Big Cyprus - Kayak Tour
I woke around 5:30 am and noticed a sliver of the sun coming up. The lake was rather dark, but I grabbed my tripod and setup the camera on the lake. A few minutes after setting up, an alligator drifted by ever so slowly. There was no wake as it drifted by. There was no wind and some insects had found my head. I went back to the campsite and grabbed the insect repellant. It helped a bit.
I couldn’t see the alligator any longer and moved the tripod back from the edge of the lake. The sky was beginning to turn various shades of orange, blue and purple. I hung out and took photos, swatted insects and looked for wildlife to photograph.
Once the sun was above the horizon, I grabbed my gear and headed back to the campsite and made blueberry pancakes. For some reason there were very few insects while I ate my breakfast. As I ate I notices bright colors in the weeds behind my site. I grabbed the camera and tried to capture the colors with little success. Then noticed all spider webs covered with droplets that made for interesting photographs. Strangely, I didn’t see any spiders.
Spider web in the early morning
Kayak Tour
I had booked a kayak tour for 7:30 am, but late last night received a message saying that trip was canceled and that I had been booked in the 1:00 pm group. I was slightly disappointed because the light in the morning would have been much more interesting.
I arrived a little early and met Stephanie and Marc from Switzerland. Then Vera and Leo from Germany joined us. To round out our group, Shreya and her brother joined us from Chicago. They didn’t speak German. John, our guide, a transplant New Jersey greeted us and discussed safety, alligators, and our trip in general. We climbed in the van for the 25 minute trip to our launch area.
I was a little leery of kayaking in narrow waters with alligators nearby. John, our guide told us that they’ve never had an alligator attack a kayak. The closest encounter they had had was when someone came very close to an alligator and the alligator tried to get out of their way and whacked their kayak with its tail. He also told us not to paddle directly at an alligator if we see one. Reassured that I would return at the end of the trip with all my limbs intact, we were on our way.
The trip lasted a little longer than three hours. The trip consisted of paddling through canals, through mangrove tunnels, hanging out in an open area surrounded by mangroves and then paddling to a lake with a lot of wildlife. I hadn’t been kayaking since last summer and it was nice to be back in a kayak.
John: Our guide
Open Canal
Paddling in the open canals was exhilerating, because we came so close to alligators. For someone that hasn’t been around alligators, the mind creates some awesome scenarios as you pass by a 10’ beast lying in wait. I was bringing up the rear, so there were times when I lost contact with the rest of the group. These were the moments when my imagination ran wild. Besides the alligators, we saw a large turtle sunning itself, an osprey bringing back a fish for its babies, small fish and flowers.
Mangrove Tunnel
We regrouped just before entering the mangrove tunnel. John suggested that we take our oars apart and use only one half of the kayak ore. He explained that the mangrove canopy would be so low that it would be difficult to use the full ore. He also explained that we could grab the propagules hanging from mangrove trees. These are tentacles that grow downwards to root in the mud. I used a combination of both and at times pushed off with my ore. The canopy was so low at times that I needed to lean to one side. We also saw one mother alligator lying to the side of a group of mangroves. We came within 10-15 feet of it. The part of the trip was different than anything I’ve experienced.
Surrounded by Mangroves
Coming out on the other side of the mangrove tunnel we came into an open area which was surrounded by mangroves. It had this cozy feeling of being in a small cove.
Lake Kayaking
We paddled back through the open canals to an area that felt like a lake. It probably isn’t a lake, but more a part of the larger water way. The water is never more than a few feet deep anywhere. John explained that we can stand everywhere we were going and the water would be waist deep.
We saw more birds in this area. I also experienced how deceptive alligators can be. I looked for alligators as my kayak drifted towards the shore. I didn’t see any. I began photographing a few birds that were sitting in the brush. As I came within 10 feet of the shore, an alligator scurried off into the reeds. I quickly brought the boat to a stop.
I was difficult to get close enough to birds to get a good photograph. They were generally very skittish and would fly or move as I approached.
I really wasn’t ready to back, but we had been out for several hours an our tour was coming to an end. We returned to our launch area, brought the boats out and helped put them on the trailer.
Smallest Postoffice In USA
On the way back to Monument Lake Campground, I stopped at the Ochopee, FL postoffice, considered to be the smallest postoffice in United States. There’s a small building with a plaque that explained the history of the postoffice. I was told that the building is manned during the week. It also seems to be a destination for tour groups that stop to get postage canceled.
This is up there with the smallest library that I visited.
Campground
I returned to the campground. The solar panel fully charged the battery while I was gone. I got under the Big Agnes Three Forks Shelter to get out of the sun. I took some notes and then started dinner.
