salsa, snorkeling, & sinking

Byron and I kayaked to De Palm Island on our first day in Aruba.  I have never seen such stunningly blue water.  It was incredible.  The trip to the island wasn’t too challenging and we both enjoyed it a lot.  Our guide, named Coco, led us out of the lagoon, along the southern coast, then back in the direction of our starting point towards the island.  They say on a clear day you can see Venezuela from De Palm Island [it’s only 14 miles away]. 

Once on the island, we spent the afternoon relaxing on the beach, snorkeling [Byron was bit by a fish!], riding banana boats, playing basketball with some locals, taking salsa dance lessons [so much fun!], and enjoying the food and drinks.

Love him.

The fish were such vibrant colors!

After a few hours, it was time to kayak back to Aruba.  Going against the wind, we knew it would be more difficult than the trip over.  Byron, who’d had a lot more to drinks than I, was zooming ahead of me.  Not to sound all high and mighty, but I’m a more experienced kayaker than him, and couldn’t help but thinking, How is this so much easier for him? 

No doubt that the wind and current had picked up quite a bit, but I felt like I wasn’t moving forward at all.  I looked to buildings on the island to gauge my movement and discovered, in fact, my ferocious paddling wasn’t getting me anywhere!  All the while Byron paddled ahead, stopped, and let the wind drift him back to me [twice].

Hands, arms, and back burning in pain, I paddled even harder and finally reached Byron at the point leading into the lagoon.  The water was shallow and he suggested we take a rest.  I agreed, and as I went to slide out of my kayak it dumped me into the water and flipped upside-down.  Even standing in the water it was quite difficult to turn it right side up.  After a minute we decided to head to the dock.  I jumped in my kayak, only to be thrown off the other side.  Another attempted resulted in the same. 

Seeing my frustration, Byron asked to switch kayaks.  I hopped on his without a problem and was ready to go.  His first attempt getting situated in mine left him back in the water.  He briefly sat in the kayak on his second try . . . then the kayak sank!!! Literally.

I had been paddling for over an hour in a kayak that was taking in water the entire time!  No wonder it was such a struggle.  Thankfully another guide saw what was happening and towed us another kayak so we could make it to the dock.  It was quite the excursion and work out.  My hands have never been so sore and I am so thankful I did not fall out of my kayak any sooner!