The Life of a Belize Sea Kayak Guide 2 of 3

Continued.... The Life of a Sea Kayak Guide - by Jack Wilde

The first day is always busy. You have a new group of people, a little unsure of what to expect, and a lot of logistics to take care of at camp. We have to make sure everyone gets a tent, and the right kind of bed (single or double) and the right partner (if double). The luggage and supplies have to be unloaded, and not mixed up with the luggage of the group that is just leaving. The dining hall has to be reset (we do two lunches back-to-back) and everything looking shipshape for our new arrivals. And of course, while you are doing that, some people have to pee right away (long boat ride, remember?) the outgoing group suddenly decides to pose for group pictures right in the way, and someone from the mainland is calling on the radio. but it soon sorts itself out, everyone has a place to call home for the next six days, food is in bellies and the turquoise water is calling us out to explore and get wet.

And getting wet is what we have in mind. The first thing you learn out at Glover's Reef base camp is how to paddle a kayak, how to tip it over, and how to climb back in., while in water over your head. There are a few struggles but everyone soon learns the skills necessary, and after that we are ready for our paddling and snorkeling adventure.

You would think that after going to the same reefs, seeing the same fish and other marine life week after week would make a guide jaded. Well yes and no. Once you learn the names of all the more common reef fishes, corals, tube worms and sponges, you are still surprised with every snorkel. It could be the sighting of a rare or especially beautiful fish, or just that now you notice their quirky and often entertaining behaviour. The more time you spend staring at the activity of a reef, the more it makes sense to you, and the more you get out of it. Also the people change every week, so you get different group dynamics, and different levels of interest in various components of the week's activities. And I have to say I never get tired of arriving at the atoll when the sun is shining and that first line of pale, watery green reveals the shallow, sandy-bottomed lagoon, while we are still driving over water half a kilometre deep. Or even before then, when we pass through the cut in the barrier reef, from shallow, reef-sheltered water to the rolling deep blue of the open Caribbean. The first half-kilometre outside the reef is where we meet the biggest waves, and everyone cheers as we rise over the crest of one wave and slide down into the trough of the next one