Grand not so big cayman islands

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The Cayman Islands are overseas territory of the United Kingdom in the eastern Caribbean Sea. The islands are comprised of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, and Little Cayman.

First visited and discovered by Christopher Columbus May 10, 1503 during his fourth and final voyage to the New World. After Colombus the first recorded English speaking visitor to the islands was Sir Francis Drake. This was in 1586. It is Francis Drake who named the islands the Cayman Islands. The islands, as well as Jamaica, were granted to England in about 1670 by the Treaty of Madrid. Until 1962, with Jamaica they were governed as a single colony, when they became a separate British overseas territory. At that time Jamaica also became an independent commonwealth country.

Just recently the island of Grand Cayman, was damaged by a severe Category Five Hurricane, Ivan. Much was destroyed in September 2004 when Ivan ripped through the area, Ivan damaged many buildings many buildings and damaging nearly all. Ivan has been the worst hurricane to hit the islands in over 85 years. Most of the infrastructure has now been restored in a rapid recovery.

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The red sea in egypt for scuba diving

For many Europeans, traveling to the Red Sea for scuba diving is like many North Americans going to the Caribbean. For a scuba diver based in North America or anywhere else outside of Europe or Africa, a journey to the Red Sea is considered one of the more exotic scuba diving trips. Like other overseas travel, getting to the final destination is the hardest thing. The Red Sea can be dived from ports in both Egypt and Israel but most international scuba divers do so from the Egyptian side. There are two major scuba diving areas in Egypt, Sharm El Sheikh and Hurghada. Sharm El Sheikh at the northern part of the Red Sea is the more established center having been a popular vacation resort area as both Egyptians and Europeans have been vacationing here for many years. The local scuba dive industry grew along with the overall steady growth of classy resorts, shops and other tourist services in Sharm El Sheikh. Hurghada, once just a sleepy fishing village along the west side of the Red Sea, is starting to grow as scuba divers discover this alternative to Sharm El Sheikh.

More than likely, travelers going to either Sharm El Sheikh or Hurghada will have to fly to Cairo before connecting with Egypt Air or taking a bus to their final destination. Many scuba divers turn their Red Sea diving trip into a major extended holiday in order to both dive and see the many wonderful ancient Egyptian sites such as the pyramids. There are many things to see and do in Egypt in addition to the ancient ruins including museums, markets and Nile river cruises. So it is highly recommended to do some research and plan accordingly for any trip to Egypt as one would not want to run into the situation where not enough time was allocated to see everything one wants to see there in addition to scuba diving.

Many of the scuba operators in Sharm El Sheikh are affiliated or close by to a hotel resort. Most of the dive shops are actually owned and staffed by Europeans working in Egypt. This is similar to the situation in the Caribbean where many of the scuba operators there are American owned. The Red Sea has a higher salt content than Caribbean waters so it is recommended to add 4 to 5 more pounds to the amount of weight divers usually use. Like most European diving, the scuba community here in Egypt uses the metric system so weights will be in kilos while air pressure will be in bars. Most dive computers should be able to display both metric and imperial systems.

Many scuba operators in Sharm El Sheikh use a very interesting system for scuba tanks. Rather than using their own tanks, their dive boats go to a common central barge anchored in the harbor. This is where all the scuba tanks are supplied from and the dive boats collect the number of tanks they need for day’s dive trips. At the end of the trips, used tanks are dropped off at the same barge before heading back to port.

The majority of the dives in the Red Sea are semi drift dives where the dive boats drop off divers at the dive sites and then pick them up afterwards. One very different aspect of the Red Sea compared to other dive destinations in the world is that the coral reefs here can extend up to very shallow depths. As a result, the standard safety stops at 15 feet are done drifting among many of these sloping reefs along with the accompanying marine life. Therefore, these are some of the most scenic safety stops scuba divers will ever do. This is certainly different from the usual bland safety stop in the Caribbean. One thing to note is that the maximum allowable depth for recreational scuba divers in Egypt is 30 meters which is about 90 feet.

As expected, the marine life in the Red Sea is spectacular. There are many species of fish, crustaceans and marine plant life here that are not found in the Caribbean. In fact, many of them are indigenous to the Red Sea only. While lionfish can be extremely rare sightings elsewhere, they are quite abundant in the Red Sea which is a real treat for scuba divers. It is also not unusual to jump in the water to be among a large school of tuna or other fish. Many night divers will see coral reefs here to be more spectacular than in the Caribbean.

