Although Hawaii is not just a beach destination or an ocean getaway, but, let me start this part of my story with one of our adventures in the Pacific while we were there. If this page is interested in more of my stories, I would love to narrate more about our travels in Hawaii that involved a lot more than just beaches, sunshine and sea. Now having said all these big words such as ‘adventures in the Pacific’, please don’t expect a Moby Dick taking a flip in front of us and trying to kill us!
It was the summer of 2015, when my wife Paulomi, told me that she has a work trip to the islands of Hawaii and she can easily squeeze in a few days after her conference for a short vacation if I join her. All the details of the trip were planned thereafter. When I reached Kauai (the oldest and farthest island of Hawaii) on Dec 11th, 2015, it was already dark and I was driving my rented convertible Jeep Wrangler through a dark road (with tropical woods on both sides) towards the hotel Grand Hyatt where my wife was staying. The chilly gust of the wind smelt like an outlandish mixture of the oceanwater, coconut and damp leaves.
After I reached the hotel I came to know that there were some changes in our planned itinerary and we were going whale watching and snorkeling early next morning. Being an early riser on vacations, often chasing sunrises during the wee hours of dawn, when I say early morning, do take it seriously, because I mean so. By 6.00am next morning we had already set sail into the ocean towards the Na Pali coast aboard our mid-size catamaran of Holo-Holo Charters that could afford a comfortable stay for 42 people (although we were only 15 strong that day). While we all were excitedly looking forward to spotting the whales, our captain emphasized the usual disclaimer every guide gives when going on wildlife watches that it is a matter of luck to be able to see animals in the wild. Paulomi and I were well aware of this after our past trips to the Yellowstone and the Amazon. We still crossed our fingers and remained steadfast in our resolution to see the land of the Jurassic giants in Spielberg’s footsteps. Kauai and its famous Na Pali coast, seen generally by only air or sea, have served as the backdrops for well-known movies such as Spielberg’s Jurassic Park and Jurassic World, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and King Kong.
We all gathered around the deck with bagels, juice and fruits in our hand, eating breakfast while waiting for one of the grand Kauai sunrises. Thankfully, this was close to the winter solstice of late December, the darkest time of the year for the northern latitudes. Not only does the sun traverse its lowest arc across the sky at this time, but in many places the sun rises after most have started going about their work day and sets much before the usual end of the day. As we sailed away, the eastern horizon slowly started to look like a fiery inferno with rays emerging from deep within and annihilating the endless darkness of the clouds. Suddenly the captain yelled “blowwwww! The first few moments, we didn’t comprehend what was happening until an older passenger besides us noticed our flabbergasted looks and clarified that this was an old nautical style of alerting other shipmates upon spotting a whale. We immediately looked out into the ocean, desperately trying to catch a glimpse of the whale. Unfortunately we only noticed a spray of water dissipating into the air and all became quiet for a few minutes until the breathtaking moment when three gracious humpback whales jumped together out of the water against the rising sun! It was such an incredible sight that I did not even remember to pull out my camera and click the shutter. I was almost in a trance for those few seconds that will remain etched in my heart all my life. I soon regained my photographer’s instincts and pulled out my camera to take few shots capturing the frolicking whales but none could match the first scene I saw with my eyes. Here is the best shot I was able to get with my camera.
About the Author: Debojyoti is a Post-doctoral Research Associate at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA and North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC. He believes that beauty is everywhere and the person who can recognize it, is the true artist. While an artist in my mind and hobbies, He is a scientist by profession currently doing his Postdoctoral research on molecular genetics of cellular checkpoints after completing his Ph.D from Department of Inorganic and Physical Chemistry of Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India in Bio-inorganic Chemistry. He is a fitness enthusiast while photography, writing and painting are his three main hobbies apart from taking some laps in the swimming pool once in a while.
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