Mastic Trail | PHOTO TOUR

Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2005 4:21 pm Post subject: Mastic Trail | PHOTO TOUR

Mastic Trail can be accessed near the end of the unpaved road by the fire station on Frank Sound Road. Make a left on Frank Sound Road, go about 300 yards, just past the broadcast tower and turn left on Mastic Rd. The road winds around to the right and you will see the Mastic Trail entrance sign on your right after about 1/4 mile.

The trail meanders through roughly 5 miles of lush tropical foliage, much of which is endemic to the Cayman Islands.

Early morning and late afternoon hours are the best time to enjoy the trail, owing to the cooler temperatures and increased activity of parrots and other tropical birds. This is a fairly rugged trail and it is recommended that your first trip be conducted by a professional guide, available through the National Trust or your concierge.

:idea: Tip: Be sure to wear sunscreen and bring plenty of water and a camera.

Note: It is a criminal offense to remove any plant or animal from along the trail.

The Tour:

This little boat marks the spot where you turn onto Frank Sound Road. It's a miracle it's still there after the storm. Someone must have put it back. There is no telling how far it might have drifted.

You will pass a little goat farm on the left just before you get to the entrance. It's times like this I am glad I don't eat goat! Very Happy

The entrance sign looks to be in the process of getting a new 'roof', like many of the buildings on the island. Very Happy

The path is pretty obvious in most places, and easy to follow if you don't stray off into the wilderness.

There are many tree arches like this.

I liked this one so much I shot it from both sides.

A picnic table to stop and rest.

This is a beautiful spot I saw on the right as I was leaving, just after the goat farm.

I did not see any Cayman Parrots or Iguana on this trip, although I have in the past. The sky started to get cloudy and I was not about to get my new camera wet, so I left after about 1/2 hour. If you go farther there are some interesting rock formations, a few small streams and of course a lot more trees and plants. It's not exactly Yellowstone Park, but it's a tranquil nature park with a good variety of plants and trees, and a chance to spot some wildlife in their natural habitat.

Newbie Joined: 20 Jun 2005 Posts: 6

Another great looking place we missed. I wish we knew about this site before we went. :?

Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2005 10:01 pm Post subject:

That's cool. I'll add it to my list of things to do in the future. We are just going to have to come for a month the next time in order to do everything! Darn!....I suppose I could force myself to suffer through an entire month on Cayman....**sigh!** ...but I'll do whatever it takes to make sure my family has an enjoyable vacation....

Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2005 5:44 am Post subject:

:-D :-D :-D

Newbie Joined: 26 Aug 2005 Posts: 10

Joe, again beautiful pictures. We never made it all the way to the trail but now I think I know where it is if it's past that field with the animals in it. We were coming from the botanic park and were getting a little tired anyway so we just stopped at a place that looked like where you took the picture of the water and walked around a little. It was a beautiful spot and we just stayed there for an hour or so taking in the beauty and talking about nature. I just can't believe how many beautiful places there are in the Cayman Islands. Next time we are going to stay for two full weeks!

Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 1:31 pm Post subject:

My wife and I have been going down for 2 weeks yearly for quite some time. Someday we'll figure out how to do 3!!!

Newbie Joined: 26 Aug 2005 Posts: 10

3 weeks would be great! There is so much to do 1 week is just not enough time. I spent many hours here before we went so I had a file of pages printed out for all the things I wanted to see and do. Between that and the Activity Guide we would sit down every morning and plan our day but we never got through it all. Everywhere we went we stayed a lot longer than we thought so if we got in 2 or 3 things a day we were doing pretty good. All the people were so friendly we would end up spending a lot of time just talking to them. It wasn't like other places we've been where they just want to get you in and out and get your money. We really felt like we made a lot of new friends there and everyone treated us like one of the family. I completely understand now why all of the people here are so helpful and friendly, it's just like the Cayman Islands where people still care about each other and are not just in it for the money.

Posted: Sun May 21, 2006 3:22 pm Post subject:

Joe, This is something I am very interested in doing. I just have one MAJOR question. How likely is it that we would run into some without legs! (ie: SNAKE!) Shock

I know from past experience that they are around and that is the only thing that keeps me from seeing some of the nature in Cayman. I am so morbidly afraid of them that I would probably hurt myself before they had a chance to hurt me, but I can't help it. Thanks for the information.

