Kayaking Adventures

I had an exciting weekend full of sun and one hell of a workout. I went kayaking for the first time ever and despite my preconceived thoughts, I sucked at it. Really sucked. I thought it was going to be like, "Amy, use your God-given muscles and paddle right side, left side, and move straight on ahead. Success!" No, not quite. It was more like, "Amy, use the muscles you don't really have and paddle right side, left side, left side again, left side again, left side again, left, left, left, and... I'm going in a circle. Uh oh. Sigh. Fail."

Despite my repetitive circles, it was a beautiful day in the Cacao Lagoon. The Cacao Lagoon is a small inlet from the sea that is a salt-fresh water mix. It was named because of the small village that farms cacao (that makes delicious chocolate!).

We drove to a cacao plantation and kayaked for 5 hours in open water...

and through tight, shaded canals lined with tall trees and beautiful mazes of roots. 

I managed to steer my kayak into a channel and navigated through murky, mosquito infested water to catch a glimpse of Dutch-speaking monkeys. We know they spoke Dutch because the only people they communicated with were the Dutch couple who were screaming at them. 

No, he's not actually a monkey. Nor did he speak Dutch. But he's super cute, no?

Back out into the lagoon, a million mosquito bites later (did I contract Dengue Fever?) and a fun game of bumper-kayaks...

That's me in the hat.

we headed to the sea!

We ate a nice picnic lunch on the beach of sandwiches, fresh pineapple, banana bread, yummy plantain chips, and jamaica (pronounced: ha-my-ka) juice, which is made from the hibiscus flower.

I love eating... especially in the sun!

We didn't wait 20 minutes for our food to digest because it was super hot. We went swimming in the Caribbean. Water was warm. Sun was hot. Waves were relatively calm, but still big enough to scare me. I don't like water. But I do like sun. 

Check out the islands in the background - Cayos Cochinos. Super cool. 

After our 5 hours of kayaking, I was hurting head to toe. Itchy, sore, a little burnt (just a little!), and so tired. But super happy! I leave you with three beautiful pictures of the Caribbean with a lonely fisherman and a log. Sounds funny, but look.

Fin.

Mosquito Bites: Too many to count. Whomp whomp.

Final Score: N/A