Well, on the eve of the New Year, we decided that yesterday's adventure did not provide enough firsthand exploration of the Tela region's natural jewels. Not that I was a part of the decision-making process, being a silent unborn entity unable to register an opinion (although if I was not happy I suppose I would have reacted in more primal ways, like kicking really hard and/or seesawing across my mother's belly in a way that could cause discomfort). Wait a second, I am still the size of an appleseed and could not even kick another cell in my vicinity, let alone have the force to pulverize a woman's belly from the inside. Anyhow, our jolly party of three and a half decided to do a tour, by kayak, of Punta Izopo National Park. It was with the same outfit as yesterday, Garifuna Tours, except this time our guide was not some ridiculous, preening French amateur, but a funny, extremely knowledgeable, buff action hero type of guide, whose name I have sadly already forgotten. Anyhow, this cat knew his stuff in terms of the natural history of the place we were going. He was very polite and gregarious without overdoing the niceties, and led us eight tourists in a jeep out to a Garifuna village five miles from Tela, where we had to cross a river rather precariously (more on this in the next post), and then walk about a mile through dense fields of sugarcane and corn to the edge of Punta Izopo. This is a vast, pristine mangrove reserve home to a broad array of animals and plants. We could possibly see toucans in flight, howler monkeys at play, alligators at rest, turtles in a dive position, and the infamous "who-haw" birds, oversized dodo looking specimens that register a unique sound (as per their name). We got into our kayaks, my father and my mom in one, and Granny J riding with our loyal and big-muscled guide, and took off into the heart of the reserve. We made a point to enter every little tributary we found, and explore to our hearts content. We stuck to the main river most of the time, however, and did see some cool species. There was a turtle perched on a log, head faced downward towards the muddy green water. A single toucan that flew overhead at the speed of a Concorde (no pictures, therefore). Plenty of "who-haw" birds, who in their awkward bulk, sitting on branches somewhat anxiously, resembled overweight tightrope artists not confident that they wouldn't fall. We did not see any alligators, but we did hear a howler monkey troop far off in the distance (this made me very excited indeed). Above all, there was the inimitable peace of mind (and womb) brought about through a quiet excursion into an untrammeled natural sanctuary, where every animal and plant could just do its thing without fear of danger from human sources. It was alot of fun, and good exercise for my father. My mother took some pictures, which you can see attached to this post, but mostly she enjoyed the views and the languid breeze that massaged her body throughout the trip. We kayaked for two hours, going about a mile into the reserve, then headed back towards shore, and strolled back to the river which we had to cross rather precariously. It was about noon and the sun felt like an iron pressed against our cheeks (my mother did stay hydrated enough so that I did not have to be thirsty).
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