Posted: Sun May 21, 2006 4:53 pm Post subject:

Jana - our snakes are non-poisonous here on the islands. Our land based poison critters tend to be scorpions. You might encounter a snake on the trail, they tend to be black snakes and they are rather bashful. Also keep in mind during rainy season you are likely to encounter puddles and what not so some enclosed shoes might be preferable when you hike the trail.

I wouldn't let the fear of seeing a snake keep you from seeing some of the most exciting "nature" places we have on our big island! There is a great book called "Feel The Fear And Do It Anyway" you might want to read it and see if it doesn't help desensitize you to the issue.

Or come see my for some hypnotherapy Wink

Just kidding, my space won't be free until July when the kids finally move out, but your phobia to snakes can be reduced significantly by some very simple techniques so you may want to seek some one in your area that does hypnotherapy or other behavior therapy processes to help you get past the fear.

Anyhow, how about going out in a kayak and touring the mangroves!!!! I'm building up to doing that one, I think that would just be awesome! Of course you know me, I hang out at the Botanic Park quite a bit (means less effort on my part, I get to sit amongst nature and nosh and read all at the same time, is that heaven or what?)

Cindy Lou

Posted: Sun May 21, 2006 6:16 pm Post subject:

Cindy, I feel that there is no hope for me! I am so phobic about it that just the speaking the word sends me hyperventilating! (this is no joke) Anyway, Thank you so much for letting me know that there is a chance.

The fact that they are non poisonous is of no consequence to my fear.

I don't know if I shared the story of our last trip on GC or not but we ran into one of those lovely black creatures you speak of on the porch of our apartment we were staying at. I nearly woke the dead and was so hysterical that the owners grandson thought my husband had been abusing me!

After I had calmed down enuf to speak the word "snake" He said Oh! they are not poisonous, their harmless. But by this time Ted was over trying to shoo the thing away (Or shoe) by throwing his flip flops at it. I wanted to move right then and there to somewhere where there was absolutely no foliage around with in miles! But it was our last night. I don't think I slept that whole nite. I invisioned the darn thing coming back for revenge!

Still think you could help me! i think I will stay with the botanic park it looks much more Peaceful and less stressful on my neurotic self.

Posted: Sun May 21, 2006 7:58 pm Post subject:

Jana - no worries, keep my phone number handy in case you run into one, I have treated the severest phobias with so far a 100 percent success rate so not to worry, plus I just am sending you a PM with some more information to help you out! I myself suffer from a severe phobia and my own programs (hard to treat myself) have managed to help me minimize it!

Anyway, you're already 50% of the way you already experienced your one of your greatest fears and guess what.........you survived it and not only did you survive it you are able to write about it and laugh about it.....hhhhhmmmmmm think about that, something you fear so terribly you have already confronted and lived to write about it and write in a humorous light about it.......hmmmmmmm....maybe it's not so terrible after all!

Cindy Lou

Native Joined: 18 Feb 2005 Posts: 1195 Location: Illinois

Hi Cindylou

Do you know if there are any guided tours of the Mastic Trail. I have always read there were but have never seemed to be able to find anyone around over the Christmas holidays. Being on the Northside this year, it'll be a little closer to get to I think.

Shelly :-)

Status Member Joined: 24 Feb 2005 Posts: 647

You need to contact the National Trust. I'm guessing you can google on the Mastic Trail, and find a contact there.

Native Joined: 18 Feb 2005 Posts: 1195 Location: Illinois

NorthSideSue

thanks--I'll give it a try again this year and see if I have any luck

Shelly :-)

Newbie Joined: 07 Jan 2007 Posts: 3

My husband, my four year old son and I decided to walk a little bit of the Mastic Trail. We ended up at the top up near Rum Point so we decided to start there. First we had to crawl over a gate to get to a field with cows in it. Okay there is a sign so we are in the right place. Rolling Eyes

So we walked cautiously through the field. Then we got to a another gate but at least this one opened. We were walking along and were seeing lots of horse manure. We thought it was kind of strange but we just figured that people went horseback riding through the path. Then we saw two horses just standing there. Okay, are these nice horses or are we in their territory. One came up right away and gave me a nice kiss on my chest. Okay they are obviously nice horses. lips

We kept on walking for a bit but my son wanted to turn around so we went back to the horses. Well this time they were following us!! It was really funny yet made us a little nervous. They followed us back to the gate. My son loved it. Next time we will go to the other end and see what we can see.

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