Who: Gary Oxley and Chanelle Sutphin of Lamar, and daughter Leticia Oxley of Aurora.
Where: Stingray City sandbar, Grand Cayman Island.
Out and about: Discovered by Christopher Columbus on his fourth (and final) voyage to the Americas, after being blown off course en route to Jamaica, the Cayman Islands now attracts a different kind of explorer. The unspoiled beaches, crystalline seas, and duty-free shopping offer a tropical haven for vacationers. Our party enjoyed a morning surfing and socializing with native stingrays on a sandbar about 20 miles from the capital, Georgetown. For decades, fishermen would stop at the sandbar and clean their fish, attracting a permanent population of hundreds of scavenger stingrays. The rays flock toward each boat as it arrives, jostling with each other for position as the tourists enter the water to feed them handfuls of squid. Like hungry house cats, the rays rubbed against our legs and pandered for a handout, allowing us to stroke their velvety underbellies.
Travel tip: Don’t expect to find a tropical rainforest on the Caymans. Hurricane Ivan took down every majestic tree in 2004. Although the Caymans have cleaned up nicely, the devastation was so complete that you can see across the 2-mile breadth of the island. Avoid sticker shock by doing some math before you buy. Although prices are listed with our familiar dollar sign, the Cayman dollar translates into British pounds. Your dollars will be worth about 82 cents. And finally, be careful not to step on the rays! They really do sting – with the intensity of a scorpion or black widow spider. Like bumblebees, each ray is armed with a single stinger under its tail to use once during its lifetime. Moments after this photo was taken, another boat near ours raced back to shore with one of its passengers who had misstepped.
