2023 Cruise -- Day 4

We went for an onshore adventure on Grand Cayman. This time we did a non-cruise tour company cave tour. The landforms were interesting, and it was pretty hot, and it was nice to tool around in a van being told how expensive real estate is here. I was getting the hint that our guide did not want us to move there. But he was very nice.

Our destination was Crystal Caves, homestead of one of the 7 founding families of Grand Cayman. Our host, Mr. Archie, was a descendant of two of those families. The caves had been the source of the water for much of the area for quite some time. Once we got into the caves they showed us some small apertures used to lower children holding buckets into the aquifer to get the water.

The tour reminded me of how much I loved my geology class in college (except for the math, and the tests, which were often fill in the blank but in CROSSWORD form, so you could have a totally valid answer but be wrong and screw up your other answers. Am I traumatized by this? Apparently so because my palms are sweating). 

As you were, Reader! On to the coolness that is Karst geology. Which includes dolomite, not to be confused with the film starring Rudy Ray Moore.

Here is some of what we saw:

Rock that looks like ramen! I think this is my favorite.

Hot tip: when in the port at Grand Cayman, if you can't find your tour company look for people who look organized. There are the people greeting you with signs made of photos faux laminated on cardboard, and those might be your tour folks -- or they might not. So take whatever info you have and find the people with spreadsheets and clipboards. That's what we eventually did, and they were folks from the Grand Cayman who phoned a person who phoned a person who found our people in a parking lot under a tent. We would have never found them without the other people.

After we got back we availed ourselves of room service. Best thing ever.