Sunday, February 28, 2016

Guide Report: San Ignacio Lagoon, February 28, 2016

Sunday, 28 February 2016
By: Lorna Hill

Mindfulness gratefulness

Over time I began to realize more and more my responsibility and role at the camp. There were many roles expected from us here at the camp, those including meeting and greeting the guests, showing them to their cabañas, showing them how things worked at the camp, helping to serve the breakfasts and dinner, giving presentations on what types of birds they will see at the lagoon, guiding kayakers around the mangrove, taking people on walks through the desert and to the boneyard…. It’s all a lot of fun and I enjoy each activity individually however my favourite is seeing people experience the whales for the first time.
People come with all sorts of different expectations but mostly it’s to touch and pet the whale and, perhaps, even kiss it. It is a beautiful thing to be able to experience and I wouldn’t want to take that away from anyone but as a guide, I am feeling more and more like it’s my responsibility to “introduce” the whales, as it were, in the best possible way. I think it’s important to remind people that these beautiful creatures are still very much wild animals and as we are in their territory, we are obliged to follow their rules and respect them as we would want from any guests visiting our homes!
All the guests that come here are always very pleasant and polite, there are never any “table manner worries” but instead of going in with the mindset of seeing what you can get from the situation, perhaps a change of perspective would benefit both parties much better – what can I give?

I am a musician and have always relied on music as a way of connecting with other people and to make me feel happy so I felt it only natural to bring my ukulele out on the boat and to play to the whales! I don’t think it is something that will definitely bring the whales right up to the boat but I do know that the whales react off energy from us so if we’re playing music, then we’re likely to be singing, which means we’re happy, which means that the energy that we’re putting out is positive and uplifting. Also, it brings the focus away from one thing, touching the whales, and more into the situation as a whole – where they are, what they are doing, what they are experiencing and even if the ukulele playing just makes someone smile and feel happy, then that is just one more positive experience to add to the list of what they will be experiencing here at Campo Cortez!


Campo Cortez-Sunset

Campo Cortez: San Ignacio Lagoon



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