Her precious little snout was encrusted with sand and her limp and lifeless body lay sprawled across the beach. My mental plan was not elaborate, but it was all I had given my limited knowledge of the endangered Hawaiian monk seal. I would knock on the nearest Kauai vacation rental door, get something to clean her snout and in the event that she would take a breath, I would enlist the couple strolling down Poipu Beach to help me roll her back into the Pacific.
But the initiation of my plan was circumvented by a man with a rope and signs who was obviously coming to mark off the sad scene. I walked up to the volunteer ever so gently, placed my hand on his back and said, “Is there anything I can do?” Dave laughed. He looked me in the eye, as only a seasoned protector of monk seals could, and said, “She’s a mammal.
She can breathe. She’s fine. I’m just putting this rope up to protect her from tourists.
” The volunteer protector of the island’s 35 Hawaiian monk seals and 1,500 seals worldwide didn’t say, “I’m protecting her from clueless people like you,” because he didn’t have to. When I initially made plans to travel to Hawaii to escape life’s overwhelming busyness and to rediscover my soul’s peaceful state, I imagined infinity pools, mai tais and oceanside massages. The first island of Maui on my two-island Hawaiian adventure delivered my dreams with such intensity that I seriously thought about changing my vacation to a one-island visit.
The spectacular Westin Maui Resort and Spa embraced me with its open-air lobby of forested greenery, cascading waterfalls into teaming koi ponds and hand-hewn wooden seating embedded among it all. I took a rare deep breath before I had even checked in. “We want people to feel absorbed into the natural setting so you feel like you’re going from outside to outside,” said Eric Frankum of the hotel that presented more like a rainforest than a resort.
My soul beckoned me to visit the glorious Lānai (a.k.a.
lounge) on the second floor of the luxury Hōkūpa‘a tower more often than I care to admit. With the ability to put my feet in a shallow pool of warm water while breakfasting on fresh pineapple and macadamia waffles, I found myself there every morning. I was also there at the peak of the day to trade the midday sun for a dip in the surf-view infinity wading pool while I sipped on a liliko’i-laced mai tai (liliko’i is passion fruit in Hawaiian).
At dinner time, I returned for delicious bites of shrimp dumplings and sushi as young locals Marie and Nephi strolled in to fill my soul with soothing ukulele notes and wavelike Hawaiian dancing. When I finally managed to drag myself away from the Lānai, I submerged myself in one of six outdoor Westin Maui pools varying in temperature from hot at the highest peak down to soothingly cool at Kā‘anapali Beach level. I didn’t even go off-property for meals as the Ulu Kitchen provided me with dinners of succulent scallops, lobster-topped catch of the day and whipped pineapple mai tais.
But one day I left. I bravely ventured out for a short walk along the popular Kā‘anapali Beach to Black Rock, a natural ocean playground with cliff diving and snorkelling. I snorkelled cautiously in the abundant waves, only to throw all caution to the wind when a giant sea turtle passed gracefully below.
We frolicked together for half an hour, me staying a safe distance above but mimicking her motions as she drifted lazily out to deeper waters then glided gracefully back to the shallows to feed. I knew it couldn’t get any better than this. Then my plane touched down in Kauai.
The winding drive to our quaint boutique hotel at Poipu Beach alone set my busy-seeking self on cruise with the towering monkeypod and banyon trees rising above and the lush ferns, plumeria and hibiscus ensconcing me in a drapery of colour and calm. The quiet Ko’a Kea Resort nestled among it all was like coming home. I beat my alarm clock, up at 5 a.
m. the next morning, in wild anticipation of the seven-hour boat and snorkelling tour that would take me to the little-visited Lehua Crater near Ni’ihau. Captain Glenn Stalker of Holo Holo tours deftly manoeuvred our catamaran into coves and caves so we could view monk seals and dolphins, the later of which appeared in cavorting droves to entertain us, and then the captain guided the specialty vessel through the tumultuous channel to reach the Lehua Crater where he cut the engines so we could enter the emerald waters.
A pair of white-spotted eagle rays measuring several metres across left me gasping so hard my snorkel wheezed. I actually wept into my mask as the pair drifted blissfully through schools of colourful fish before they caressed the crater wall and disappeared into the depths of the sea. The next day I was off to the breathtaking Waimea Canyon State Park.
I hiked in bliss for two full hours through chicken-dotted rainforest and up to treacherous red-rocked edges before the sound of rushing water led me to a waterfall. Returning to dinner reservations at Red Salt at the Ko’a Kea Resort has never left me so satisfied in my entire lifetime of travel. The luscious lobster gnocchi laced with asparagus and mushrooms in a Parmesan cream sauce was so rich and decadent that I actually licked my plate.
On my final morning on Kauai, I took my last walk along Poipu Beach only to be gifted with a final Hawaiian monk seal encounter. I run across R620, the six-year-old adolescent female I had witnessed earlier. I didn’t seek to save this time, but rather I texted Dave who instructed me to stay until a volunteer had arrived.
As I watched R620 from the state-recommended distance of 15 metres, I whispered words of thanks to her for the remarkable opportunity to be in her presence. My soul is full..
