March 1, 2010

No close encounters with crocs in a lagoon kayaking adventure

ARROYO SECO,  Jalisco, Mexico - Admiral Fox and I decided to take a swamp tour Saturday in our two trusty kayaks, all nicely cleaned and debugged this past week. Both boats are swamp veterans, though smaller and lighter one is a sit-on top variety, which means the kayaker's rear marinates in a puddle of swamp water while moving about.

The Admiral volunteered to take that one. Honest! She was quite leery of putting her legs inside our more waterproof Necky unit. But that meant I carried the gear: cameras and field glasses and, of course, my trusty Crocodile Dundee knife.

Timber rattler knife
Timber Rattler, just the thing for swamp tours

We had meant to get out much earlier to catch glimpses of birds and wildlife, but missed out for the most part by launching about 9:30 a.m. We realized that the most activity is probably at dawn or dusk. Swell...

On the way to launch, we forded a half-dozen very deep ruts in the road, still full of rainwater from a week ago. One was deep enough that the muffler on the Tundra blew a few muddy bubbles as we roared through. The truck is a lovely two-tone gray and tan now.

Admiral in Lagoon
Admiral on the search for birds

The large lake/lagoon behind the old El Tecuan Hotel is full of fish and all during our paddles, fish would jump within a few feet of the kayaks, startled by our presence. No crocs were sighted, however, though we have been told by many people that they do lurk in the shallows and not to be tempted into doing any wading.

Given the color of the water in most places, wading did not cross my mind.

We will return to the lagoon soon - either very early in the morning or a dusk - to see if we can get a glimpse of the herons and other birds we know live there.

Who knows? We might even see a Pink Flamingo...

Fishing close to shore
Arroyo Seco fisherman in close to shore

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