Grand Cayman

Living and working in the tropics what can I say other than life is very relaxed, the sun shines daily, rum and refreshing cocktails are never far away!

(1) Pirates week: (the biggest tourist event of the year)

Pirates week was one of the main events I was looking forward to when moving to live and work on the island. Experiencing the Caribbean culture through music, dance and parades. On arrival October the 1st it was obvious this was a big November annual event for the locals when questioned by customs what sort of pirate I would be dressing up as and whether I was joining his party, I then realised I had arrived on a small Caribbean island, and people make friends very quickly!

For those ‘Pirate of the Caribbean’ and general pirate fans this week is truly a treat! Pirates and landlubbers from across the seas, gather from all generations to warm their hearties by joining in with the community events and activities. It’s great fun for the locals and tourists to dress up as their favourite pirates such as Captain Jack Sparrow, Blackbeard, Angelica and Elizabeth Swann as well and many others to mermaids and other sea creatures.

This weeks offered none stop activities for families, and people from all generations. The Carnival Float parade was truly something special. From the fiery Latin Sumba Dancers, Caribbean reggae and African dancers, to Pirates dancers parading along the streets of George Town where everyone is enjoying the beautiful colours and sprit and not to forget the free goodies from pirate t-shirts, sweets and drinks.

Again one of the most excitable events of the weeks was the Miss Queen Costume competition (very popular event allowing females 12+ to flare out in their tail feathers and charm to impress the judges! Winner, Kasey Bodden Miss East End. There was a spectacular display of colourful costumes which have taken hours of hard work to make to perfection.

Other eventful happenings were the special pirate happy hour drinks suchlike two rum punches for $8 CI which is the equivalent to $9.50 US, and the pirate costume competition followed by a spectacular fire works display at the grand harbour. The street party events on Friday the 11th and Saturday the 12th of November are again not to be missed including live music and the food festival which is great fun for mingling with fellow pirates and for sampling different cultural dishes.

There was so much going on other commitments need to be put aside to allow full enjoyment of the pirate week tradition. Roads were blocked off so traffic become an issue, Grand Cayman is so small most things are walking distance so this wasn’t too much of a problem…

Getting to the party and enjoying is most important. My most memorable part of the week was the fun laugher and spirit of the pirate antics, rum and gun fires frequently going off!