Cayman.2--Cemeteries

Many Cayman cemeteries are just beside the water. According to Fred, that land used to be nearly worthless, since you couldn't farm it. Now the cemeteries occupy very valuable land. And are quite a pain to move, so I've heard.



The cemeteries were loaded with colorful fake flowers. And many of the tombstones had on them photographs of the deceased (I haven't seen this since Orthodox cemeteries in Romania).



This little area of the cemetery was fenced off. I'm crazy about these concrete fences, but I'll write more about that later.



We walked through the cemetery on the way to snorkel at Cemetery Beach. I am crazy about snorkeling. I'd never done it before coming to the Cayman's (we always went to the beach in North Carolina, where the water isn't clear and the waves would pummel you if you tried to snorkel).

It was strange at first--you can hear every single breath you take and it feels like you're Darth Vader. Listening to myself breath, I couldn't remember how fast it was supposed to happen. But when you're out there looking at the corral and the tropical fish, you forget even your breath. Watching the fish is just the most peaceful thing. They are gorgeous--a variety of bright colors and shapes and textures and sizes. And the living things on the bottom are fascinating too--brain-looking corral and fan shaped plants waving in the water. I felt like I was in Finding Nemo and that at any moment the fish might just start talking to me.

The first time I snorkeled, Diana walked me through every step and snorkeled with me. The second time, I went to snorkel at the Wreck of the Cali by myself while Diana and Fred were at work. When I made my way over to the wreck, I saw something that I hadn't seen the first time: enormous fish. I mean quite a few and they were maybe four to six feet long. I was the only one snorkeling in the area and was petrified--I swam right back to shore. I found a nice looking man who worked at the near-by dive shop and asked him if the big fish were dangerous (heaven's sakes--I don't even know what a barracuda or piranha looks like!). He said that they were terrapins and that they are perfectly safe. I waited for some other snorkelers and divers to go over there before returning. What an awe-inspiring feeling to swim around something so large and wild.