Kayaks and crisis talks with Canadians...
Trip Start
Feb 01, 2010
1
14
41
Trip End
Apr 30, 2010
La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Okay - let's cast our minds back in time a little,,,
About 18 months ago whilst planning our itinerary Sarah was reading a Conde Nast magazine or some such similar travel pornography when she suggested that a sea kayaking trip would be a nice activity to add the list. I agreed and we booked a four day tour of the Espiritu de Santa nature reserve island. As the time for our big journey drew nearer I worried whether we had bitten off more than we could chew, I fretted about our fitness levels, about the fact that Sarah had never, ever been camping and our mutual repugnance of poisonous bugs and fish - it also occurred to me that our vast joint kayaking experience (I vaguely remembered some lessons in a pool in Reigate whilst at school, and Sarah had been paddling in Wales at some unspecified time of her youth) might not be quite sufficient for a full blown, full on outdoor adventure. We discussed these matters, sometimes in a frank and open manner on a number of occasions after the booking had been made - but we did always come back to the same conclusion that basically the four day trip was something not to be missed. We even joined the local gym to resolve the fitness issues.
Fast forward to the eve of the trip and I still had my doubts as to the sanity of the venture (I strongly suspect that Sarah did too, but she is made of much, much sterner stuff than me). To resolve my fears Sarah had paid a visit to the tour organiser's office ostensibly to collect our dry bags, but also to get some gen on what we had let ourselves in for. She returned with the news that although the weather propects were not great, the trip would definitely go ahead (Oh good, I thought) and that there would be only five people; the guide, two Canadians with quite a lot of paddling experience - and us. I'm not sure this information reassured me as much as she had hoped, in fact it only reinforced my fears - I had visions of spending the next four days in the wake of two young, fit Olympians who would taunt me remorselessly about my lack of strength and ability. We had one last detailed discussion on the matter (if you get my meaning) and resolved to put our fears behind us and go with the flow. Sarah pulled out the checklist of required equipment, some of which we actually had - like my brand new water bladder and head torch - and we packed the dry bags.
At 8.00am the next morning our guide arrived and we threw our bags in the back of the truck, we then stopped at a hotel a few blocks away to collect the Canadians. My worst fears were about to come true! In climbed Action Man - clad in a designer dry suit, state of the art trainers and mirrored sun glasses. On his broad muscular shoulders he carried a mountaineer's rucksack, onto which he had strapped and clipped numerous items of outdoor equipment and scuba diving paraphenalia. My heart sank even further when his wife climbed in behind him - it was Lara Croft, fresh out of Tomb Raider. I shot an 'I told you so' look at Sarah, who responded with a glance that said 'Don't say a word or you're dead'. After a brief round of 'Bonjours' and 'Comment ca va?'s (they were from Montreal and didn't speak much English) we settled down for the drive to the jetty where we were provided with our tents and masks and fins. As we walked behind them to the storehouse, Sarah nudged me. She pointed at their legs; his muscular and rubber clad, hers brown and long; like Bambi in Speedos - and the she pointed at our white spindly legs jutting out from baggy knee length shorts. I had to smile, otherwise I would have cried.
Next we met Ben, the owner of the kayak company. He was a lovely guy, originally from Pembrokeshire he had set up shop here in La Paz about 12 years ago with his wife a two young daughters. Ben expressed his surprise that as greenhorns we had opted for the harder, self sufficient tour that didn't burden us with a support boat and crew to carry all our kit, food and water. And he then slipped into a lot of use of the conditional tense; we would be okay with Tulio (our guide) and probably enjoy the trip, the weather would probably improve by the end of the week, and it was probable we would not encounter any problems. He then wished us bon voyage and said he's see us again at the end of the week - probably.
We threw our kit onto the waiting skiff and set off across the early morning waves.
to be con tinued...
