Seven Mile Beach, Grand Cayman

Columbus spotted these islands in 1503 and named them Las Tortugas — The Turtles — for the sea turtles crowding the shore. The first people to actually settle here were pirates, shipwrecked sailors, army deserters, and refugees. Britain claimed formal possession in 1670, not because they particularly wanted the Caymans, but because they came bundled with Jamaica in a treaty with Spain.

In the early hours of February 8, 1794, ten British ships ran aground on the reef at the east end of Grand Cayman in the dark. Caymanians paddled out in canoes. Nearly everyone survived. Legend has it that one of the rescued was a son of King George III, and that a grateful king decreed the islands would be forever free of taxes and war conscription. Multiple sources repeat the legend. None can confirm the royal prince. Either way, the Cayman Islands have never taxed their residents — no income tax, no corporate tax, no capital gains tax, nothing.

That last part got around. There are currently nearly 100,000 companies registered here — almost two for every resident. At one point, 18,000 of them shared a single five-story building.

Trillions of dollars flow through here annually. The island is 22 miles long.

I went home thinking about the sunsets.

And that is the story behind the place.