Row row row your boat !

An old saying goes, that if Salmon swim back into the river the river is healthy again. I got an opportunity to canoe down a part of the Kushiro river. Towards the end of our trip, this was our last major adventure right before we depart for Tokyo. The river that we canoed down did not have water flowi. It seemed to be a pond but was actually a segment of the Kushiro river. The water accumulated was deposited by the wetlands surrounding it as this river did not have a any concrete walls or leveas built.

My excitement coupled with a little nervousness escalated as one of the members from the salmon society gave us a demonstration on the rules followed in canoeing. My only goal was, not to fall in the water as I really did not want to get all wet and make a fool of myself. I already did make a fool of myself the day before when I slipped into the river in the quest of recording the names of the aquatic plants in it.

As my turn came to get into the canoe and start my journey along the not so mighty Kushiro river I thought this would be a breeze but unfortunately I was completely wrong! The initial phase of my journey was filled with nuances as my boat refused to go straight. It kept moving sideways gliding into the dense bushes and coming to a complete hault. Its then when I had to communicate and work together with the member with the Salmon society to get the boat to go straight again. With my limited knowledge of Japanese and his limited knowledge of English, we both found a middle ground on which we could undestand and work with each other. After numerous attempts of trying to get the boat to go forward, we finally succeeded. It was truly breadtaking of being in a river right amidst the wetlands surrounding it. The feeling of being so close to the water without getting wet also felt strange but interesting at the same time. I also realised how important working together is. Just like how I managed to work together with the member of the Salmon society to achieve my end I hope that the salmon too can work together to swim back up the river and restore the biodiversity in the Kushiro river.