A lovely morning out in a canoe in the Lake Nakuru National Park, part of the rift valley in Kenya with flocks of Great White Pelicans (the grey one is a juvenile). Part of the Acacia Africa Ultimate Overlander we were lucky enough to go on in 2011. Read more…
We recently got tempted into watching “Britain’s Trillion Pound Island – Inside Cayman” which seemed more like a channel five spoofumentary than a real piece of journalism from the BBC (which I had expected it to be, given it was aired on BBC2). The journalist, Jacques Peretti, explained that the “administrative powers of the Cayman Islands allowed me in to have a nose around”.
In the end Read more…
I’m from the Black Country in England (a reference to the industrial revolution that led to an intense conurbation of industry and smog). One thing we have really embraced in the Black Country (and the UK as a whole) is Indian food – we have several curry miles and everyone from the area has their favourite.
Cayman is remarkably well served with restaurants for such a small island, but when it comes to Indian restaurants it boils down to two (whilst I would heartily recommend Bombay Chopsticks it is a whole hour’s drive to the other side of the Island so I’ll focus on the main West area, but recommend that if you’re staying in the East). Read more…
Great three tank Lionfish cull today with Ocean Frontiers. When I first started doing these culls we would easily get 150-200 fish per outing. The fish are becoming cannier (we are seeing the survival of the fittest in action here) but I believe there are definitely fewer of them out there. Read more…
Probably my favourite night-dive in Cayman is a site I am also familiar with during the day – Macabuca. It is in the North-Western corner of the Island, an easy shore dive from a protected little pool in the Ironshore with a well equipped dive shop and a bar afterwards. There is a mini wall which we tend to stay on at night, and lights in the water help guide you back to the bar for a well deserved beer. Read more…
I’m not really a fussy fine dining kind of guy. Although my friends and wife will say that I am a rather fussy eater kind of guy, I like what I like! For me, that’s good, tasty food that gets you full and keeps you coming back for more (after a suitable few weeks of digestion). A clue may be in “Tubbyman Tales”.
Grand Cayman is actually very well served with decent restaurants such that you won’t get stuck for choice. Recently, a second Mexican Restaurant has opened, which is now one of my go to choices for a good night out – Casa 43. Read more…
Red Lionfish are not indigenous to Caribbean waters, but began making an appearance here in the last few years. It is not clear how they made their way to the Caribbean from their native Indo-Pacific waters, with theories including accidental or deliberate escape from home aquariums to travelling in the bilge water of large cargo ships. I first came across these exotic looking fish in Thailand, and recall that they were pointed out in excitement. They are called Lionfish because they have spines that radiate out like the mane of a Lion. Read more…
Although diving in Grand Cayman is stunning (see some details here), the sister islands of Little Cayman (which makes Grand Cayman seem like a buzzing metropolis) and Cayman Brac (known as the hilly one – brac being gaelic for a bluff) also offer some great diving.
Unfortunately the weather while we were in Cayman Brac wasn’t the best but we still managed to get out for a dive on the MV Capt. Keith Tibbetts (not the original name, the original designation of 356 not mirroring the name of a local politician), a Russian Koni II class frigate built in the Soviet Union in 1984 for the Cuban Navy, purchased by the Cayman Islands government for tourism, rather than defence.
Sunk in 1996, sitting with its bow in 85 feet of water and stern in 60 feet, the frigate is 330 long, broken in half it is less sterile than the USS Kittiwake on Grand Cayman, partly because the life that has had time to move in, and partly because the Russians were not quite so worried about removing any trace of hardware.
“Seized” is the real-life memoirs of Captain Max Hardberger’s fascinating career as a shipping captain turned recovery specialist, turned shipping lawyer. I don’t normally read non-fiction, although I like to read well written historical fiction that reads (to the uninitiated) as though it is based on research and a sound understanding of the subject matter. I picked this up (or rather, downloaded it on the kindle) after a chat with a divemaster made it sound like an exciting read. Read more…
Cayman has year round temperatures that rarely drop below the mid 20s, apart from the occasional rainstorm.
As such, it’s not really the place you get cold.
So the arrival of a new “ice bar” in Cayman – the Minus5 Ice Experience warranted a visit. Read more…
Tubbyman Tales 