Welcome to Grand Cayman!

We explored the beautiful Grand Cayman Island on land and in the water.

While snorkeling, we saw amazingly colorful schools of fish, sting rays, a sea turtle, and even loads of live conchs!

Live Conch

Conch are threatened in most of the Caribbean due to overfishing – but on Grand Cayman you can really find lots of them grazing on the submerged aquatic grass beds. After finding one and showing it to my friends who weren’t keen on snorkeling – I swam back to the same spot I found it, and let the conch go right where it belonged.

I love snorkeling and seeing all the wildlife that lives below the water – but some of those critters are venomous! Like brain corals that can sting if they are touched. It is always a good idea not to touch wild animals, whether a bear or coral, hands-off is the best policy. Of course, sometimes it’s hard to keep your knee off the coral in a shallow sea.

Brain Coral Tattoo on my Knee

While searching for snakes on land, I found a critter that gave me a scare – I actually fell backwards after lifting a piece of plywood and finding this big guy:

Yikes!

Of course, what I always am looking for when I travel are herps: reptiles and amphibians. Here is a herp that decided to hang out at our house:

Cuban Tree Frog

And I found a familiar face:

Caroline and Cayman Island Snake

I get extremely excited when I find a snake (or any herp) that I have never seen before. These mildly venomous Cayman Island snakes are one of only two species of snakes found on Grand Cayman. I had never even known about this species, let alone seen it before! I was ECSTATIC to find and photograph these awesome snakes.

Anole lizards make up part of the diet of these snakes.

Anole on Grand Cayman

But the BEST herpetological part of Grand Cayman Island was yet to come…

Stay tuned for Grand Cayman Island Adventure Part II: Blue Dragons!

Kayaking the Carribean