Ten Miles, Not Minutes

All seven of us were signed up for a morning kayak tour yesterday but for one reason or another everyone bailed except for me.  I paddled in Caapechen Lagoon with a guide and another couple.  I thoroughly enjoyed myself, learning about the bird life and the four types of mangroves – white, black, red and gray.  It was fascinating to watch the crabs aerate the soil, which enables the mangroves to access fresh water.  After crossing the lagoon, I parked in front of a tremendous nest and had a long solo viewing of an osprey.

We made our way through narrow mangrove channels.  It was a fun challenge to steer my kayak through these canals, one that the kids would have enjoyed.  We paddled to what is appropriately named, Bird Island.  There are numerous small islands in the lagoon but this is the only one that birds have selected as their nesting ground.  We marveled at the ibis’, frigates, and several types of herons including a very small one that was new to me.  This is the end of the breeding season and many of the birds have already started migrating north.  The frigates were especially fun to watch take off and land, as they don’t have any legs.

Then a storm came upon us.  It was everything I could do to hold on to my paddle while heading into the fierce wind and torrential rain as we made our way back from the furthest point on the tour.

We left Cesiak casually around 3 pm in the blistering sun.  The dirt road kept getting progressively worse.  As the hours wore on, all of us started to wonder if we had passed Xamach Dos, our place to stay for the next two nights.  In his email to us, the owner wrote that Xamach Dos is located just ten minutes beyond Cesiak.  We eventually discovered that he meant to type ten miles, not ten minutes!

Finally we came to a sign that said Xamach on a locked gate.  Aimee and I walked around the gate despite John and Mark’s strong recommendation that we heed the sign that stated Do Not Enter.  Fortunately, we found a kind woman who directed us to the next property.

Ten miles may not seem particularly tough, but on a very potholed and muddy road, in high heat and humidity, and when one is expecting it to be considerably shorter, a ten-mile ride can be quite challenging for kids without a lot of riding experience.  Including a half hour stop at the Reserve’s visitor center, it took us over three hours.  The Goodwin boys were exhausted but they were real troopers on this second day of riding.  For the last third, Mark and John had the added challenge of riding Rosa without a seat since the seat post was damaged from being raised too high.
- Eydie