Driving_And_Crying
Nov 2017
Our guide, Suzanne, was incredibly professional and took time to learn the levels of experience in our family group of five. This was me, my husband and our three grown children. We all chose single kayaks and were shown tips to help us paddle more efficiently. Once we began paddling, we quickly noticed a lot of debris caught in the mangroves from Hurricane Irma. Suzanne said some paddlers like to recover the debris. We were those paddlers! We recovered lots of plastic, cords, styrofoam, hats, a 1,000-lb moor line, a dinghy, a garbage can, a wheeled dolly with a wooden frame and plastic bottom, planks, a plastic lounge chair and part of a deck. It was a bit tough getting some of the things out (the dinghy and the mooring line, especially), and a bit of work to paddle it back to the launch site. We were incredibly happy for the chance to help clean up some of the storm damage and to leave the mangroves cleaner for others to enjoy. We did also see fish and birds (some up close!) and, as a bonus, when we were having lunch afterward at What the Fish a couple doors down from Paddle! we saw three manatees hanging out among the boats docked there. It was a magical day and Suzanne was absolutely fabulous. She was incredibly knowledgable about the area, the flora, the fauna and the fish. She also turned our 2-hour paddle into a 4-hour paddle once we got deep into the recovery efforts. I cannot recommend Paddle! highly enough. Get your eco-tourism on!