6 April Salt Pond kayak trip

 After far too long in Falmouth Harbour we've moved back to Jolly Harbour for a few days prior to clearing out and sailing back to Guadeloupe.

While we were still in Falmouth we did some paddling around the bay in our kayak and then I did some on my own. My modus operandi is to paddle into the wind while I'm full of energy and drift back quietly, do wildlife spotting around the mangroves and be surprised by the large patches of reef and shallow water.

In Jolly we paddled over to check out the beach we see from Jackster every day and to do some exploring....on Google Earth we could see a pond behind the beach and it showed it might be possible to enter with the kayak.

Salt pond seen on the right

We followed the beach around from the headland and there it was – the secret entrance to an inner world. It was like entering a different dimension; outside windy, choppy water and lots of boats, but as we glided through the mangroves it was quiet. A dinghy would have been too wide and the prop too deep. The route through the mangroves appeared to be well used route evidenced by local fishing skulls tied to the trees. We kept to the clear way through the mangrove roots with little crabs clinging on and emerged into the pond. At approximately one kilometre long and half a kilometre wide with no access by road it is a valuable ecosystem, perfect for exploring by kayak and only knee deep. There were plenty of small fish in the mango roots, egrets in the trees and the occasional blue heron. As we glided quietly I felt fortunate to find this hidden world away from modern tourism and to imagine how the island would have been last century. For me this is the joy of the kayak; to be able to explore without motor, to glimpse the natural world.