For many scuba divers, the Red Sea is one of those ‘must dive at least once in a lifetime’ destinations. It is a very unique place to dive especially with the desert background visible from the dive boats. The excellent diving with the many awesome sights of Egypt make the Red Sea a dream dive trip for any scuba diver.

Overview of spain for travelers

A land of romance and exotic tastes, Spain is a place to be taken in with great gulps. If you are planning a trip, here is an overview of the country.

Overview of Spain for Travelers

The official name of the country is the Kingdom of Spain. It covers an area of approximately 194,000 square miles. This includes both the mainland and the Balearic and Canary Islands. This total square mileage makes Spain one of the bigger countries in Europe, approximately the size of the combined states of Arizona and Utah.

The capital of Spain is Madrid, home to roughly 5.5 million residents. Other major cities include Barcelona with 4.9 people, Malaga with 1.3 million, Seville with 1.8 million and Valencia with just over 2 million residents. The terrain of Spain varies from flat to mountainous. Temperatures range from cool in the winter to baking hot in the summer, particularly in cities such as Madrid, which do not have access to costal breezes.

Until 1975, Spain was a functional dictatorship ruled by General Francisco Franco. Following his death in 1975, the Prince Juan Carlos de Borbon y Borbon was named King and Chief of State. He subsequently moved to liberalize the country and assigned an independent head of state that is now an elected official.

Spain has been in a near constant state of civil war for much of the last 100 years. Basque factions seek independence from the rule of the King and federal government. This has manifested itself in the form of bombings and such. Barcelona is considered a Basque city, which makes for a major rivalry between the city and Madrid. If you have an opportunity to attend a soccer game between the two, do so! Violence is rare, but the insults are definitely unique.

The people of Spain are known as Spaniards or Spanish. The total population is just over 44 million and growing at one percent a year. Ethnic breakdowns are geographically oriented, but include Basques, Catalans and Galicians. The religious tendency of the country is overwhelmingly Roman Catholic.

The official language of Spain is Spanish. That being said, Catalan-Valenciana, Galician, and Basque languages form a prevalent minority. Education is compulsory through age 16 and literacy rates are in the 98 percent range.

Spain is a unique country. Whereas much of Europe seems to be in a rush to mesh cultures, Spain stands uniquely apart.

Travel to italy - rome and venice

Where does one begin to start when discussing Italy. Well, if you intend to travel there, Rome and Venice are good places to start.

Rome

Perhaps you’ve heard of it? It goes without saying that Rome has a rather prominent past. Lets see, in Rome you will find…[deep breath]…the Vatican, Coliseum, Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Church of Saint Agnese, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps and a guy name Allassandro. Just making sure you’re paying attention. Indeed, Rome is filthy with historically significant attractions. It seems you can’t turn around without bumping into something an Emperor built, captured or destroyed. For those willing to risk potential wrath, there are also the new Divinci Code tours, which take you to the locations found in the book.

In all serious, Rome is a city you should visit at least once in your life. No article could ever do it justice, so I’ll just stop here.

Venice

I fondly refer to Venice as the floating city even though it is apparently sinking. If you’ve seen Venice is movies or televisions shows, the depictions are accurate. Piazza San Marco looks exactly the same, birds and all. The Grande Canal is, well, a grand canal with incredible houses lining it and boats putting up down this water way. Built on mudflats in a lagoon, the city doesn’t really have much room to grow. It just seems paralyzed in time.

Once you’ve conquered the tourist attractions, it will be time to get serious about Venice. The best way to do this is stand in front of your hotel or hostel, determine which direction the tourist attractions lie and start walking in the opposite direction. While you may feel like you’re driving the wrong way on a freeway for a few minutes, you’ll eventually start getting into real Venice.

An entirely different side of Venice will appear and you’ll love it. You’ll find little cafes with locals happy to talk to you [and non-tourist prices]. In fact, the Venetians will tend to hold you in high regard since you’re a tourist who is bypassing the tourist areas. This, of course, will logically lead to a whirl of introductions to this nephew, that son of a brother and so on. Next thing you know, you’ll be complaining about Italian politicians and how things used to be better in the past.

While Rome and Venice are excellent travel destinations, you can’t really go wrong in Italy. For the adventurous, set your itinerary with the old map on a wall and dart technique.