The Best Cabana In Curaçao

Like everybody else, we go to the Curaçao because we cannot resist the idea of the sunshine on the beach.  Yet, once you get there, you will find the shade very appealing because of the scorching heat of the Caribbean sun.  

On almost every beach in Curaçao, you pay to rent a beach umbrella or a beaten up beach lounger from local operators.  Occasionally you find free, public picnic tables or thatched cabanas.  Even if they are available, however, they are usually in high demand.

One day, on a Curaçao beach, we found an empty picnic table under a thatched cabana.  It was almost like hitting a jackpot!  After we returned from our first dip in the water, a group of five young ladies came over to ask if they could share the table to eat lunch.  

"Of course you may!  You are welcomed to come use the table with us," Mike gestured.

It was fun to watch this group of Dutch young women interact with each other.  I had no idea what they were saying, but they seemed to be having a good time and enjoying each other's company.  They looked so excited and happy.  Mike and I exchanged a look and chuckled because it reminded us of a very different encounter just two days prior . . . 

On a different beach, we were looking for a shaded spot.  We noticed a thatched cabana under which, on one side, someone had left a shirt on a beach lounger and a picnic cooler next to it.  The owner was nowhere to be found.  Given the time of the day, the thatched roof was beginning to cast a long shadow.  We thought we would settle down a few feet away on the other side of the cabana to get some relief from the heat.  

Not long after we sat on our beach towels to put on some sunscreen, a European man came up to the cabana.  We gathered that he must be the owner of the cooler and the shirt.  

He seemed very upset by our presence.  At first, he stood by his lounger and looked at us.  Then, he put his picnic cooler upfront and sat on it as if he were guarding his belongings.  

Noting that his actions did not yield any responses from us, he ramped up his actions.  He pushed the lounger right against me like a barrier.  He was so forceful that the lounger actually hit me.  I moved aside and let him be.

Since his efforts did not make us go away, after a period of time, he plopped down on his cooler again to stare at us in defense of his territory.

In Buddhist teaching, there are several causes of suffering.  One of them is aversion -- the association with the unpleasant.  Although we were not touching or stealing his stuff, and we tried to stay a reasonable distance away from him, the man seemed to have decided that it was not acceptable for us to be under his cabana -- even though he was not using it.  By making that choice, he was making himself really miserable.

It is probably safe to say that nobody nearby failed to notice how exasperated the man was.  I could not help lamenting how sad it must be being him.  Among our many options, the simplest ones are: 1/  Do we stay so that he continues to suffer, or 2/ Do we help relieve him of his suffering?  Mike and I exchanged a look of sympathy and got up to move our belongings to a different spot.  This way, perhaps, the poor man would not spend the rest of his time on such a beautiful beach sitting on a stiff, plastic cooler.

The man continued to stay on guard on his cooler for a while.  Perhaps he, eventually, was assured that we would not invade his space again.  He disappeared again.  He never came back to use his lounger or to enjoy the shade.  By the time he returned, it was to pack up to leave.

The lady who sat between the man and us turned to look at me, nodded and smiled.  Like her, I did not say a word.  I nodded and smiled back.

Before this, I did not know about such a relationship between a cabana and one's heart.  Live and learn, live and learn.