Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Road Trip: Queen Elizabeths Botanical Gardens



Road Trip....is a "trip" Cayman Style.
And then we add Brian.

First of all, no stop lights,
no stop signs...only stop for pictures...
Second, DRIVE LEFT.
Notice Brian is on the right side of the car.
And from the WRONG side of the car
you drive on the WRONG side of the street.

Brian is ALWAYS looking for trouble,
most of you probably don't know this about him.

We are in the Cayman,
at a resort,
snorkeling and beaches at our fingertips.
He decides we should go history hunting,
meets some real locals,
out in the country...you say...
Rent a car,
a bit of lessons in the parking lot,
unofficial lessons,
smiling hostess saying, you'll be okay...
no worries.

Mind you, this is AFTER taking busses
all over town the day before,

"no bus stops, just walk along,
people will honk and you wave and they will pick you up,
take you anywhere"
No Problem...

Oh...and a bus looks like a FUN BUS,
Scooby Bus style....pile in.
like the one in the picture wizzing past Brian below...
we hadn't figured out the speed limits yet.


Notice the white knuckles [below]...
no problem...
no one told us that you convert to kilometers
so we are driving really slow.

when it says 50...you go 100
no wonder many locals were passing us.

if you have a yellow license plate you are a local
a white license plate you are a tourist...

they really have some things figured out.




Cute little car...











Many butterflies. Very colorful.
They have a butterfly garden in Cayman.
We didn't make it there. But I imagine....ahhhh.

Yikes...snakes. Lots of them.



There is a lot of wreckage from Hurricane Ivan in 2004.
Some of these old trees are down, yet growing...
you can see the roots completely out below.

p



above, Konch [konk] Shell,
these are so beautiful. many many on the island.
people line their walks with them,
along with crushed shells,
which make a sound to walk along,
like a doorbell.

yep, didn't see many doorbells,
no stoplights,
no stopsigns,
just Giveways...
which means to give way to the person coming your way

Brian and I ate some Konch at a small diner
overlooking the ocean
during our road trip.
It is very yummy.

those pictures later...sunset dinner, very nice!


to be continued...

5 comments:

Liz said...

AWESOME!!!
A word I vowed never to use because of the obnoxious use of it by the misisonaries in Indiana and other places.

Proudfeet said...

So beautiful! You guys are the luckiest!

suzie said...

Wow and more wow!

Snakes, eewww!!!

Butterflies, beautiful!!!

Of course your photos are fabulous!

Brian is so cute.
Was that car a "Yugo" as in You-go-nna die! Remember those cars? Now it is the "Smart car", when we were in Italy, Kevin's uncle called them dumb cars and when we would run over road debris in our ginormous motor home, they would say, "oops just ran over a dumb car"!

We ate Konch too, must be a Caribbean thing!

You would make an excellent tour guide, just saying in case the whole mother/wife/school thing doesn't pan out. Totally kidding!

Liz said...

"No Problem"

Mr. "B" looks right at home in the Botanical Gardens and behind the wheel of that large local insect. How many miles per gallon do they get?

The adaptation of the trees that were knocked down is amazing. Right climate and rainfall, I suppose.
All the flowers, the greenery, the butterflies - I HATE SNAKES!!!
"No Problem"... :O{

Jodi said...

Sooooo beautiful! I see that white shirt, hehe. Still, what a fun trip! By the way, you are also a great photographer.

my happiness!

Daisypath - Personal pictureDaisypath Anniversary tickers
Stacie Adamson's Facebook profile
“You will have significant experiences. I hope that you will write them down and keep a record of them, that you will read them from time to time and refresh your memory of those meaningful and significant things. Some may be funny. Some may be significant only to you. Some of them may be sacred and quietly beautiful. Some may build one upon another until they represent a lifetime of special experiences.” ~Pres. Gordon B. Hinckley

COURAGE to HEAL

COURAGE to HEAL
awarded by amysplash