I’ll start with the more difficult of the two trails, the Mastic Trail, named for a particular type of tree used to make ship masts. It’s on Frank Sound Road, just south of QE II Botanic Park, but on the opposite side of the road. It’s probably a 30 minute drive to George Town and the West End.

This is a true hiking trail so be sure to wear proper walking shoes if you plan to go far. It is not necessary to walk the entire path; you can get a good idea of ​​what the island looked like before it was reshaped by humans in just a mile or so of walking. Unfortunately, it’s not a circular route, so you have to retrace your steps if you just want to try it out.

If you walk the entire trail, from Frank Sound Road in the south to Further Road in the north, you will see a mangrove swamp forest, a rocky area full of crevices from which trees and mushroom-like plants sprout, a dry forest tropical forest area that it still has remnants of pioneer William Watler’s fruit orchards and, finally, a subtropical grassland: the savannah.

William Watler was the settler who built the original road over a hundred years ago to bring his produce to market, and although it has now been replaced by the Frank Sound Road, his achievement is still quite impressive. It’s a wilder country than you’d expect for such a small island, and the underlying iron coast is as hard as… well, iron. Leveling it must have taken years.

The Mastic Trail winds its way through National Trust-owned land and they provide guides to help you identify what you’re seeing. Unless you’re an expert on semi-tropical flora and fauna, it’s probably worth going with a guide. Otherwise, the only thing you will probably observe for sure is that there are many trees.

The Woodland Trail, on the other hand, is inside the Grand Cayman National Trust Botanic Park and that makes it less scary to head out on your own. You also have the benefit of markers in the trees and pools (to let you know what you’re seeing), rest stops along the way, and a level, groomed path so you’re ‘walking’, not walking. The ponds along the way are inhabited by turtles but, despite the name of one of the ponds, Crocodile Hole, there are no crocodiles. Crocodiles, or Caymans, were exterminated centuries ago.

Halfway down the trail is the Blue Iguana Breeding Center, where you can see iguanas of all sizes and ages, from toddlers to teenagers. The adults are in the park, which may or may not be a comforting thought. They are scary creatures, but the good news is that they are harmless. However, as with all wildlife, it is not a good idea to feed them.

In the Park it was the only place where we saw the Green Cayman Parrot, the national bird of the Cayman Islands. Unfortunately, like many living national symbols around the world, he has been pushed to the margins of life in his own home.

Two other areas to consider for hiking are the Nature Preserve at Malportas Pond on the Northside, near the north end of the Mastic Trail, and Barkers National Park, at the tip of the West End. Both have walking trails and both are fairly quiet most of the time, with few visitors straying far from the comforts of their resorts.