Altoona Lagoon revisted.

 Tuesday, we hauled ourselves down to Altoona Lagoon again to do some exploring.  Last week, as you can remember, we had a great time bike riding, fishing, playing around, etc. This week, my wonderful friends brought their Kayaks, and 3 inflatable Stand Up Paddle boards. Yes, you read that right, INFLATABLE SUP boards.

When the kids and I got there there was a group from See Through Kayaks starting their tour and it looked like it was ll tourists. Yeay for St. Croix, more tourists :) The kids and I beach combed while waiting for Tammy, Doug, and J to show up.   Once we all got to the launching site and got everyone ready to go we divided up the toys.  Seeing as I had the little guy with me, I grabbed a kayak, A and J grabbed SUP boards, and Tammy and Doug grabbed the other kayak and SUP board respectively.

We started up the river and it was AMAZING! It was quite - except for C complaining that he was getting wet.... he really and truly is a Crucian kid - he kept saying the water was cold. Sheesh, what will he ever do when we actually go somewhere cold that snows?

Anyway, the whole trip was amazing! I am using that word a lot aren't I? We saw a pair of West Indian Whistling ducks, that were moving too fast to get a good picture of; upside down jelly fish, pelicans, frigates, snowy white egrets, blue crabs, minnows, and an iguana. We talked about why mangroves are important, what types of mangroves we have, how mangroves propagate, and what it would have been like to be a Taino or Carib paddling through this gorgeous place and paddling from St.Croix to St. Thomas. We did decide that we wouldn't have cut it, as after 45 mins our arms were tired....

I can turn any fun filled time into school - it's quite impressive, even to me ;)  Part of the reason that we did this mini field trip is because we had a St. Croix Environmental Association sponsored field trip to the Southgate Pond Wetlands on Friday. I wanted to prep our kids a bit, and get them to see wetlands more than once in order to be better prepared for what they were going to see. Plus, at least in my opinion, seeing something twice helps it to stick.

After returning to the beginning, we played on the SUP boards, the kayaks, and C got to throw rocks and feed the fish.  A and her friend J played around on the SUP boards, and practice doing jumps off the bridge that connect the road from Gallows Bay into Altoona.  Us old folks, sat around, played on the SUP boards, and just chatted.  Since playing on the SUP board, I have become obsessed. I feel the need to own one of these wonderful boards. I can take both kids on one board, they are easy to maneuver, can be inflated and deflated easily, and are a great way to get exercise in the guise of fun times.

Anyway, if you want to do the same things that we did you have a few options.  You can take your own kayak or SUP down to Altoona and take a gander by yourselves or you can get in touch of Virgin Kayak Tours or See Through Kayak Tours. I have heard that both groups do a fantastic job and both offer alternate tours to other locations around St. Croix.

Just do it, you won't regret it.

Altoon Lagoon play date

 The other day another home schooling mom and I were talking about how we wanted our kids to get out and do MORE exercise.  Don’t get me wrong; both of our children are active. A swims 4-5 days a week, plays in the bush, participates in all the kids biking, running, swimming races, etc; but I just don’t feel that she gets out there and is active enough.  Apparently, my friend feels the same so we decided that we would get together once a week and let the kids, bike, run, or whatever as long as they were outside and DOING.  During this time, we get visit and C has a friend over to play.  We decided to meet at Altoona Lagoon because it is between both our homes, it is flat, and where they hold most of the kids’ races.

Altoona Lagoon is another one of our undiscovered St. Croix areas for many reasons.  There is a whole fishing community of old time Crucians who grew up swimming in the inlet to the lagoon, jumping off the bridges, fishing, and generally having a good time there.  It is a great place for walking, running, biking, limin’, and generally just enjoying the views of Christiansted from a different angle. Altoona Lagoon also has a GREAT playground and fun exploring beach for little ones.

Our day started early with us in the car, the trike in the trunk, and the bike(new big 26” bike) racked on the back of the red SUV. Water, and snacks were packed in the reusable shopping bag, and I had had at least 2 cups of tea by 7:30! We were set. Once at Altoona, and unloaded – I really do think we are related to Gypsys since we cannot seem to go anywhere without the entire contents of the house and the kitchen sink ---- Oh wait! It’s because I’m a Mom not related to Gyspsys!!!  ANYWAY…. A got con her bike and as soon as her friend showed up away they went. The two kids did about 10 loops, which I think translates to just about 2 miles! Then they took a break to go explore the beach, whereupon they stuck their heads together and decided that they needed to go fishing! Crazy kids!

The two kids, my wonderful mom friend and her equally wonderful hubby walked down with C to the inlet by the bridge. Once I got there, which was about 15 minutes later – I had to re-rack the bike, put stuff away, etc. I found both kids wading through the inlet, with fishing nets in hand, HUGE self satisfied grins on their faces and COMPLETELY, soaking wet.  During the course of the day, they caught Lizardfish, Coral Banded shrimp, regular shrimp, and Blue Crabs. We saw Blue Herons, a Great Snowy Egret, fishermen coming in with their catch and then it happened… the kids spotted a Lionfish! Turns out there wasn’t 1 Lionfish, but 3.  They were hiding in the Mangroves.  My friend’s hubby shucked down to his shorts and got in the water and caught 2 of the three. At first we though maybe we could eat them, but they were too little. What actually scared us was that the Lionfish were in the Mangroves, which are breeding grounds for other fish, and we all know Lionfish eat EVERYTHING so they were in the worst place possible for our native fish. Not, that having Lionfish anywhere in the Caribbean is good, but in a breeding ground it’s like an A bomb ready to go off at any moment. 

Photo by Jill Updyke.

One of the things I really liked about this day, was that both kids ended up wading around in only their shorts and never even batted an eye. They are the same age, and look exactly the same chest wise and for them it was super natural and not embarrassing to be that way. I love that our island still allows our kids to be kids and doesn’t make them aware of the opposite sex until later.  We are able to keep our children innocent of the societal pressures that other children face elsewhere in the world. 

We decided that the kids had such a good time – even C, that we are going to make this a weekly occurrence. We hope to go kayaking into the Lagoon next week. I’ll keep you updated J Sorry for the lack of personal photos but we were so busy having a good time that I didn’t think of taking pictures until the end.

I’ll leave you with a word from our kids: "Lionfish.. they taste like Chicken."