A Whistlestop Tour of White Sands and Turquoise Water

In April, I was fortunate to go to the Cayman Islands on a business trip. Though I was fully aware our schedule would not permit much down time, I also knew the water would be warm, clear and easily accessible, as well as teeming with exotic fish and even the occasional turtle. So, I held out hope that I would be afforded the opportunity to sample the delights and optimistically included Bread in my luggage, along with my swimming costume and travel towel.

After the approximately 12-hour flight and slightly painful adjusting to the six-hour time difference, our gruelling programme of meetings, note taking and report writing began. The humidity and heat were constant companions, though thankfully the air conditioning did offer some relief indoors. And, throughout it all, so too was Bread, always secreted in my rucksack, attending every meeting, party to every discussion and symbolic of my inward longing to visit the ocean – tantalisingly close and, yet, out of reach.

The small glimpses of the landscape our schedule permitted revealed a wonderful place. It was very flat, with the highest point in the island being the top of the rubbish dump and very built up in the west. As you travel east, however, everything became sparser, eventually giving way to thick foliage on one side of the road.

The eastern end of Grand Cayman is home to the botanic park, which offers a fascinating display of the endemic flora, and even the fauna in the form of blue iguanas and many amazing and unusual species of bird.

None of this, though, I imagine, held much interest for Bread, hiding throughout in my work bag. His primary purpose, of course, has always been to carry the towels, so nothing could quite provide the same pull as and the sand and waves on the other side of the road…

Eventually, after almost a full week on island, my colleague and I were able to steal away for a morning to go snorkelling. Perfect, I thought, Bread would finally be in his element!

The scenery of the mangroves, interspersed with the enormous ex-pat owned houses and then, finally, the open water were astonishingly beautiful. I have heard and read about the Caribbean, but nothing quite prepared me for the colour of that water – so bright and so clear, I had never seen anything like it. We were taken out to our first snorkelling spot, Coral Gardens, and I was excited to finally swim…

It was glorious! So warm that it felt like floating in air, or nothing at all, and I could have stayed there forever. Bread was forced to watch on enviously from the boat, no doubt also craving the feel of the lapping waves around him – he, however, was confined by the important task of guarding the valuables, ever the enabler rather than an active participant.

The next stop was Stingray City, a sandbank where fishing boats historically discarded unusable parts of their catch, attracting large numbers of stingrays. Here, Bread once again observed while we swam amongst them, fed them and even held them – an amazing experience only slightly marred by the possibility of being stung if we were to accidentally stand on a ray. Not too likely but, with the occasional larger wave sweeping us from our feet, not quite impossible either…

The last stop was the barrier reef, which surrounds the whole island and was again gorgeous! So many interesting fish and coral species. Then the boat ride back to the harbour with more interest in the view, since the desire to swim had been at least partially sated.

Other than lounging briefly in my hotel room, Bread’s last adventure in the Cayman Islands came a couple of days later in the form of a visit to the beach. We had only 20 minutes spare, so we ran the whole way, got in the water at top speed and were only able to stay in for a few minutes before the call of our laptops became too strong to deny any longer. But this allowed Bread to feel the white sand for himself and look out across the waves, his view unimpeded by the sides of a boat or any other obstacle. This was the furthest he had ever been from home. As he gazed at the Caribbean Sea, perhaps he too was wondering which other shores might one day welcome him…

Where next? Stay tuned for more travels and unexpected detours, under the ever-watchful gaze of Bread.