Union of the Birds, Ch 2: Off to sea, and kayaking Nassau


'Twas the reason for the season!  Katie and Richard had a lovely wedding.  It was short, but they made it very special by integrating different cultural and religious traditions into their chapel wedding, punctuated by the breaking of a glass.  Katie also surprised our family by having us all come up to give our blessing, which was very sweet.  The forecasted rain held of long enough for group photos after the ceremony, which was a relief to all.  No phones or cameras allowed for the wedding, so this is all I have for wedding pictures:



Then we headed off to the cruise port.  Mikie dropped me off with our stuff and he returned the rental car.  We got all checked in, at lunch on the boat, and walked around while Mikie was slack-jawed by the grandeur of the ship.  During the muster drill, we got to watch the Space X booster being unloaded from its landing barge. We played some ping-pong as we sailed on for Mikie's first trip out to sea!




Katie and Richard had arranged for all of the wedding guests to be seated at adjoining tables for dinner, so we got spiffed up and headed to the dining room.  There, we got to meet new and old friends and family and Mikie got the best chicken marsala and best vanilla ice cream ever!  We had some fun around the boat (Mikie moreso than I) and then we awoke as the ship pulled into Nassau.  

As we stepped off the gangway and onto the pier, we encountered a woman who warned: "turn around, it's pouring!".  Silly people, it's the Bahamas; we're going out rain or shine!  We headed down to the cab corral where many drivers were jockeying for position and a hire.  Shanell from Richie's Land and Sea caught our attention and asked where we were going.  She asked us to repeat ourselves a couple times to make sure we really wanted to go to Bonefish Pond.  It was the first time in her years of driving that anyone had every asked to go there!  She even said at one point that she was a bit worried for us.  To be fair, it was a gravel parking lot and short boardwalk in the middle of mangroves.  Not exactly the typical place for two tourist boys to get dropped off on a rainy day.  But, for $60 round-trip, she would take the two of us there.  It wouldn't seem that far away on a map, but the drive took about 40-minutes with traffic, so the rate was a good one.

We met up with Wolf from Wolf's Kayaking Club and his son, Josh, at Bonefish Pond National Park.  He gave us a rundown of the tour to come about the Park.  Josh wants to be a marine biologist when he grows up, so was excited to learn that I had gone to school for marine biology.  I encouraged him to stay curious and thirsty to learn and he'd do great.  We unloaded kayaks to the water, which was lapping at the parking lot at the peak of a king tide, making for an easy launch.  Then we were off!  First through the mangroves, riding and fighting the tidal currents as we got acquainted with the tandem kayak.  We saw plenty of wading birds in the mangroves as we went.  Then we cut out to sea; our destination was a small, uninhabited island out at the edge of the bay.  The water was beautiful even in the rain, and the cool drops kept us comfortable during the paddle.



We arrived at the island and Wolf led us to see an active heron nest and then through the mangroves to the ocean side.  There, we donned snorkeling gear and Mikie stuck his face under the sea for the first time.  His reaction was priceless!













Mikie asked if he could borrow the camera and then he took some photos of his own:





We crossed over to the bay side of the island and swam along the mangroves.  The wind had shifted and it was quite choppy on that side, but it was shallow and clear nonetheless.





Thousands of fish in this school would just part as we swam though




There must have been a freshwater seep, or maybe just the runoff from the storm, but there was a strong halocline along the mangroves, which is the distortion you see in this photo of a tiny barracuda.


I was poking my head into the red mangrove prop roots when I saw a mound of sand sticking up several inches from the bottom.  It took me a second to figure out why the sand was mounded, and I overreacted by standing up immediately and yelling to Mikie to "get over here!". In doing so, I spooked the mound and it flapped its way out from under its camouflage blanket of sand.  Luckily, Mikie turned around in time to see this large southern stingray and swim along with it for a few seconds. 


We hopped back on the kayaks and headed for another shore.  As we crossed the channel, I saw some dark shadows and directed Mikie to help me turn the kayak to investigate.  We got upwind and drifted over several more large rays! Mikie reached over and caught one resting on the bottom.


We cruised along the shoreline to the east and eventually stopped at a beach for a rest before pressing back to the ramp into the wind.  We shared some sandwiches that we had made at the Windjammer the night before and Wolf shared some fresh fruit.




We stopped to let our arms rest and to allow Josh to catch up (that kid was a trooper!).  Mikie occupied himself trying to catch crabs.


Back at the ramp, the tide had dropped, so we carried the kayaks back to the van and helped Wolf load up. It was the end of what had been an amazing trip.  Wolf was safe, professional, and fun.  I have heard plenty of people say that they just stay on the ship in Nassau, not wanting to deal with the crowds and such on the island.  But here we were, just wrapping up several hours on the water where the only other human beings we saw were our guide and his delightful son.  He sent me this record of our route from the day.  We saw bird life, mangroves, marine life, and had an all-around great time.  And his rate was incredible!  If you're ever "stuck going to Nassau", contact Wolf and change your way of thinking!


Soon thereafter, Shanell showed up to whisk us away.  During the drive back, we had great conversation with Shanell about Nassau and other Bahamian islands, good tourists and bad tourists, her family, and tips for our next visit.  It was a fun ride and we didn't even realize how quickly it passed until I remembered that I was supposed to get sand for Laura and we were back at the cement-lined port.  Oops!

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