Happy springtime in Chicago! Just back from an even happier springtime in the Exuma Islands. The Exumas are a mostly uninhabited chain of islands in the Bahamas. There isn't much to worry about there... apart from whether there will be any clouds on a given day or at what time of day is it appropriate for cocktails! On the latter, I did learn that no time is too early as evidenced by everyone walking around with a bottle of Guinness at any time of day or night. Talk about seeing things through rose colored lenses.

I don't think I've ever experienced such a drastic change in mental outlook in so little time as I did while I was there for 8 days. On the front end of the trip it was rush, rush, rush to ensure that flight connections were made, that multiple gear bags were checked and re-checked and lots of pleading with the powers that be that everything get there.

The bags were particularly important as they had all of the stuff the 4 of us needed to sea kayak from island to island for a week. Well, except for the kayaks and pfd's which we rented down there.

After 8 days of paddling, relaxing and seeing virtually no other signs of human life my outlook had shifted to, well uh, "who really cares about anything." Island time is a perfect antidote for the overstressed, big city lifestyle. Let me give you a few examples of island time in practice:

• Spending 30 minutes following a stingray around being captivated by its movements
• Looking at the abyss of the bathtub quality water around us and just floating for an hour or two
• Comparing the hues of blue on a daily basis (up to 7 different variations on a given day)
• Deciding whether our tent location was as ideal as it could be or if there was room for improvement (answer = no)

The area is one of the most beautiful I have ever been to in terms of clarity and color of the water, lack of any kind of debris washed up on shore, beautiful sunsets and weather. After 8 days, it was shocking to return to an inhabited island (Grand Exuma). I think we wandered around the streets looking like lost children. It felt wrong to have that many clothes on, to have to wear things on our feet, to have a proper shower, to sleep in a comfortable bed, to eat a meal someone else prepared (badly I might add). The funniest thing that happened when we got back was walking around and feeling kind of sloshy from being in boats for several days. It was as if the ground underneath our feet was moving in a way that was counterproductive to walking.

All in all, the paddling was pretty easy... we moved maybe about 5 – 7 miles per day at a comfortable pace. We did paddle a couple of the days on the outside, deeper waters which was more challenging with 5 – 8 foot swells which were good enough to engulf a kayak only 5 yards ahead of you. We made friends with the lizards and iguanas on the islands and enemies of the mosquitoes and noseeums who attacked us on the couple of nights we couldn't camp into a steady wind. We did a fair amount of snorkeling and saw several sharks, manta rays, lots of fishes, and many, many unidentified things. In all honesty, this wouldn't be high on my list for snorkeling. Not much color variation in the reefs and many of the fish are translucent. I much prefer Hawaii and some of the more remote islands off of Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. Those places have intense colors in the reefs and likewise, in the fishes who inhabit them.

I wouldn't suggest anyone go to the Exumas to hang out on one of the inhabited islands. Nothing to do really, unless you are a "sit by the pool, hang out on the beach" sort of vacationer. No nightlife or anything else apart from maybe the new Four Seasons on Grand Exuma. But if you are looking for a place for a paddling trip with the ability to almost guarantee good weather and conditions, it is a good match.

Happy Trails,
Vic