The Cayman Islands are a paradise. There’s no other way to describe it. I got there expecting it to be too hot and humid. I expected sweat to be instantly soaking through my clothing and pouring off my brow. In reality, it just felt like a normal Canadian summer day. It’s still warm, but not unbearable. As long as you remember to wear a little sunscreen, it is the perfect whether to sit outside in just your shorts or bathing suit or whatever suits your fancy. Playing a three set match in the middle of the day is a little bit of a struggle, as was mentioned on Monday, but with a couple more days in the sun even that would be manageable.
The Cayman Islands consist of three separate islands: Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, and Cayman Brac. On all of them the beaches are made up of beautiful white sand, and super clear ocean water. After every game and every practice, there was really no option but to jump in the calm ocean water, and let the Cayman environment sink in. The water has a very calming effect. On my last day there, I spent around an hour sitting on a rock made of old coral, just watching the waves rise and fall. There’s just something about the ebb and flow of the water that can hold my attention.
Finally, the Grand Cayman offers a variety of opportunities to interact with several of the ocean’s creatures. I don’t often have a huge time budget to spend on extra activities while on tour, but on this trip I couldn’t resist a couple of things. Things like swimming with dolphins for instance. Not only swimming, I also got to dance with one, hug one, and give one a big kiss. I regret that I didn’t get a chance to go to Stingray city, a sandbar crawling with people friendly Stingrays (No danger of following the same fate as Steve Irwin). I did, however get the chance to go to the sea turtle farm. There, I saw sharks feeding, snorkelled with exotic fish, saw some interesting native birds and lizards, picked up sea turtles, and got more of a sunburn in 2 hours than I did over an entire weekend of being outside playing beach volleyball.
All in all, the worst part about the Cayman Islands, was having to leave and go back to Toronto.
Cheers
Ben Jammin
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