It may come as no surprise that my favourite animal is the dolphin so when the opportunity to swim with dolphins arose, even though we knew it was going to be a bit of a tourist trap, we decided to be the typical tourist and go with the opportunity. In any case, we also got to see another Caribbean Island at the same time, Tortola, and the whole experience was pretty cool after all.
Furthermore, thinking of our blog readers, we reluctantly succumbed to the well oiled marketing process to buy the “value pack” of photos for the experience, something we have never done before and possibly never will do ever again. So please enjoy these photos:
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- Two dolphins lifting Denise out of the water
Andy,
Great photos, enjoy following your blogs. Sounds like you guys are having a great time.
Liesl
Yes, testing out pina colades sure beats Joburg traffic!
Why not do the touristy thing – part of the fun and experience.
Enjoyed the photos. ……. let us have more photos!!
What did you do today?
Kite surfing in Cabarete, Dominican Republic. Look out for the next exciting episode on this blog from Denise (the trainee kite surfer).
Hi Denise & Andy
Sorry that my first mail to you is going to be one with negative comments :(.
I too jumped at the opportunity to go and swim with captive dolphins @ Excaret in Mexico a few years ago. But having the opportunity to go and see a bit more of the island and therefore seeing many more “dolphin swim” facilities, I was left feeling very sad for these beautiful captive creatures. I hope you are still reading, because I would really like to explain and maybe convert you in the process. At no time prior to getting in the water, were any of us asked to wash our hands (full of sunscreen/nicotine/etc). Once in the water, the dolphins are coaxed to perform via a food reward system. At many of the facilities, you see dolphins with skin ulcers (over exposure to humans? or Exposure to human diseases? or Due to stressors associated with humans?)
Once our group had left, the next group was ready to go into the water for their dolphin experience – this goes on 8 hours a day, 365 days a year! Makes you think doesn’t it? All for human pleasure, as we try and subject all of nature to our whims.
I did not feel good about my encounter during the time in the water and kept questioning why I did not feel “amazing” afterwards. Having given it a lot of thought, I decided that it was because the dolphins were not there of their own volition and had no choice in the matter. Not exactly how it should have been – so next time for me will be in the ocean, where dolphins will have a choice of interacting with me or not.
If you are still reading, thank you for your time and I will continue to read about your wonderful journey and experiences around the world.
Anet, thanks for your comments. I must say Denise and I had this very debate after our experience. There seems to be a lot of controversy on the subject and we still need to find out more for ourselves. I think you make some very valid points though.
Dolphins are Luke’s favorite( besides dinosaurs of course) he will enjoy the photos. Not too many posts about kitesurfing please otherwise you might end up with Pete for the rest of your trip… Windy season almost over in Perth. Lol
These are such cool pics! “Touristy” and all. Such beautiful creatures! Looks like you guys are having an awesome time:-) Enjoy.
PS: I wouldn’t mind some of those Pinacolades! Hmmm.
D&A: Awesome photos!!!!!
Thanks Anet for the info – never knew that they do that to the dolphins – maybe more people need to be made aware?