August 27, 2007 – Monday
Crew Anya
Today was my big day: I had an appointment with dolphins! Judy and the girls were coming to watch and I had asked John to come as well because I was hoping he could make some great photographs (he is very good at that) and he did. I was in a group of 3 newly weds but didn’t feel alone because I had my posse on the side taking pictures and smiling back at my dream come true. First they told us about the dolphins that lived here at the Dolphin Centre: 2 very young males of about 13 years old, 1 older male of about 25 – the biggest – and one lady of about 29 who was the leader of the pack and called Princess. They showed us around, talking about what dolphins eat (depending on their age and diet), how old they could get, why they had certain markings (they ‘fight’ to establish the leader) and how they got here etc. All very interesting but it got even more fun when we got our life jackets on and went in the water with them. We were going to swim with the older male but he was having an off day and didn’t want to come. Well, I understand: it was Monday after all…
So we settled for the princess who showed us how dolphins move, how strong and how fast they are. Because you were in the water with them and wearing a jacket it was very easy to just bob around and watch. They also provided us with goggles so we could watch her every move under water as well. She jumped, waved and swam her heart out and I was just so touched being so close to these animals! I felt the luckiest girl in the world. After we went to the more shallow part of the pool, the princess left and the youngest, biggest male joined us. We were told the differences in males and females and he also showed off with jumping high in the air. He got a lot higher than the princess and threw in an astonishing back flip. We all agreed that he would make leader of this pack in the future. We were allowed to touch the dolphin and stroke it, which felt a lot softer than I ever imagined. When I looked into his eyes, I almost felt that he actually saw me too and was wondering why I was grinning so much. A lot of pictures were taken by a professional photographer, who even encouraged me to give this beautiful dolphin a kiss. Another first for me: kissing with a dolphin! When the trainer asked the dolphin if he had liked the kiss, he answered positively. Of course…. Haha! Being so close to these wonderful creatures make you wonder how and why we have such a connection with dolphins as human beings. They are truly magical and I was nearly in tears after an hour, feeling so special that I could have done this. I know there are tourists every day who swim with the dolphins but I don’t care because I did it and I loved it! I walked back with a huge smile on my face and I don’t think this smile left me for a while. And when you get a load of this beautiful dolphin, you will agree that he was very special.
After buying some souvenirs for my friends at home, we all went back to Club Bali Hai to enjoy the pool and read some more.