Kayaking, Catty Wampus, and Gifts of Food

Last Saturday we went kayaking, Nick and Stella and I, in the estuary behind the Nautilus.  This is brackish water host to mangroves, epiphytic ferns, birds and fish, and a wonderful time.

Our day was overcast and rainy, that made for a lovely afternoon that was cool (almost cold!).  We stayed out for 3 hours.  It was Stella's first time kayaking, and as is her wont, she led us for some amount of the trip.  

We borrowed boats from the Nautilus and put in at a kind of low tide, meaning we needed to pole with the paddles to get us through the mangrove roots and over to the deeper water.  Once we got there, it was easy paddling for the rest of the trip.  The tide had been low, changed to incoming and high, all at the same level, which meant there wasn't any current.  The open waters led us to narrower channels and finally to the inlets from local streams.  We discovered to Nick's surprise a sulphur-rich upwelling of fresh water on the last stream we went up.  Mangrove trees make the most amazing root systems.  Here are a couple of examples.

The epiphytic ferns were magnificent.  

Kayaking was a highlight of my time in Kosrae to date.  I so enjoyed being in the estuary, looking at all the plants, feeling the cool rain refresh me, and paddling.  Nick and Stella were perfect company.

Every so often I run across a treasure someone collected from their travels and put up in their yard.  This lamp post made me laugh out loud.  It is Catty Wampus! sitting outside one of the roadside shops, one where I can usually get vegetables and freshly baked bread and other baked goods.  They had green papayas that day.  A man buying one told me he cooks it with meat when the papaya is green.  To eat it fresh, best to wait until it starts turning yellow or orange.

I had stopped at the shop because I thought I saw a tray full of island apples, but it was bags of pickled papaya.  So I bought one of the papayas.

This apple came from a snack tray at a Surveillance Team meeting at the KSA Hospital on Wednesday.  I want more!

On Friday before I left for the hospital, Kosma came by with his daughter and small son, to deliver freshly baked banana bread muffins, warm and smelling delicious!  There were so many I took half and gave the other half to Mr. Kennedy.  He asked me if I like banana pie, and told me he would order me one.  Thank you! 

(but I have so much sweet food in my frig: donuts, muffins, sweet sugar coated bread sticks to have with coffee)  

When I was working at the hospital on Friday, head down scanning page after page, Martha came in with a plate of lunch.  Look at what she brought!  A half a bagel with boloney and cheese, a whole fish! and a drumstick, a little bit of beef stew and some sashimi, and salad.  

Lunch was made by people from Utwe who brought all the fixings to the hospital and cooked up meals for ~60 staff who had the day off from hospital work because it was a Green Day, a day to spruce up the outside grounds of the hospital and maybe other places too.  Lunch was delicious.

At the end of the day on Thursday, with the tide peaking around 3, I went to the point in-between my house in Sansrik and Nick's a little bit on down the road, to see about swimming there.  I knew to go before the tide turned to go out.  I was there 15 minutes before the peak.  I put my feet into this gorgeous water and was just about swept away, upstream, on the incoming tide.  Oh.  A bit strong.  I clambered back up the bank and sat, watching the reef, the turquoise waters, the beauty of this Pacific Island.  I'll swim at the pool, by the pier, from now on.

Next post may be about grocery shopping.  I'm becoming a pro!