Nearing the end of our seven-day stay, we tried to slow down and relax more. On this sixth day, Russ and I vowed to only do activities near the East End resort and to spend time in the ocean. We mostly succeeded. We stayed true to our vow, but there was just so much to see that we didn’t spend much time relaxing!

Our first stop was the Cayman Parrot Sanctuary, which is dedicated to protecting the endangered green parrot, the island’s national bird, and to provide children with an up-close look at island wildlife. Kids at heart, that sounded good to us.

The sanctuary was begun by the head chef at Tukka Restaurant. You might recall them from my posts on Day 3 and 4 (this is the place where you can feed frigate birds). The chef wanted a playground and a mini zoo for his children and neighbors while he watched over his restaurants, but the idea caught on and grew so that now the sanctuary is one of the island’s major tourist attractions. Besides several species of parrots, there are turtles, snakes, guinea pigs, rabbits, and hermit crabs. There’s also a zipline and playground. The star of the show is an agouti named Lil’-bit. Unlike wild agoutis, this one is highly social and enjoys interacting with people. Lil’-bit was otherwise engaged while we were there, so we didn’t get that experience.

Our favorite adventure there was going into the sun conure aviary. These parrots are brightly colored and super-curious. They were all over Russ’s head from almost the moment we entered. (My thick hair must have deterred them but that was okay. I was able to focus on taking photos of Russ.) The birds seemed to like picking on anything that was plastic, including Russ’s glasses, hat, and bracelet. The attendant gave us seeds to feed the birds. Some liked to pinch while they ate, ouch! But we soon learned which birds those were and avoided them.

The sanctuary provides homes for Cayman Parrots that have been injured or ones their owners can no longer care for. Each parrot had a back story posted on their cage.

We returned to our resort for lunch and then headed toward Starfish Point, Go Pro in hand. Visitors can book a tour for the point, or they can simply go there themselves for free. The best time of day to see the starfish, which are red cushion or West Indian species, is in the morning before the ocean waves kick up. We wished we had followed that advice because by the time we arrived, it was wavy and the water was murky. The point has a shallow sand shelf that drops off into deeper water. It’s possible to simply wade around on the sand shelf to see starfish or you can don a snorkel to see more in the deeps in the seagrass (which they eat).

That’s what I did. I saw some starfish in the deep water, but they were too far away to get good pictures, so I joined Russ on the sand shelf. We took care not to accidentally step on any starfish while looking for them. Also, it’s illegal to remove the starfish from the water. It introduces air into their bodies and kills them. Our Stingray City guide told us that there used to be many more starfish on the point – hundreds. But now, due to people lifting them out of the water for photos, there are only about a dozen to be seen on the sands. Needless to say, we did not touch the starfish in any way! There are signs on the point to this effect, but it really seems like there should be some sort of starfish police patrolling the area because I saw people not following the rules. I was sorely tempted to become a starfish cop myself but refrained. Getting into a fight with another tourist did not fit my idea of relaxing. But seriously, something needs to be done to protect the starfish more. Ironically, one island tourism company webpage about the point features promotional images that show the exact wrong things to do with the starfish! I DID just build up enough gumption to complain to the tourism company. We’ll see if they do anything with the images. Their text was okay, however.

Disappointed by the crowds and the murk at Starfish Point, we retreated back to our resort to snorkel. Ironically, I saw a HUGE (like two-feet-across) starfish hiding under a grassy ledge off the dock at our resort. But sorry, no picture. I wanted to just relax and watch the fish this time. Then we spent the rest of the afternoon reading by the pool.

We ate dinner at the rooftop sports bar at our resort. We ended up being the only ones there, so enjoyed a private dining experience under the rising moon. I highly recommend the coconut shrimp appetizer with mango sauce. We capped off our evening with a round of mini golf on the course near our unit.

Next up: Batabano Carnival, Grand Cayman National Museum, a final fancy dinner, and Grand Cayman visiting tips