Where the Mangroves End and the Water Begins

Growing up in Florida, we spent most of our family time doing water activities. We had a sailboat that we kept on the coast and did regular weekend excursions. When summertime came along, we would sail the boat down to the Bahamas and leave it there so we could travel back and forth. We never traveled to islands that were heavily populated or commercialized. Instead we went to places like Bimini and the Berries. It has definitely been an experience being on Grand Bahama Island since there is the city of Freeport here and the tourist area of Port Lucaya as well. However, where we stay with Mary is 35 miles from all of this, so we basically are in the middle of nowhere. About 3 miles up the road from her house is an entrance from the ocean into a mangrove canal where took the kayaks for the day. In all of my years coming down to the Bahamas, this arguably was the most serene place I have ever been.

                                                  My Dad on our sailboat.

                                                     We call her "The White Swan"
I have to give a little nerd alert lesson: The mangroves here are a protective factor for the island. They allow extra rain water to flow in thus preventing flooding elsewhere on the island. The mangrove trees and the sand here also help to filter the water so that it is cleaner by the time it flows downward into the drinking water collection areas.

We set our kayaks in at the end of where the canal meets the ocean. This was a pretty area, but nothing that we gave us a hint to what we were about to kayak through.

                                           The shore where we launched the kayaks.

As soon as we got settled in the kayaks (Steve and Katie paired up, Mary and Bethany paired up and I was on my own), we took a right to head inward away from the ocean. As I turned that corner, I started to understand what kayaking through the mangrove trees really would mean.

The mangrove trees here have green bean like pods coming down from their branches. These are the roots for the tree and will eventually grow downward through the water and into the ground to help anchor the tree and help transport nutrients. There were roots that were still the length of my hand then ones that had sprouted from the top of the tree and were already in the water.

We kayaked inland for the better part of 2 hours stopping at a dock to get out for a lunch break. The funny thing about this trip is that even though we were heading inland, when we got out for lunch, we walked up a dock an there was the beach and ocean. These mangrove canals just run through the island and at some points we were even going parallel to the Grand Bahama Highway and we could hear all the cars.

As you kayak along, it is hard to tell where the mangrove tree ends and the water begins. The water was so calm that it created this reflective surface and so they just mesh together in this beautiful, mind deceiving way.It was like you knew there had to be a point where one ended and one began, but it was virtually impossible to tell. You were forced to accept that while there was a meeting point, you weren't going to see it and that was that, so keep kayaking. I wish I had pictures that actually showed what we were seeing, but here are a couple to try and give some of an idea of this.

Some parts of the canal are too narrow to use the oar properly and you attempt to adapt by paddling with slower, smaller strokes. This doesn't mean that your paddle won't get caught in the mangrove roots and branches, which on the way back paddling through the current was enough to make Steve ad I get frustrated enough to yell at the mangrove trees. As that tide came in, the water was so much harder to paddle against, so trying to navigate through was just hard. Whether yelling at the mangroves telling them they were being selfish helped us at all, not quite sure...

This place was very serene. There were parts of the trip where I was leading the group and could not see or hear the others behind me. The trees in some areas create a canopy and you just feel enclosed in this beautiful maze of trees. The water was crystal clear and you kayak through schools of small gars fish, sergeant major fish and parrot fish. Just an overall amazing trip.