By GORDON GARRISON
© St. Petersburg Times, published December 19, 1999
Standing in a cave on a Caribbean island, I found myself peering up to a clear blue sky, through a "mahoe." The island was Cayman Brac, one of two sister islands of the larger, more populous Grand Cayman. The term "mahoe" is colloquial for "hole," while Brac is a Gaelic word meaning "bluff." The original Scottish settlers described their new homeland in topographic terms.
This island brac was formed not through coral deposits or volcanic action. The 12-by-2-mile piece of geography owes its birth to tectonic upheaval. When underwater plates collided eons ago, a submarine mountain was forced skyward, its east end a cliff now rising about 150 feet above the turquoise blue of the sea, its base now 30 feet below the surface. From the apex at Lighthouse Point, the land slopes down to sea level at the southwest corner of the island.
Don't expect a traditional lighthouse at Lighthouse Point. This one sits atop the bluff and is about the size of a normal channel marker. Its beam, however, can be seen for miles out to sea, warning shipping to stay clear of the rock and travel along the Cayman Trench. At 23,500 feet, the trench is one of the deepest stretches of salt water in the world. Between Cayman Brac and the trench lie the coral beds favored by scuba divers and snorkelers.
The variation in water depth provides an inspiring kaleidoscopic scene, especially breathtaking while your plane descends to the small airport.
Brackers refer to their beaches as ironshore, an unusual mixture of fossil remains, coral and limestone with iron content. Almost all of the 2,200 or so permanent residents live in the island's only village, where a small museum has been set up by the historical society. Reflecting their early self-sufficient lifestyle, the museum includes such items as hand tools, wooden rakes for sand and gravel, adzes for hewing logs, machetes, turtle nets, several nautical items and photographs.
A single highway runs the length of Cayman Brac. You can drive your rented car past clumps of sea grapes and several types of cactus, as well as wild cotton trees with fluffy white buds. A few yards from the roadway, near the south shore, you will find the entrances to Bat Cave. Here you are likely to see a few fruit bats asleep, hanging upside-down.
Look in the cave for the ladder and climb to the higher level. Looking up, you'll see a natural bridge, and the roots of trees dangling into the cavern like so many ropes. And there, shining like a dome light, the blue sky appears through the mahoe.
Little Cayman, less than 12 miles away, is about 85 percent beach. It is two miles shorter than the Brac, and only 50 or so people call it home. The land features naturally growing bougainvilleas, orchids and 10 varieties of bromeliads.
Strict marine conservation laws are enforced around the Caymans, assuring a pollution-free aquatic paradise. One of the favorite dive sites is Bloody Bay, which got its name when as many as 1,200 pirates occupied the island, taking cover from attacks by the British and French navies. When a British force discovered them on the south coast, a battle ensued and the bay supposedly was colored with blood. Two-hundred years later, the stories of treasure remain, and occasionally someone will find a piece of eight or a shard from some ancient crockery.
An American doctor is credited with saving the real treasure of Little Cayman, its pristine land and sea environment. It had been scheduled to become an oil transfer station, but the doctor convinced the government of the day of the folly of that idea. He and a group of friends set up the Southern Cross Club, primarily a fishing club. The club focused on The Sound, a large lagoon area with still water and lots of bonefish.
Seafood such as conch, ocean turbot, trigger fish and spiny lobster top the menus at island lodges. Gladys Howard, a transplanted Texan, operates a guest house at Pirate's Point, where she creates culinary magic. She tenderizes conch in alum water, then peels and cleans it, then serves it with salad, marinated as ceviche or in dumplings, chowder or stew.
Her kitchen never closes, Gladys says, because she believes visitors come to Little Cayman to relax and do what they want to do, when they want to do it. And even the dive boats have no set schedule: They go out to the reef a hundred yards from shore "around 9 in the morning, or whenever," she says. "We work on the guests' schedule."
Howard likes to take her guests for a Sunday morning walk around the island, using one of the National Trust's old pirate trails. She points out the vegetation. You may see a 4-foot iguana, welks in their conical shells or soldier crabs moving in formation. Along the way she will explain the difference between coconut milk and coconut water or make you hungry just talking about a three-course meal. But mostly, she will enthrall you with fascinating stories of her favorite piece of this world.
-- Gordon Garrison is a freelance writer living in Oshawa, Ontario.