Fathers Day

Also, the day I realized I'm a total wimp.

We decided to take the kayak tour to Isla Chora which you can see from Playa Samara.  We met the guide at the beach at 8:00am so we could go out when the tide was low and there would be a beach on the island.  At high tide the beach disappears.

We loaded up in 3 kayaks - Luke/Zeke, me/Genevieve, and the guide/Dane.  It was a little crazy heading out into the breaking waves.  The guide (who spoke NO english) and his friend (who spoke some decent english) pushed us up and over the wave-break.

Then we started paddling.  Oh my word was that a work out.  I was using muscles I didn't even know I had.  I was giving it my all and I was still significantly slower than Luke and the guide.

We finally got over to the island  (maybe 45 minutes of paddling?) and you had to come into the island just right with the current and wave break.  The guide was gesturing and trying to help me get set up and I was trying to do what he told me to do, but I unexpectedly caught a big wave that launched us up onto the beach! It was a wild ride that I would have enjoyed more if I didn't think I had done something horribly wrong that was going to end horribly bad.  There was a group of about 30 kayakers already on the tiny island that were watching it all take place.  Genevieve and I yelling might have had something to do with that.  When it was over Genevieve exclaimed "that was awesome!"  Luke and Zeke came ashore with a lot less dramatics.

Unfortunately the waters at the island were pretty rough and not good for snorkeling.  Still, Dane wanted to go so Luke and the guide took him.  They saw some starfish and a few other fish.  Genevieve, Zeke and I looked in the tide pools and explored the tiny island.  At the end we had a snack of pineapple and bananas and got to see a whole bunch of iguanas come down the rocks for the scraps.  The kids loved seeing the ugly prehistoric looking creatures up close.

The tide was starting to come in so we got back in the kayaks to head back.  This is really where I realized what a wimp I am.  I was seriously struggling.  My hands were cramping, my arms were on fire and I felt like I wasn't even moving.  About half way back I started to feel nauseous.  Pathetic.

As we were coming into shore I started to get worried.  The waves were really big (for kayaks) and I had already seen quite a few people flip their kayaks at this part of the adventure.  Did I mention that Zeke was riding with me at this point?  I was really nervous about flipping with him.  Through a lot of ambiguous hand signals we finally figured out the guide was taking his kayak (with Genevieve) in and was coming back to help us.  He (and now his helper too) swam out to help us time our paddling with the waves, making sure we came in on the small waves.  I was soooo relieved.

Even though it was strenuous we all had a great little adventure.  I, however, will not be kayaking anytime again soon.  I took my first nap in a loooong time today.

We finished off the evening by going to the restaurant Rancho de la Playa which was recommended by a few locals.  It did not disappoint.  The food was delicious, reasonable priced and the atmosphere was nice.  It even had a ping pong table to entertain the kids.

Speaking of atmosphere, it should be noted that every single restaurant here is in an open-air building.  I cannot think of one single one with 4 walls and A/C.  I will try to start taking more pictures because they are beautiful with the thatched roofs and twinkling lights.

I think Luke enjoyed his Fathers Day.  We definitely enjoyed celebrating him.