom had been here before.

The team spent Sunday afternoon hiking at Franklin Mountains State Park, from the base of the mountains, about half-way to the top to a small caved called the Aztec Cave. Workwise, they spent three days at the home of Margarita Gonzalez in Horizon City. Mrs. Gonzalez lives in an older model trailer home, and her floor was in need of repair. The servant group ripped out old carpet of half the trailer and one bathroom, reinforced the floor in spots, and put down new tile, ceramic in the bathroom and vinyl in the bedrooms and living rooms. In addition to the tiling, the group rebuilt a porch and painted it, then sealed it to prevent future water damage.

The final day of work was spent at the YLM campus, beginning to build a porch on the outside of the kitchen building, and preparing the outside of building number 4 for paint. Once complete, this porch will provide a covered area to enjoy the great weather here. Each night, two different members of the team led bible study. One night, after enjoying $1 scoop ice cream, each person received a tasting spoon from the restaurant. The study focus on “backstabbing”, “cutting down”, and how we a Christians feel when that happens to us, and how we should treat others. The final line of the evening, which still resonates within me is when the study leaders closed the discussion with this line: “forks are for stabbing, knives are for cutting, but spoons are for serving”

As soon as I jumped out of the van at the airport, the camera was flashing

Getting ready for church

I was trying to creep on them before we went hiking

At the Aztec Cave

One the leaders and Margarita

The other leader, Holly, ripping up carpet

These three seemed to be on break A LOT!!

Showing off the handiwork

Having an intense discussion

Finished porch

One more piece of tile to go, then grout

New tile in hallway

Sheylan, Katie, and Blair, aka Team Tile

The group with Margarita

Ninja fighting on the roof

Porch in progress

Stopped to say hi to the dogs

They sure bark a lot, but they will only lick you death.