Chapter 5- On the Land
Welcome back, everyone!
The land was hot—very hot and dry—very dry. The last rain that graced the land was December 2025 and it was April now. So much for April showers bringing May flowers. Although an occasional flower could be found.
There wasn’t a rainy, nor cloudy day for the entire trip and the land reflected that reality. Most of the shoreline of Carmen was sand and rock set against tall cliffs and rocky outcrops, with very sparse vegetation. There were no trees, as we know trees, just short often struggling bushes and very little greenery. But despite being a thirsty, barren land, it was not entirely devoid of vegetation. Cactuses of all sizes dotted the hills, standing tall, like the trees we have in Canada, but more unfriendly with their spiny, prickly hides.
At times we ventured away from the beach to hike to the top of a ridge, but it was hot, dusty and full of plants that wanted to stick or bite you. The ground was covered in loose shale, that crumbled under your feet as you climbed, making the whole expedition a bit treacherous.
Camping was an interesting part of the adventure. That is the adventure of finding a space flat enough to set up a tent, with as few small rocks as possible and as much shade as you could find against the overhanging ledges.
Sometimes you were just so beat after a hot day of paddling that you didn’t really care where you put your tent. You just flaked out on the beach.
Not that a tent really seemed to matter, because there was almost never any dew. A fact that caused one of our guides to sleep out under the stars every night—no tent—no tarp. But once she got really wet because we were struck with what our guide called a ‘dew-nami’ and we woke up with everything wet that we had left on the beach to dry—including Maria! So, the rest of us put up tents.
This sandy beach was probably the best camping spot of the trip, if you didn’t mind a fine sand in everything from clothing to food. Some people are never satisfied!
Yes, camping was a challenge to the stiffening older bones and aching backs from too many rocky spots, but it was worth it for all the amazing sights that we enjoyed.
See you next time, where I’ll show you some of the critters that we saw.Like this stone bear—do you see it?
Lynn
P.S. If you’re looking for an exciting read—try The Jantastic Trilogy – an adventure series set right here in the north. Fun for the whole family. Available on Amazon.