Bahamas Recap {Part 2~Dolphins!}

Here is the promised post on the dolphin excursion!

 

I saw some pics of precious baby dolphins on Pinterest a while back and got it in my head that I had to meet a dolphin. I told Nick that I hoped we could swim with dolphins on our honeymoon. As soon as we found out that there were dolphin excursions where we were going on our trip, we signed up immediately.

 

{As a side note, we booked our excursion through the concierge service Nick's MasterCard provides and it was way cheaper than through the cruise ship. You just have to find taxis to take instead of the shuttle provided by the ship.}

 

We took a boat ride to reach the dolphin lagoon where the dolphins live. That was a lot of fun, and we got to see the crystal clear turquoise water that the Bahamas is known for. There were about eight other people on the boat that were also going on the excursion.

 

 

As soon as we arrived and learned a little bit about the dolphins, I started getting nervous. I've petted a dolphin before at SeaWorld, and I saw a dolphin in the wild once when I was at Myrtle Beach and one jumped out of the ocean a few times. I remember both of those dolphins as being much smaller than the dolphins on this excursion. These were BIG healthy dolphins.

 

 

These dolphins were five hundred pound animals. I was not expecting that, and I think that's what made me nervous. That is like a pony. An average to large horse is around 1000 to 1200 pounds to put that in perspective. I didn't realize dolphins are so large, much less so strong and muscular. You also feel pretty helpless when you are in the water.

 

I went ahead and got in the water with the dolphins. As soon as I started to pet one, I realized they are super sweet and smart, and then I wasn't nervous anymore.

 

 

I was paired with a dolphin named Robala (although I kept wanting to call her Ricotta like the cheese) and Nick was paired with a dolphin named Kayla. Both were girl dolphins and were 35 years old.

 

Nick was much braver and he and his dolphin were fast friends and swam all over the lagoon together. He and his dolphin dove underwater, and he said you can hear them making "talking" noises. I was content to just doggie paddle and pet my dolphin. Their temperament reminded me a lot of horses.
 

 

We got about 15 minutes of time with the dolphins. I'm still amazed at what sweet and smart creatures they are. I left on a high from it - the only thing I can compare it to would be the time I went skydiving. The first thing I said when I woke up the next morning was that I still couldn't believe we really got to swim with dolphins.

 

 Thank you Nick for one of the best experiences of my life!!  

 

Tomorrow I attend my graduate school orientation, then I am O-U-T to housesit for my Mom for the weekend so I will be in charge of five horses and a mini pig! I will be posting lots of pics of that darling little oinker on Instgram so be ready if we are Instagram friends!

xo