Thursday, 18 March Intrepid explorers

It was a beautiful day in the bay into which Rio Cacique trickles. It perhaps flows more robustly during the wet season. It's the dry season now and at low water the river stops behind a sand bar. At high water there is an extra 4m sea height which we used to allow us to enter the river in our hot pink kayak. There was surge breaking over the sand bar as we went in which made a thrilling ride. Once over this and into the calmer waters it was like entering a different world away from the sea. The water was clear and slow flowing, mangroves rolled down and into the water, above us parrots were flying and screeching and every so often we would disturb a sleepy egret as we passed. A mile up the river we were deeper into the mangrove forest, pesky flies tried to land on our faces, the river was now narrower and murky with mud and suspended debris, the parrots still screeched and the nervous egrets flew away. Through the trees we could see the sun was going down so we turned around and worked our way out. Exploring with the canoe was much quieter than with the dinghy and it didn't matter if we came across a submerged tree trunk because the only propeller in the water was our oar blades. A good thing to do and we're pleased we took the trouble.