The Present
By: Lorna Hill
16 March 2016
Every day on this earth is a precious gift however sometimes,
when you least expect it, the universe opens up and presents you with a gift that
sends your spirits soaring through the clouds.
The last couple of weeks here at the
camp have been eventful; not only because the whales have been visiting us
during most trips on the boat but because the weather has been proving tricky
to work around so we’ve had to be creative and use our heads more in order to
get people where they need to be – although it certainly hasn’t dampened our
enthusiasm to get out there and enjoy the whales!
We said goodbye to a great group yesterday and with them, we
said goodbye to the wind. Today, we woke up to the sound of silence, something
we’ve not heard in a couple of weeks!
We still dressed well as we know how easy it is for the wind
to just pop up out of nowhere and climbed aboard the boats with much
excitement, the first trip for this new and equally great group. The lagoon was
like a glass lake, not a wave in sight and you could see the whales coming
under the water for what seemed like miles away! We were barely in the whale
observation area and we had two whales come to the boat; a mother and her calf.
The calves are growing up really fast so sometimes it is easy to mistake them
for each other if you see them at a distance.
We quickly put our hands in the water, some staying back to
take photos and help balance the boat and pretty soon, everyone was rubbing and
stroking and petting and even kissing the whales! They were such fun! The baby
was rolling and popping his head up and down, going under the boat and making
sure he went to everyone and gave equal amounts of attention to everyone – what
a well behaved little whale! He lay on his side by the boat and closed his eyes
with happiness as everyone touched and tickled him, what a delight to see. The
sun was also probably too much for his eyes, that were used to the darker
underwaters but it still made him look even cuter when he closed them.
The mother held back slightly, almost in relief of the break
she was getting – he was an active little baby! But sometimes she would come to
the boat too, to get a rub and a kiss, which we felt was really special.
When it came to the end of our time at the observation area,
we had to pull ourselves away from the whales, promising them that we’d be back
and please don’t go too far away – who knows, maybe they’ll be out there again
waiting for us! Or maybe that was an extra special gift from the universe that
we will savor and remember for time to come.
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