We just got back from our cruise & it was GREAT! We visited Key West, Grand Cayman, & Ocho Rios. Did I mention we were a group of 13 yep you read correctly 13..LOL
I think that is the way to go. We had so much fun there was never a dull moment that's for sure if it wasn't one thing it was another.
The 1st night on the ship I went to the casino to feel it out and boy was it a good feeling I won $1,600 right off the bat in the slot machines I was so excited!!! Then I won another $400.00 before the night was over. That money sure came in handy. We used it to pay for all our excursions.
In Grand Cayman we went to the famous Sting Ray City. Stingray City is located in the shallow waters of the northwest corner of Grand Cayman's North Sound. It's just inside a natural channel which passes through the barrier reef. That's important to know, as it explains not only where Stingray City is, but also why it is.
Stingrays are bottom dwellers who feed primarily on mollusks and crustaceans, for which they dig in the sand, and on the occasional small fish. Stingrays naturally like shallow, sandy bottoms such as that found at this channel because that's where they find their food.
Fisherman used to duck in here, behind the the reef, to find calm water before returning to the dock. Rather than spill their beer and have sharp knives and fish guts flung about the boat while on open water, they naturally waited to return to the sound to clean and fillet their catch. Disposing of the offal was easy, toss it overboard in the shallow water, there's no one out here and the fish will eat it! It was fat city for the rays!
Well, years went by, and eventually some local divers realized that, not only were there were a lot of rays out there but you could get in the water with them and feed them by hand.
Now, over ten years later, Stingray City have hit the big time. This is not a penned up, artificial, man-made aquarium setting with captive rays like they setup in the Bahamas in 1995. This is the real thing, this is the real ocean with real animals who are free to come and go as they choose, and they choose to be there because they hope that you might just come down there and feed them. Makes sense, when you think of it, who really wants to have to grub in the sand for a living?
The locals say that if you kiss a stingray you will have 7 years good luck...I puckered up mu lips god know I need some good luck my way.
But for everyone who dares get in that water for their first time this with these prehistoric looking creatures lurking just below their toes, the adrenaline still flows and the heart still pumps. I know mine was but it is definitely a world-class experience one that I recommend you try.
Our next stop Fisherman's Reef where we went snorkeling, observing all sorts of marine life from hundreds of tropical fish to eels, turtles, corals, sponges and much more! It was AMAZING and a bit scary at times I was afraid some of the reef sharks would come over for a visit...LOL
Next up was the 7 mile beach. Grand Cayman is famous for this soft white sand beach with crystal clear water that you can see right down to your feet. It was so beautiful I had never been on a beach so crystal clear before. We rode the banana boat, jet skis we even had lunch right on the beach.
Our Next Port was Ocho Rios, Jamaica we went did a quite a few things while we were there. We hired a bus driver to stay with us the whole day & take us anywhere we wanted to go. Our 1st stop was River tubing at White River Valley. The White River is so named because the limestone rocks in its bed sometimes give the water a white, milky colour. The river runs along the border of the two scenic parishes of St. Mary and St. Ann, twisting and turning its way through the rain forest to the town of Ocho Rios where it meets the sea.
As the river courses its way through White River Valley it forms rapids known as the Flipping Rapids and Spinning Rapids. We had 2 Jamaican guys ride along with us just in case we got into trouble along the way which was a good thing seeing that Rich fell off of his tube once & had a hard time getting back on. During our trip down the river we traveled through 7 rapids (a bit scary at times..LOL) to the midway stop where we stopped to swim, drink a cold beer, and rest a bit before going back down the river or you could jump of the 20 ft Cliff & plunge into the COLD river. The depth is over 12 feet so it is quite deep. We all jumped off the cliff even the little ones jumped it was so exciting.
After Tubing we went to Dunn River Falls. Dunn's River Falls is unique. Described as a living and growing phenomenon, it continuously regenerates itself from deposits of travertine rock, the result of precipitation of calcium carbonate from the river, as it flows over the falls. The small dome-shaped cataracts are usually associated with thermal spring activity found in limestone caves. This, combined with its location near to the sea, gives Dunn's River the distinction of being the only one of its kind in the Caribbean, if not the world. It is one of the very few waterfalls in the world that actually fall directly into the sea.
We climbed up the 600Ft waterfall in a human chain..all of us holding hands helping one another on our way up. It was slippery at times, so slippery that Jorge fell back and of coarse we got that on video it was totally worth the $40.00 we couldn't leave without that...LOL
All in all it was a wonderful experience & I cant wait to take another cruise in the near future. Life is too short & we need to live it to the fullest and I want to visit all parts of the world & see things that I have only read about. The trip was extra special to me because I got to spend it with my kids. Even though they are growing up they still want to do things with their mother...I thank god for that.
Hope you enjoy the pictures that I posted of our Summer vacation 2009
