Travel with me......

[jjeling]

Those Grand Turks look like lumps of sand with some palm trees and a couple of pools dropped on them. Best viewed with your back to them by the looks. Nice water around them.

Love the shot down the side of the ship at night showing the lifeboats (?) and water spray.

Pretty much. There wasn't really much going on at these islands. Their major export used to be sea salt back in the 70's, but once that stopped the island pretty much fell apart. All of the ponds where the salt was harvested are now filled with dirt brown stagnant water. After the hurricane went through, the rest of the island was pretty ruined as well. Before the hurricane I guess it wasn't too bad, but afterwards the cruise lines had a huge interest in rebuilding the island in order to save their destination. Without it, it would be one less place they could take people on this route. A shame if you ask me. I personally like seeing these cultures without the influence of tourism. Make the experience much more real.

And yes, those are lifeboats and the spray from the boat at night.

[jjeling]

When we got to the Grand Cayman, the big deal there is the Stingray City. So....we went to stingray city. It was pretty cool. Yes, there are a lot of tourists there, but it was well worth it. Haven't had an experience quite like that before. They stingrays feel like a giant sheet of rubber and their eyes are very extraordinary. This is why I feel glad about buying a weather sealed camera. Those seals are the reason my camera is still functioning. I took it into the water which was about stomach high. The guides said it was 7 years of good luck to kiss one of these beauties, I was making out with them Hopefully it works. Anyways, I had to give the rents the camera for my keepsake, then had to kiss it several more times for ma mere et ma pere.

Some were small, those were the males. The large ones were females weighing in at up to 200 pounds in rare occasions. The largest one in this group kept following me around and she weighed about 150 pounds. I must have had something in the water she liked.......

[jjeling]

Back in the city, it was back to reality. I was just a tourist. It was a nice town though. This is a big tourist destination and also the destination for some major hollywood stars and corporation owners. Evident by the size of some of the houses.

[Mad Aussie]

The largest one in this group kept following me around and she weighed about 150 pounds. I must have had something in the water she liked.......

Your wallet! Easy guess seeing as 'she' was female

[jjeling]

Your wallet! Easy guess seeing as 'she' was female

I really dont think that relationship would have worked out....

[kat]

That is a pretty neat experience with the stingrays. My heart wouldn't stop pounding..all I could think about was that animal guy, forgive me forgot his name, that passed away from a stingray attack. Although the ones I was with didn't have one still couldn't stop thinking of the guy and his family.

Great vacation!!! YAY to sun and beaches and margaritas!!!!

[jellotranz]

I could think about was that animal guy, forgive me forgot his name, that passed away from a stingray attack.

Steve Irwin.. They are neat but scary!!

[jjeling]

This was my favorite place of the whole trip. I will definitely be making a trip back sometime in my life. With Corona's at only 1 a bottle, and Cubans easily available(illegal here in the states), there is an extremely visible culture and is not affected much by tourism if you venture inland far enough. It is part of mainland Mexico and is also a part of the big crime problem they are having. We first went to a national park where there is snorkeling, large iguanas, and swimming with dolphins available. I went snorkeling first and then searched out some of their iguanas.

These are just some of the pictures of the iguanas, and this was the largest one. There are many many more but I thought these would be the best to post.

Also, for those interested, these were all taken

F32-45
Iso 100
1/1000(f32)(120mm) -1/320(F45)(300mm)

[kat]

What park was it?

[jjeling]

Now the city part of Cozumel is still a little tourist oriented, but we walked to the edge of this area. I had to find some places in this cruise that were minimally affected by tourism. This was a great place for it since it was part of mainland Mexico. The colors of Cozumel are awesome. Some stores had dirt floors, water was heated by solar energy. Black plastic containers on the house held the water and it was then heated by the sun. Its a great way to conserve energy and maximize efficiency. It was the last stop in the cruise and a great one at that.

These are not good pictures by any sense. I have much better ones of the city but want to show the colors more than anything.