This morning we got up and went on the horseback ride we had originally planned to do on Saturday. It was a beautiful ride that actually took us through the Maha’ulepu area, a lot of which the second half of the cliff hike we took on Friday would have brought us to.
We have gone on a horseback ride each time we’ve gone to Hawaii. I always love them, but my knees started hurting a lot earlier on this one, so we’ll just have to wait and see if there is another in our future.
Once again, the winds were whipping in to the island from the east, making ridge trails unwise and the seas quite choppy. Our original plan had been to go to Po’ipu Beach Park to snorkel after the ride, but it was clear once we got there that even these calm waters were being affected by the winds. However, we were in for a treat after all. As we sat on the beach eating lunch, Steve noticed that an area out toward the water was cordoned off. He guessed, and was correct, that there was another monk seal out there. We walked out and took several pictures. This one was tagged V20.
After taking our fill of seal photos, we headed back up the beach to leave the area. As we were just about to leave the water and head to the parking area, I saw an enormous green sea turtle in the shallow water. I pointed and stopped Steve and he got out the camera just as it became clear the turtle was coming up to sun itself.
At that point the lifeguard made an announcement that the sea turtle was coming ashore and people should be careful not to disturb it. Now I don’t know if his intention was to let the tourists know the sea turtle was there for a photo-op, or to really tell people not to disturb it, or both. But the only effect was to have everyone on the beach converge on the spot. Steve and I were a respectful 20 feet from the turtle taking our initial photos, but as the bloated mass of humanity swarmed, the circle tightened around the turtle. There was one slack-jawed git who looked amazed and bemused at the “stupid” turtle who I’m sure he thought he would be able to sit on. I did tell this guy to back off, but I was becoming a bit tense at the mob scene that was developing with no authority figure on the beach to maintain a distance.
I felt an almost palpable sense of relief when the lifeguard made another announcement calling for volunteers to go get the rope and cones to cordon off the turtle. Steve and I, who had been on opposite sides of the circle, both took off to the get the rope.
We hustled back to set up the barrier, shooing some of the closer people back as we went. Of course, as we were setting up the perimeter, the turtle scooted its way another 3 feet up the shore. As I told Steve, I didn’t think this turtle was going to respect our boundary. So the rope circle ended up being a little closer to the turtle than perhaps it should have, but at least there was a clear demarcation alerting the less-alert among us not to go pet the turtle on the head.
Eventually, most of the tourists lost interest in the turtle that was now just lying there sunbathing and started to drift away. Steve and I sat down and took several more pictures before deciding to go ourselves.
Now, the fact that we came upon 2 monk seals and an enormous green sea turtle when we had to veer from our plans for the day is probably some sort of lesson about going with the flow and not planning the death march vacations in quite so much detail. Serendipity is good to keep in mind, but I don’t imagine that’s a lesson I’ll apply too strictly. : )