Our group of nine, plus two guides, depart early from the coastal village of Dangriga for our first night's stop on a small cay 35 minutes from the mainland where Island Expeditions maintains a permanent tent camp. Of course all our personal gear and supplies must be loaded onto the somewhat small craft that will take us to the cay. We form a line and pass the gear from one to the next, finally getting all loaded and stowed. Upon arrival at the cay, our tents are already up and after selecting our "lodging" for the night and stowing our personal gear, we meet on the beach and are given the briefest of seakayaking instruction and head out for Tobacco Cay, about an hour's paddle away. Clear clam blue waters and a slightly overcast sky make for a relatively comfortable paddle. Richard and I have selected single kayaks while the rest of the group selected doubles. Feels good to be out on the water paddling again as it's been months since we last hit the water in our own boats. After beaching the boats, we retrieve our snorkeling gear and, most importantly LUNCH supplies and head for the end of a shaded pier. Within minutes a feast of homemade tortillas, fresh fruits, lunchmeats, cheese, crackers and assorted condiments are quickly spread out and devoured by our hungry horde. The next hour or more is spent snorkeling off the end of the pier enjoying the coral formations and variety of fish. We also saw two large stingrays. The hour paddle back to the cay goes as well as the trip there.

The second day begins with a hearty breakfast followed by a one hour paddle over to a small cay which is a posted sanctuary for a large black breed of bird. Sorry that I don't have the name of the species but a combination of the guide's accent and not always being within hearing distance of his explanations has left a few holes in my nomenclature memory. At any rate, it is mating season and the males have a red sac at their throat. When calling to attract a female, the sac is inflated much like a championship sized bubble gum effort. We do not land on this cay but just sit and watch the bird life. Richard and I have again selected singles and once we head back to camp, we sprint ahead. We must all repack our gear as we're being picked up at noon by a larger power boat that will whisk us off to Middle Cay. It is a spine smacking 45 minute power boat ride over to Middle Cay where we are dropped off. Cold beers are offered along with lunch and snorkeling. We now get to drift/sail from Middle Cay to Southwest Cay. What a blast! With double kayaks outfitted with a single sail and a favorable wind, it's a fast, fun and all too short 20 minute cruise over to Southwest Cay which will be our home for the next two nights.

Island Expeditions maintains permanent facilities on Southwest Cay consisting of wood floor tents with canvas side and roof, a wood framed bed with sheets and blankets. And does that bed feel good after the previous night's sleep on the floor of a tent! Eco friendly toilets (people friendly is not an option here!) and cold showers from stored (and stinky) rainwater provide the plumbing options. Hammocks are everywhere and a separate kitchen facility and upstairs dining area with long tables and benches provide for the feeding of hungry adventurers. A small library of books, maps and other materials relating to the area are available for use at one end of the dining area. And just outside is an ample wood deck allowing for leisure conversation or just contemplative vistas of the blue Caribbean stretching across the miles. There is another group of IE folks here on a different itinerary, but we all have meals together. A conch shell "bugle" call announces when it's time to chow down. We have a new guide for the remaining portion of the trip and after breakfast on the first morning, Georgina gives us our paddling options for the day. We opt to go to the West Wall, which is a full day paddle consisting of approximately 2 hours one way, lunch in the shallows, snorkeling, then the paddle back to Southwest. Georgina did not have a GPS and was having trouble getting a good compass fix on our route as we headed out. A local guide also accompanied us. To tell the truth, I'm not sure we ever were where we were originally headed. The West Wall is section of Glovers Reef where the ocean floor goes from just a foot or so of water getting slightly deeper with lots of coral and fish and then drops to several hundred feet. We must have been in the general area, I'm just not sure we were in the EXACT area as I never saw any really deep water. Once in the shallows, we tied the boats up and anchored them in the 16 inch deep water, then Georgina did her magic act with producing a delicious picnic lunch. Then we snorkeled for an hour or so but didn't see too many varieties of fish. So it was decided that we'd paddle over to another area where there was more coral and hopefully more fish. Once there, after entering the water, we each kept hold of our boats and did what is known as "drift snorkeling" -- that is holding onto the boat while flippering along with snorkels in place. Ah, success. Lots more coral and lots more fish! All too soon, it was time to make the paddle back to Southwest Cay, and the trip back seemed a tad quicker as we may have had a more favorable tail wind on the return. Or maybe we were just anxious to get back for beers and rum cocktails!

In the morning, we will be leaving Southwest Cay at noon to head via motorboat back to Dangriga, then a night's stay at a beautiful lodge and compound before being transported to the next segment of the "Ultimate Adventure" -- the rainforest paddle down the Macal River. But first we take our last seakayak paddle a short distance away from the beach area where the kayaks are kept and snorkel for an hour or so. This quick little paddle/snorkel results in viewing some of the best coral and fish we've seen so far! But alas, our time at Southwest is ending and we must head back for an early lunch so that we can be ready for the scheduled pickup.

I have a ton more to say about the river portion of the trip but since I'm not sure if there is interest in this part of kayaking (or my yakking!), I'll not include those notes at this time. It's a great trip for anyone that is fit. It may not be a great trip for some in this membership that are more avidly able than ourselves to paddle more strenuously and aggressively. There were never any weather issues to contend with, but I will say that paddling instruction was lacking, there was absolutely no instruction as to rescue techniques, and we did have first time paddlers in our group. We always had our guide and a local on each paddle, but I still think there should have been better instruction for the first timers. Fortunately everyone was a quick learner and seemed to manage without too much difficulty. To visit Island Expeditions website, go to www.islandexpeditions.com and click on the Ultimate Adventure link.

Richard and Barbara Tieskoetter