Today was our third and final port, George Town, Grand Cayman. I had my usual breakfast of cantaloupe, grapefruit, watermelon, hard boiled eggs, and waffles before departing the ship. This was our only port where we had to take a smaller ship from the cruise ashore to land. The boat ride was quick, and we then found our pre booked excursion meeting spot where we waited to be picked up by a bus and taken on our Turtle Encounter & Island Tour. The Turtle Encounter was AMAZING! We were able to go into the smaller tanks with the baby sea turtles, pet the adult sea turtles, and snorkel in a giant beach like enclosure with turtles and small fish. Aside from turtles, the facility also had a butterfly house, Caribbean aviary, a crocodile, and a predator reef. My favorite part was being able to snorkel with the turtles in the beach enclosure, it was turtly awesome. We had lunch at one of the restaurants onsite and I had a mango daiquiri which cost $10.50 and jerk chicken wrap (flour tortilla, jerk chicken, lettuce, tomato, jerk sauce) that came with a side of French fries which cost $15. Everything was phenomenal. We were guided back to the bus after spending a few hours at the turtle encounter to continue with the second half of our excursion, the island tour. Our tour guide was knowledgeable with history of the island, keeping us entertained as we got to see different parts of the island. We learned an important lesson to always tip your tour guides or else they will bring you to Hell... I'm just kidding, we paid to go to Hell. Hell, Grand Cayman that is and we always remember to tip. The name "Hell" comes from the black limestone formations located in the area. We were able to make a short stop at Hell to take pictures and peruse the giftshop. In the giftshop, you are able to get your passport stamped saying that you have visited Hell. After we left Hell (thank God), we got dropped back off where we were picked up, near the port. In this area (George Town), we quickly did some souvenir shopping, had free daiquiri samples (blue raspberry, mango, and strawberry), dipped our feet in the water, and were off to catch a boat back to the ship.
Back on the cruise ship, we freshen up for our evening. We went to dinner, and I had bright citrus avocado and melon salad (sweet cantaloupe, ripe avocados, orange segments and figs in a maple-lime dressing, topped with toasted pine nuts), lemon-butter baked cod (crusted and baked until golden, served with sauteed spinach, fluffy citrus rice and a lemon-butter sauce), and warm chocolate cake (rich molten center, chocolate sauce and a scoop of vanilla ice cream). After dinner, we participated in the 70's Disco Inferno Dance Party where we learned to do "The Hustle". I had an all-around blast today! Turtles are one of my favorite animals so being able to interact with them on a personal level for several of hours was a huge highlight for me. I also am a shopping girl so I loved being able to select gifts for my loved ones that I thought they would enjoy. To end off the day, I love a good party, especially one where I can dance! My family and I all slept well after another exhilarating but exhausting day.
Peep the GIANT cruising duck that my sister found on the ship!
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