The "Dinos" and the happiest Boricua kayaker

by Karla Isabela Martínez Calderón (Colombia)

I didn't expect to find Puerto Rico

It was 6:00 p.m. in Fajardo, Puerto Rico. It was very cold and I honestly did not want to be in a kayak in the sea, much less knowing that I would have to be paddling for almost two hours without daylight. Nevertheless, I was determined to do it. I was with my sister. We were both trying to get the adventurous spirit inside us but it was not enough to become the fastest kayak, instead we were the slowest one. “Faster, faster!” a guide said. I could see him approaching my kayak with a frown on his face. He had a flashlight attached to his helmet and, I must say, his lungs were incredible: he never stopped screaming. “Quickly!”, “come on!” over and over again. Conversely, David or “the compassionate guide”, as I renamed him, approached our kayak with a big smile. Six rowing arms are better than four, so he hooked his kayak to ours and we started to go faster, just like the guide with enviable lungs wanted. Thanks to David and his arms that have been paddling 50 years, as he said, we arrived in few minutes to a path of bushes and mangroves. “Beware of the branches, heads below!” the screaming guide, who was also leading the herd of kayaks, shouted. This day, my myopia gave me the chance to see a “stick hen”, how David said he calls iguanas. “She is asleep,” he told me and I felt guilty for disturbing her sleep. However, the iguana did not move at all. “Maybe, the stick hen is a heavy sleeper like my sister,” I thought. “Look, those stars you see there are the Orion Belt. Do you see them?” David asked. I said yes as well as later I answered that I have obviously seen the Big Dipper, but I still wonder if I saw the correct stars. Anyway, I was glad to know they were there. After a few minutes, we arrive at a small lagoon they named as Laguna Grande or Big Lagoon in English. This natural place is actually the reason why this night adventure activity exist. Laguna Grande is one of the bioluminescent bays in the world, which means in less complicated and easier words to pronounce that it is a lagoon that shines in the dark. We had to splash the water with the hands to see the magic: many sparkles of phosphorescent blue color began to jump. To improve this visual experience, we were given a large black cloth to cover ourselves. This way, we could see better the dinoflagellates show. “Dinoflagellates, dinoflagellates, dinoflagellates,” I repeated mentally to memorize the name of the responsible of the lights spectacle. These tiny and shiny guys that I affectionately decided to call as “The Dinos”, David explained to us, are microorganisms that are part of the plankton family. They jump with excitement as soon as they are touched! That is what I want to think about them until I find out the scientific explanation. The way back was faster. David never abandoned our kayak and until we reached the shore, he told us about stars, satellites, mangroves, and his children. During that short class of nature, astrology and his life, he described himself as the happiest kayaker ever. I hated myself for thinking that was a cliché. The firmness he was affirming that with, convinced me completely: I had met the happiest kayaker. He is Boricua.