hey man -- its cayman!

 

we went down here to the CI's for a little business and a little pleasure. very nice, relaxing place. expensive, but rather mundane. the caymanis are very sweet people. i dont think there is much of the carribean on uo, so i thought some may like to see this place. per wiki:

 

 

The Cayman Islands (/ˈkeɪmən/ or /keɪˈmæn/) are a British Overseas Territory located in the western Caribbean Sea. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, located south of Cuba and northwest of Jamaica. The Cayman Islands are considered to be part of the geographic Western Caribbean Zone as well as the Greater Antilles.

 

The territory is a major world offshore financial center for squirreling away shifty drug loot and various robber baron capitalist money. The Cayman Islands have more registered businesses than people.The latest population estimate of the Cayman Islands is about 56,000 as of mid-2011, representing a mix of more than 100 nationalities.  Also, the CI are very well known for scuba diving, snorkeling and beautiful beaches as well as being a rather less known quiet gateway into cuba.

 

The Cayman Islands were first logged as sighted by Christopher Columbus on 10 May 1503 during his fourth and final voyage to the New World. He named the islands Las Tortugas after the large number of sea turtles observed there. The first recorded English visitor to the islands was Sir Francis Drake in 1586. He subsequently named the islands "Cayman" after caiman, a Neo-Taino word for "alligator".

 

The first recorded permanent inhabitant of the Cayman Islands, Isaac Bodden, was born on Grand Cayman around 1661. He was the grandson of the original settler named Bodden who was probably one of Oliver Cromwell's soldiers at the taking of Jamaica in 1655.

 

England took formal control of the Cayman Islands, along with Jamaica, as a result of the Treaty of Madrid of 1670. Following several unsuccessful attempts at settlement, a permanent English-speaking population in the islands dates from the 1730s.

 

With settlement, after the first royal land grant by the Governor of Jamaica in 1734, came the perceived need for slaves. Many were brought to the islands from Africa; this is evident today with the majority of native Caymanians being of African and English descent. The results of the first census taken in the islands in 1802 showed the population on Grand Cayman to be 933 with 545 of those inhabitants being slaves. Slavery was abolished in the Cayman Islands in 1834. At the time of abolition, there were over 950 slaves owned by 116 Caymanian families.

 

The islands continued to be governed as part of the Colony of Jamaica until 1962, when they became a separate Crown colony while Jamaica became an independent Commonwealth realm.

 

George Town, Grand Cayman, is the capital of the Cayman Islands and has a population of 27,704 as of 2010 and is the largest city. George Town is the heart of the Cayman Islands financial industry, there are close to 600 Bank and Trust companies in the Cayman Islands. The city is the largest (by population) of all settlements in the British Overseas Territories.

 

Foreign policy is controlled by the United Kingdom, as the islands remain an overseas territory of the UK. Although in its early days, the Cayman Islands' most important relationships were with Britain and Jamaica naturally in more recent years relationship with the United States is primary. Only Cayman and US currency are accepted and the CI dollar is pegged to the US dollar at $1USD=$1.25CID.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

georgetown

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

caymana bay development

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

***  i hope you enjoyed a peak into this small, sweet, touristy, safe yet shifty, carribean island world ***

 

 

That was really cool to see. I'm not sure what I expected. Some interesting buildings for sure. Some of the more corporate architecture seemed kind of terrible looking.

 

Thanks for posting!

That was really cool to see. I'm not sure what I expected. Some interesting buildings for sure. Some of the more corporate architecture seemed kind of terrible looking.

 

Thanks for posting!

 

 

thx and i think you could tell, but if you are curious just to confirm there is definately no surfing cayman. typically, the water is smooth as glass.

That was really cool to see. I'm not sure what I expected. Some interesting buildings for sure. Some of the more corporate architecture seemed kind of terrible looking.

 

Thanks for posting!

 

 

thx and i think you could tell, but if you are curious just to confirm there is definately no surfing cayman. typically, the water is smooth as glass.

 

No surf? That's okay, not every destination can be as fortunate as Cleveland ha ha. I do also love snorkeling quite a bit, and man you're right that looks like the perfect place for it!

I stayed at the Ritz in Grand Cayman and enjoyed every minute of it.

 

(and don't think I'm rich; we got a bomb-ass deal)

I went there on a cruise a few years ago and it seemed pretty boring.  The presence of all the banks gave the place a sleazy vibe. 

the locals were pleasant, but the visitor people were all dullwitted, schlubby and suburban. thats why i prefer the french west indies. 7 mile beach and cayman brac island are pretty nice tho. and so are all dem chickens.