A Kayaking We Go!

Tulin and the turk - ready to go!

Sandbars were the biggest threat

 The Turk and I took Tulin out for a day of kayaking down the Little Manatee River.  By going during the week while school is still in session, we managed to get the river to ourselves.  Well, us and the wildlife had the river.   

 The first part of the river was really shallow, so we dragged off of sandbars and dodged fallen trees to start our trip.  Finally the water got a bit deeper and the wildlife got more interesting.

 I turned a bend in the river and heard a strange bird call.  I looked toward the sound, through the tree branches, and found 2 very large owls with very dark and well defined eyes. They were impressive.

We started finding turtles sunning themselves on the fallen trees sticking up in the water  - more hazards for us to avoid.  The turk was excited about seeing so many good sized mullet but then got frustrated that he wasnt going to be able to catch them.

The turk saw the first alligator, a mere child at about 18 inches long. Tulin thought it looked really interesting until I mentioned that where there is a baby, there is a mother.  Then every floating branch or sunken tree limb was a potential momma alligator. When the second siting took place, she was ready for the trip to end.

Stoic turtle poses for us

In several spots we were 'welcomed' by vultures who had clearly staked their territory based on a delicious rotting carcass.  We speeded up our paddling around those guys - they are just ugly!

My foot makes an appearance during a drift break

Lunch always seems yummier after being outside and on the water and our eclectic lunch was no exception - mangoes, borek (filo, feta, spinach), nuts and hard boiled eggs.  The turk was the only casualty when he ran his face into a wood fence while climbing the sandy bank to get to lunch. The turk was not happy about that!!!

But all in all, a beautiful warm day on a quiet river that gave us a sneak peak into its daily routine.