Today started off with an early morning walk on the beach with Lily and Harrison. My intention was Randy and Henry would sleep in a bit since he's been getting up with the older kids and hitting the beach first thing. Unfortunately Henry didn't get the message so they joined us pretty quick. While walking the beach the kids love to find crabs and let the waves chase them as they walk along the sand. After breakfast I took the older kids to the pool while Randy planned our day and what a day it was! We ended up going on a 3 hr guided tour to Stingray City and 2 snorkeling spots, barrier reef and Coral Gardens. Pictures to come (forgot to mention I can't post pics from the iPad so that will have to wait until we come home). Stingray city was AWESOME! The kids got in the water and touched stingrays!! And loved it!! Lily even tried to snorkel to see them under water but her life jacket prevented that. Randy and I took turns taking Lily and Harrison out of the boat. Neither Lily or Harrison held a stingray or kissed one (I kissed one) but they both petted them and Lily got to feed one. She was instructed to hold the squid like a ice cream cone and put it under the stingray. It was hilarious when the stingray grabbed it from her. I could tell she was scared but excited and she just giggled a ton. Harrison also wanted to feed one but the food was gone by the time he got up the nerve. The next 2 stops were for snorkeling so I hung out on the boat with the kids while Randy snorkeled. Randy saw some spotted ray, grouper and lots of random other fish. The boat was awesome and had a nice flat bed like area that we had to ourselves. Henry happily slept on it during Stingray city and Harrison fell asleep on the return back.
A little extra reading on Stingray city....
Many years ago local fishermen stopped in the shallow sand bars to clean their daily catch. The fishermen discarded the unwanted fish parts into the water which attracted hordes of Southern Stingrays to the area. As the fishermen would arrive the Stingrays would gather awaiting their free meal. The Stingrays began to associate the sound of a boat engine with their free meal. Eventually local divers realized the rays could be fed by hand and were docile.
The southern stingrays are located in the shallow waters of the northwest corner of Grand Cayman's North Sound. It is just inside a natural channel that passes through the barrier reef and consists of a string of sand bars that crosses the North Sound from Morgan Harbor to Rum Point. The area is a popular attraction where the rays are found in abundance and visitors can feed, pet, and interact with the animals.
No comments:
Post a Comment