Joni loves to kayak, as you already know. It’s not only fun to paddle around, but there is much to see in the waters – manatee, dolphin, sea gulls, lots of flying fish.Pictures in this article were taken in Key Largo - February 2006. You can see how gentle the manatees are. They like fresh water from the hose and will roll over to get their bellies rubbed.
One afternoon, while kayaking with Fran Baxter, Joni came upon a sleeping manatee.
She was in very shallow calm water, about thigh deep. The manatee was startled as Joni glided over him. He couldn’t dive down because it was too shallow, so he came up, lifting Joni and her kayak up out of the water onto his back. Fran laughed a lot as Joni was horrified. Fran said the look on Joni’s face was pure horror.
As Joni was lifted up, she tried to paddle but didn’t even reach the water. Then as she slid off the manatee’s back, she almost tipped over. The manatee displaced a lot of water as it rose up and created a huge wave which came up and over Joni and her kayak – drenching Joni. It left Joni “all shook up” and shaking. She felt like the Lock Ness Monster was coming up and was about to gobble her up. But, manatee are very gentle creatures and he was probably as scared as Joni.
It was just another experience in this RVing adventure.
