Capucian Beach

Day 4 - January 30, 2012 (First Rest Day)

Breakfast: pancake mix made with powdered milk, no eggs, topped with peanut butter, jam and honey

Almond tree

Ahhh....deeeeeep morning stretch as we awaken in the shade with the sun already high in the sky.  Since first getting to Santa Catalina we’ve camped in our mesh tent with no shade around and I love it - it makes for early sunrise, up-’n’-at-em mornings that’s for sure! So it was a treat to take a morning off from rushing to get on the water before sunrise, or to be woken by the heat of the sun. 

While eating breakfast though, I find myself distracted and staring off in space. I leave the rest of my breakfast to Jaime and get up, walking down to the waters edge to be alone.  I feel an overwhelming need to cry. I’m emotional all over again but this time it’s nothing to do with kayaking.  I’m finding that Jaime is triggering a lot of old issues for me over my ex, and it leads me down a path of worry and sadness about family, ex-lovers, future babies, friends‘ babies, stuff that just doesn’t make sense right now but is rearing it’s head for me to take notice and sit with it.  I can’t even release the tears (Wendy, I’m thinking of you here and laughing uncomfortably at that statement!) so I think that I can go back to the tent to sleep it off. 

Wildlife Cove

Day 3 - January 29, 2012 (The Marathon)

Day’s Total Distance: 17nM 

Breakfast: Oatmeal with dried fruit

  We’re getting our morning routine a little tighter now, and we’re on the water by 6:55am, barely light out yet. I feel clear, both psychologically and physically and I’m ready to conquer the day!  As we leave the beach and get out into the open ocean, I smile big with the swell of the ocean...she feels as though she’s just waking up, having her morning stretch going through the motions of a flow yoga...gentle rolls and swells like a good cat/cow yoga pose...lifting me in my boat and gently propelling me forward.  To add to the beauty of the morning, I hear howler monkeys all around me, sounding like wind racing through a steep couloir, deep and mysterious because you can’t tell where they could possibly be coming from!  The coastline is steep cliff-sides, the water is much more interesting with real motion, and my heart races with the movement of it all.

The swell feels like the ocean's morning yogic stretch, and I'm absorbing its energy as I'm lifted by the motion and propelled forward in my kayak

Coconut Beach

Day 2 (The Hump) - January 28, 2012

Day’s Total Distance: 4nM

Breakfast: granola/cereal, powdered milk, an apple

Morning veil

  At the very least, I really enjoyed the scenery today, as well as the feeling of floating on the swell of the ocean. But that’s about it.  Today was a tough go.  Mostly I can’t wait to get out of the kayak, on to a beach, relaxing in the shade, eating and setting up camp for a day or more. My butt’s numb and I’m feeling emotional, man! I want to cry for nothing but the sake of releasing tears!

Midnight Visitors

Day One - January 27, 2012

Day’s Total Distance: 6 Nautical Miles (NM)

Breakfast: Granola with powdered milk, an apple and a granola bar shortly after

We get a pretty late start and paddle from about 9:30am until noon.

I feel crusty already.  My chin is red and sore from accidentally peeling too much of the sunburn from it, exposing raw skin to the scorching sun, and my hands are painfully sunburnt feeling tender and stinging to the touch.  Keeping my head down with my hat on, I try pathetically to hide from the sun while in my kayak...this is ridiculous I think to myself. Only day one and I’m in piss poor shape to be exposed to the unforgiving sun rays.

Quick-dry fabric covers for the backs of my hands (thanks Jaime), polarized sunglasses, rash/sun-guard long sleeved top, spray skirt, hat and pink sparkly scarf. I'm in the tropics with NO skin exposed. Sheesh.

Machete Beach

Waving our guests goodbye, Jaime and I excitedly prepare to launch before sunset comes!

Standing knee deep in the warm water of the bay and waving our guests goodbye, Jaime and I turn to each other with a big high five!  Let’s do this!!  After a confusing few days about whether or not we were really going to be granted permission for our adventure, we were still in the dark about it.  We hadn’t seen el heffe around since yesterday, and as we busied ourselves packing our gear and getting the boats set up, a few of the younger rangers would pass us by and say things like
  “En kayuko? Pero....es peligroso [dangerous]!”
  “Wow, I’ve always wanted to do that trip!”
and finally as we set sail into the sunset, “Buen viaje!” 
Looks like we’re free birds, no payment, no permission, no rules, no problema!  All the kerfuffle for nada! Typical.

Isla De Coiba

Isla de Coiba, the largest island in Panama can be found on the south-western coast in the Pacific Ocean

     “Yeah, I wan’t sure if you guys would show up or not, I had my bags packed and ready to go on trip myself” Michael says as we jump in his truck this morning, on our way to the beach to load up the boat.

  Oops. Sorry about that, Michael.  After a frustrating night in Santiago dealing with internet and last minute work stuff, Jaime and I returned to Santa Catalina around midnight, nothing yet packed, and only a few hours of sleep banked before trip. 

Trip Preparations

A run-through of setting up the boats in Santa Catalina before our trip

  We’re nearing departure time for our kayak trip around Isla de Coiba, and our next task is to piece together a dialogue for el heffe of the National Park on the Island.  Though everyone who visits the island must obtain a permit to do so, it turns out we may not be able to simply paddle around the island as easily as we’d assumed.  It seems they aren’t too friendly to people camping just anywhere in this UNESCO World Heritage Site, and it’s a real gamble to get permission from them to do this sort of trip.