After finishing work, I decided to go to the beach. As I’m still staying at a resort while the company finds an apartment for me, I’m trying to make the most out of my time here. Usually, I like to go on beach walks, but today I decided I was too tired and not in the mood for a walk on the beach. So, I pull up a sunbed and decide to just lay down, chill and possibly “update†my tan.
Since it’s already 4pm the sun isn’t strong anymore and it’s quite windy at the beach in Punta Cana, so I’m trying to find a spot in the sun. I pick a sunbed that’s not in the shade. After laying down, I have to move my sunbed like 3 times, because the sun keeps moving and my sunbed keeps ending up in the shade due to a palm tree. After 30 minutes I decide, this is going to get me nowhere, so I take it as a sign to go on that walk after all. This way I’ll be in the sun, be active and enjoy the view.
What I was not expecting to happen on this walk is the following. After 40 min of walking and getting to the point where I’m already about to turn around and head back, Polly from Michigan (a tourist passing by) comes running to me excited as ever, points in the direction of the ocean and says »look, is that a whale? Take your camera out! «. The next second she runs away to tell the next closest person passing by.
I immediately take out my phone just in case, but I’m not really expecting to see any whales. I’m at a beach in Punta Cana and whales, during mating season (December-March), are usually seen in the bay of Samaná which is up North. I’ve never heard of anybody seeing a whale in Punta Cana, much less from the beach. Next thing I know, I see two huge humpback whales jumping out of the water and playing with each other!!!! And I even got it on video! The whales were so close to shore it’s incredible. I literally stood there for one minute watching them jump out with their mouth facing up, just like in all those National Geographic professional pictures. They kept moving away further and further as they were still jumping, until eventually I couldn’t see them anymore.
WOW, what an experience. If it hadn’t been for that palm tree that was continuously throwing shade at my sunbed, I wouldn’t have gone on the walk and would’ve missed this whole experience. In that moment I literally consciously told myself “Okay, I keep moving the sunbed and still end up being in the shade, I’m going to take this as a sign to go on that walk that I was initially too tired to go onâ€. Well, I guess this was the reason. I couldn’t lay in the sun in peace to witness this beautiful moment of humpback whales playing in the ocean. People usually pay a lot of money to go on an excursion to the bay of Samaná to see the whales, I got to witness this in my temporary “backyardâ€.
I deeply believe everything in life happens for a reason. When something isn’t going as planned or envisioned, I believed it’s because there’s something even better coming, and you simply have to make room for it. This is just one example of it. I hope whenever you feel like life is throwing shade at you, remember maybe you just need to go for a walk to witness and be a part of something that’s ever better!
