Family Fiji Vacation Day 8 & 9 June 2024 - Kayaking Salt Lake

My husband was feeling a bit worse than he had the previous evening so we had a quiet morning at the rental property. He felt up to keeping our afternoon plans, kayaking at Salt Lake. This picture of Salt Lake is from Tourism Fiji (https://www.fiji.travel/places-to-go/vanua-levu/places/salt-lake)

The lake is an inland sea fed by the ocean's tides. It covers about 100 acres. We rented kayaks from Mangrove Jacks Kayaks. They were in the process of finishing building their dock area. The company is very safety conscious. Our guide Bandroo, led us down the tidal river to Salt Lake while another tour guide "followed at a discreet distance" in a small motor boat for our safety.

Waiting for everyone to get in their kayak.

Heading towards Salt Lake, we heard a lot of barking dogs and a loud squealing pig. Our guide told us there are lots of wild pigs in the mountains. Fijian locals hunt the pigs with dogs and spears. We were hearing an active hunt. 

This was such a peaceful way to spend the day. The weather was perfect - sunny and not too hot.

We kayaked around the perimeter of the lake.

Boogs was so relaxed that at one point I thought he had fallen asleep in his kayak. 

We were there for a couple of hours and I enjoyed every minute of it.

There was an island of mangrove trees in the middle of the lake. Our guide told us a story about how the island has been there since Fijians were still cannibals. He said a chief used the island to escape being eaten by his enemies. I could not quite understand his story and am not sure of its accuracy.

There were snails all over the trees on the mangrove island.

My co-worker gave me these glasses for my trip so I had to take a picture wearing them.

There is a floating dock on the lake. Our guide and the boat driver met up with some people they knew at the floating dock and started having a picnic. The owner of Mangrove Jacks said we were renting the kayaks for two hours. So at the two hour mark, we asked when we needed to head back. Bandroo told us it would be too difficult to head back for 3 hours because we needed to wait for the tide to turn before we paddled back. That did not sound right to us. The people at the floating dock offered us lunch. My husband was starting to feel worse, so we really were ready to go. After about half an hour of Boogs, my husband and me floating in one spot a little ways from the dock, Bandroo decided it would be a good time to go back. The paddle back was not difficult. I think he just wanted to hang out with his friends.

When we returned to Mangrove Jacks, they told us to paddle all the way down the side of the dock, instead of at the end where we first loaded into the kayaks, so it would be easier for them to get the kayaks out of the water. The waterway beside the dock was narrow, shallow, and difficult to navigate. There was not really enough room to properly use the paddles, The paddles kept hitting the dock and mud just below the surface. 

They told us to stay in the kayak while they tried to pull it up the bank by rolling it up and over some moving pvc pipes. They flipped the kayak sideways and dumped my husband into the muddy water. His foot got stuck in the mud, he almost lost his shoe, and had a hard time getting out of the mud to crawl up the bank. He was not happy at all! What a way to mess up a peaceful afternoon. 

The owner apologized and let my husband go into the house and take a shower. Luckily, we brought a dry change of clothes with us. The owner tried to get all of the mud off my husband's shoes. They picked some bananas off their tree and gave them to us as an apology. 

We spent part of the evening in the pool before dinner then watched another beautiful sunset.

There was a big rainstorm on the morning of day 9. We were supposed to be on a scuba boat at 8:30 but we canceled. Overcast skies and stirred up water does not make for good diving conditions, plus my husband was still not feeling well. He spent most of the day resting in bed. Boogs and I hung out in the pool for a good part of the day. During the afternoon, Boogs and I took a cab into town to go to the grocery store. It was a really quiet day.