I lost my apple twice: Kayaking Misadventures

My first kayaking experience in Mallorca turned out to be truly eventful. By that evening I’d developed purple bruises all over my hands and legs. It was amazing!

Ah, but let’s get back to the beginning. Kayaking is something I’ve always wanted to do, well along with hiking with proper gear without crawling on my behind and so many other things. And when we finally got to visit Majorca, it was but natural that we’d do it there. The water was perfect!

The morning of the kayak trip

It’s our first time kayaking in Spain. We’re supposed to get to the Surf Centre by 9 am, but we get there earlier by 8.45 am and wait in the car till it opens. It’s slightly cold, around 11 degrees and methinks I could have spent that time guzzling down another mug of coffee. 😉

The El Nino Surf Centre opens at 9 am, we meet Sandra at the shop. Have you noticed that the equipment in a surf shop is similar to the equipment you need to go scuba diving? Anyways, Sandra assigns us our Neoprenes. I must say, she is a good judge of sizes. I usually have a problem with protective gear, because people always assign me smaller sizes. Yeah, that’s a good thing though, people thinking I’m smaller than I am.

Anyways, today’s Mallorca kayaking group includes us 4 kayakers, some 18 odd paddle surfers, and the guides Ruben, Josiko and the silent girl whose name I didn’t get.

We follow Ruben and his team to Cala Blava, lug the kayak’s down innumerable steps to the beach where Ruben gives us the basics on kayaking while Josiko talks to the paddle surfers before hitting the water.

Heading out on the water

We’re given some time to get used to the water before we leave Cala Blava and start our one hour journey to Cap Rocat. Although the distance as the crow flies is hardly 2 km, while kayaking it amounts to 4 km either way.

Ruben tells us we’re expected to take about an hour an 30 minutes to reach there, accounting for photo stops on the way and about an hour to get back.

If you haven’t been in a kayak before, the only rule about this watersport that you need to know is that the newbie goes in front, so the experienced partner can direct you. And when changing directions or going against the tide, you always use the side of the oar that you’re directed to. Pretty simple! Ha!

Well, yeah! It is pretty simple until the wind keeps taking you in a direction you don’t really want to go. This picture above is of us at some distance from the rest of the group.

We visit a number of caves and coves, and other enclosures along the way.

Here’s a pic of my brother and me! This corner had quite a bit of jellyfish. Also, the dark space behind my brother doesn’t really show clearly, but it looked like a perfectly hidden natural Jacuzzi. Minus the jellyfish!

I’m struggling with my life vest too, it keeps popping right up to my chin instead of staying on my chest like it’s supposed to. The problems with having large ones, I tell you! Well, it’s also the reason we have to go to another country to buy bras with bigger cups.

Ah, but I was talking about kayaking, not bras. So anyway, we loosen my life vest in the hope that it will stay in place… and continue on to the breezy waters.

Beautiful Depths and Jellyfish

The water is a decent 40 or 50 feet in depth, as can be seen by the clearly visible rock above and the tiny 6 feet tall men in comparison.

We reached yet another cave along the way again and posed for a number of pics. 😉 Well, we didn’t pose for all of them. Some of them we really didn’t have a choice being part of 😛

The water was also teeming with jellyfish, vibrant pinks and browns. You could dip your hands in the water and get stung, or play ‘go catch’. Lovely! It reminded me of the pics I had seen on my friend Christian’s blog about swimming in jellyfish lake in Palau.

Yeah, some parts of the water, we were careful to get in, since we were sure we didn’t want to be peed on to stop the jellyfish stings. Ha! Plus looking at the others in the group struggling to get back on their paddle boards or kayak, I decided I absolutely didn’t want to be in that position. 😉

We reached another covish cave, beautiful! And another cave where all you can hear once you enter is the sound of waves crashing against the rocks. Dangerous! Exhilarating!

And then there was the cave where the light shone through a hole perfectly (although the camera didn’t do justice). I loved it!

A rest stop with fruits

We finally reach Cap Rocat, and during the break, Ruben gives us water and fruits – first bananas and then apples. I refused the apple, assuming I’d be fine with just one fruit. But it turned out that the banana was the toughest one I’ve ever tasted. (No pun intended.) It was partially raw like the ones that are used to make banana chips back home.

Anyways, after struggling a bit with my banana and finally managing to gulp it down, my sis offered me a bite of her apple, which turned out to be amazingly juicy. And when dipped in the salty sea water, it tasted absolutely awesome. So I ask Ruben for an apple and start munching away happily.

How to get back into a Kayak after Falling Out?

After a couple of bites, I notice that the kayak is tilting a bit to the right and turn around to see what’s happening. And suddenly, before I know it, I’m in the water. My brother is too! The cold doesn’t hit you for the first few seconds! You’re busy just trying to find out which way is up. And after splashing around in the water for a bit, you right yourself up. I’m now looking for my apple and oar, and thankfully my sis-in-law has caught both. Yay!

Then comes the bit where I find out my brother was just tilting the kayak to the right to see if I’d notice. Ha! Well, I did, didn’t I? After being submerged! And my life vest keeps pushing my head back under the water instead of helping.

But anyways, I know to swim, so it was better to get rid of the life vest, especially since it aided choking more than floating – although that was just probably because of the enormous top shelf not allowing me to get back into the kayak.

So now comes the bit where I’m struggling to get back into the kayak. It’s tougher than lifting yourself out of a pool, and feels like my hands are just useless flappers. I loose count of the expletives I use.

So anyway, one of the guides, Josiko, gets me to use his foot as a ladder to get onto his paddle board, and then onto the kayak. Thankfully that’s done and dusted. I can now say I swam in North West Majorca too. 😉

I get my apple back and start  while my sis and sis-in-law go for a swim. When they’re ready to get back in, they struggle too! So we tie the kayaks together to help, and the other guide Ruben helps them get back.

My sis is finally back in her kayak, when suddenly the kayaks turn inward and all four of us are underwater. It felt almost like we were finally a part of the Sound of Music, I laughed my way out of the water.

But I turn around to see, my sis is still stuck behind the kayak strap, my sis-in-law is nowhere to be seen, and my brother has his head stuck in between the two kayaks and cannot move.

My sis comes out, and then my sis-in-law appears from under somewhere, but my brother takes a bit more time to get out. Probably because the two kayaks have turned into two sides of a tent with my brothers head as a pole.

Needless to say, this time it took a lot longer to get back into the kayaks. Poor Ruben, had a crazy group on his hands. But he was very good with us. Plus, I managed to get my oar and water bottle back, but my apple was nowhere to be seen! Lost for the second time!

Anyway by this time the rest of the group are already on their way back. So we rest for a few minutes and then head back.

We take breaks on the one hour trip back to just soak in the atmosphere, and this time the silent one stays behind to make sure we made it back! When we got back we found innumerable bruises on our hands and legs that turned purple by that evening. Battle scars! Ha! But it turned out to be quite an eventful trip. It was the perfect kayaking adventure!

*All Pictures on page taken by the guide from El Nino Surf Centre
Find them at Carrer del Vaixell, 07610 Can Pastilla, Illes Balears, España
Phone – +34971490811
Note: We paid for our own spots on the trip. There was no discount or exchange. But it was fun.

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