A Day on Cayman Brac

Jonathan: We had a very early start this morning because we were off on another adventure to a new island. We took a Cayman Airways plane to Cayman Brac, a sister island to Grand Cayman. Fifteen minutes and 90 miles later we landed in Cayman Brac. “Brac” is Gaelic for bluff and the island got its name because of the 140-foot bluff standing on the island’s coast.

Our first stop was to the Cayman Brac Museum. The museum holds many unique artifacts that shows the history, culture, and heritage of the island that date all the way back to the early 1900s. One of the artifacts we saw was a mattress made by stuffing it with dried plantain and banana leaves. Another thing we learned about in the museum was the history of caymanite. Caymanite is a semiprecious stone, which is layered in different shades of brown, and is only found on Cayman Brac. It was discovered by a tourist visiting Cayman Brac from Alabama in 1978.

After the museum, we headed to the Brac’s caves. My favorite cave we saw was called Peter’s Cave. Peter’s Cave is located inside of the bluff so we had to drive all the way to the top. The cave was made out of limestone and was used by the first settlers of the island to provide shelter from the hurricanes.

Because of its sturdiness and high elevation, Peter’s Cave is the perfect place to hide out during a bad storm. Inside the cave, we had to really duck down so we wouldn’t hit our heads on the low ceiling. It was very dark and cramped in the cave so we needed to watch out where we were going so we wouldn’t crash into any stalagmites or stalactites that were scattered all over. I can’t imagine having to stay in there to ride out a storm because of how humid and tight it was, but obviously people still do because we found a lounge chair, mattress, and jugs of water in the cave. It was interesting to explore Peter’s cave but I was happy to see the sunshine and amazing view of the Cayman Brac when we exited.

Harrison: Today at the islands was absolutely amazing. We started
the day by taking a 25-minute (but thanks to friends and an exciting
takeoff it felt like 3) flight to Cayman Brac. The flight was amazing.
We passed over Little Cayman on the way to Cayman Brac. The view of the
islands from the air was wonderful. As we were exploring Cayman Brac, we
visited a beach. The beach was unlike ANY American beach I had ever
seen. There was no sand, just sharp jagged coral that had been exposed
by hundreds of years of tidal recession. There were small and large
tidal pools everywhere that were filled with everything from snails and
crabs to fish and octopus. The view of the island’s bluff (large
clifflike structure) was fantastic from the beach. Later on we took a
fantastic bus ride to the top of the island and got to walk on the ridge
of the cliff overlooking the water. The view there was even better than
the view at the beach. We got the chance to observe several animals on
the bluff including a brown booby, and a frigatebird. The area of the
cliff that we were on was about 150 feet above sea level. For a lot of
people that is not very impressive because most of us live at least 75
to 200 feet above the sea and don’t even notice. But standing on the top
of the island Brac, you feel like you are on top of the world. Also,
the entire island of Grand Cayman and Little Cayman are at most probably
20 feet above the sea at most. The journey to Brac was an exhilarating
trip for me and I wish that I could re-live the excitement of the trip
every day. Writing this blog was an honor for me and I would like to
thank everyone who gives the time to read it.

Michaela: Today was really awesome! We flew about 25 minutes from
Grand Cayman to Cayman Brac, where fewer than 2,000 people live!
Although we didn’t stop in Little Cayman, we flew over it, so we could
take pictures.  At Cayman Brac, we went to several caves. The first one
is called Skull Cave, because of the skull-like shape of the entrance.
Skull Cave had some really neat openings to the outside, so the
backlighting was pretty sweet! People on the island, before storm
shelters were built, would head to the natural caves to be protected
from the hurricanes and Skull Cave was one they used. I really enjoyed
exploring all three caves, but my other favorite was Rebecca’s Cave. 
How it got its name is sad. It was named after an 18-month-old baby who
died in a hurricane while her family was trying to get to that cave
during the eye of the monster hurricane in 1932.  She is actually buried
there. I thought it was gorgeous how shafts of light came streaming
down through holes in the top of the cave, creating an interesting light
for pictures.  The crazy thing about that cave was the amazing number
of hermit crabs–at least 70 or even more!

The sizes ranged from a golf
ball to a tennis ball. It was cool, because when you looked at the
crabs’ claws and legs, they were actually hairy, which I never realized
before! You had to be careful, or else their feet would reach around the
shell and pinch you! Overall I had a great time exploring Cayman Brac.
But the best thing was hanging out with everyone, and I hope that we’ll
keep in touch after this trip is over!