Sitting pretty

I was away off island last week. It was one of those things where we had island fever and arranged a last minute trip, a cruise from Miami down to Key West & Cozumel. This was our first cruise experience and so we didn't really know what to expect. Needless to say we had a fabulous time, everything went smoothly (no delays or lost baggage). I even managed to squeeze in some much needed shopping in Miami, but really when is shopping ever not needed?!

En route to Miami, this time around, I also managed to capture some awesome shots of parts of Grand Cayman and Cayman Brac. You know I'm going to every time I get on that plane. We often forget how beautiful the island that we're living in can be and aerial shots just about reinforce that. Look at the green and blue hues. Go on, just give in. Resistance is futile.

Here you're looking at part of the airport strip and part of Georgetown, the capital. As you can see FOUR cruise ships have parked themselves by the dock. Funnily, we did actually our very own cruise ship docked here in Grand Cayman last week, mere days before our cruise. How neat would it have been if we could have just boarded that very same ship and hitched a ride back to Miami, but apparently things don't work that way.


Moving on, this one is of the famous and very popular Seven Mile Beach area. You're also looking at the stretch that leads to West Bay, which is posted here on the right.



And finally, I think these shots of the Southern tip of Cuba came out better than I anticipated. I really did want to include all the ones I had, such was the difficulty in narrowing them down as they each looked beautiful to me. So here they are...

Bermuda, Bahama Come on pretty Mama

Now just by the title, I know you've already got that song in your head. When I was younger...way younger, I was obsessed with that Beach Boy's song. You know the one. KOKOMO! I'd sing along to it whenever it was on air (Dubai had the best FM radio station in the world!) and even went further and taped it to play it back when I was in India, because back then in India there was a lack of FM stations with the latest music from the West. Anyway, I still remember singing along to the chorus TO BERMUDA, BAHAMA, COME ON PRETTY MAMA...never knowing that one day I would call Bermuda my temporary home for three years, never knowing that I'd get to explore that island, be a part of its workforce, meet its people and forge relationships that I'm sure will last a lifetime. Here I am some 20 odd years later, having moved on from Bermuda and now residing in Cayman and although it didn't make the cut into the song, it's an island very much like the rest mentioned in that song.

During my recent trip to Bermuda in June to wrap up our move, I got some awesome shots (taken with my new Olympus Stylus DigiCam) from the plane on my way back. The first shot you see here is of Clearwater Beach, where baby turtles roam during the hot summer month. Following that are shots of various sides of Bermuda, that my window seat could afford me.

Now I've included bits of the aeroplane wing in the shots, because the LAST TIME I took aerial shots, there were some disbelievers out there, doubting that those shots were actually taken from a plane, by me! Yes you know who you are...









And then later as we inched closer to the Caribbean, for some reason we were circling the air. In an effort to keep us occupied from the fact that we were going to be late touching down, the Captain kept diverting our attention to what was below us and actually give us a run down of what island we were passing by. It was a little treat (at least it was for me). And so introducing the Bahamas by air, the only way I've seen it yet. Now I've never set foot on the Bahamas but hey you never ever know...








All Images are copyrighted.

A new address

It's been a near unanimous vote for mscutepants as the new blog address. Thank you to all those who voted via comments and emails. I am going to repost my orginal Cayman post here, to keep with the flow and for those who missed reading it the first time.

FEBRUARY 25th, 2008

Hello Y'all (just kidding) and welcome to my life here in the Cayman Islands - specifically Grand Cayman. As I bid goodbye to Bermuda, I prepare myself for a long journey ahead and another adventure. The natural transition for many expats is the Cayman Islands, if they're not ready to repatriate back to their home land. And naturally this is where we end up too. So sit back, relax and read on, on my first day en route to my new place of residence - The Cayman Islands.

The Bermuda to Miami flight was a long haul, only because I knew there was going to be a stop over in Miami for 2 hours. I slept through most of the flight but woke up in time to check out Miami and all i could think of was the show Burn Notice! Although I have been to Miami once it was not during the light of day and it certainly didn't look as pretty as this. Once I transited in Miami International, I totally caved in when I got to Miami and got Internet for a half hour, which makes me wonder what I did in the days before we had the 'Net'.


The flight from Miami to Cayman was only about an hour but it was so pretty. I was wide awake at this point because there was no way I was going to miss the show down below. I saw some pretty islands which looked uninhabited to be Key West. You be the judge!




As we flew down further south we approached Cuba! I don't ever remember Cuba being so pretty from the air when we visited it back in Dec 2004 and it made me realise just how pretty the water can be elsewhere too.

Not too long after I spotted a couple of pretty islands...You're looking at the Southern most tip of Cuba. Very very pretty.



A half hour later we got to Grand Cayman and I didn't get too good a shot of the main island. I was on the wrong side of the plane for this one. It sure was hot when I got off the plane. We're talking 29 deg Celsius and it was February. Immigration and customs could not have been easier and nicer (so different from our initial Bermuda landing).
During the drive from the airport to my temporary accommodation, I was quite impressed by how much bigger the roads in Grand Cayman are. Along with the construction, buildings and fast food joints (yes that's right) reminds of me Florida. I feel like I'm in Florida. Not Miami, but somewhere like Boca Raton or West Palm Beach. You know this is going to a different experience from Bermuda, or perhaps the same in some ways and like my Bermuda blog, this too is going to be as objective as it comes - while I will continue to point out the good, the bad and the ugly and maybe make a few comparisions or two. Stay tuned...