Yaking With Sea Turtles

Many friends know I have become quite the kayaking enthusiast over the last ten years or so, often going out to various bays, creeks, and the Potomac River near my house to spot many bald eagles, osprey, heron, red wing blackbirds, and more.

Carol enjoys kayaking as well, so we were both looking forward to the chance to kayak in the Galapagos.  After all, we had done it in both Antarctica and the Arctic, so we had to add the Galapagos to our list of unusual paddles.

It was even better than I had hoped in the bay of Santa Fe island, the southern-most location we would go.  The initial stars of the show were the many sea lions on the two beaches of the bay.  The beaches are bifurcated by a rocky point where sea lions hang out as well.  

The coolest part of the sea lions for me was watching the swimming sea lions body-surf into the beach.  Such power and grace, even with other sea lions barking at them.

The least cool part for me is that it was a double kayak (aka a “divorce kayak”), and Carol and I had issues getting on the same page in terms of paddle stroke timing.  But, after a bit, and without the need for marital counseling, we got on the same page and it went swimmingly from that point on.

Which is good, because then we noticed the highlight of the paddle, the many sea turtles swimming all around us.  Anywhere we would look we’d see two, three, four, and even five turtles criss-crossing the bay right around us.  It obviously helps to have fairly pristine waters, and of course the turtles occasionally had to poke their heads above the water to breathe.

Transferring in and out of the zodiac to the kayak was not easy, but it wasn’t difficult.  I just had to find and maintain my center of gravity.  I had decided not to bring my camera even though I had my dry bag, but it was one less thing to worry about, so it was the right decision.  I had never transferred to/from a kayak from/to a zodiac before, so that was new.

So, yes, go ahead and scratch “kayaking with sea lions and sea turtles” off my life to do list.