The last time Jason and I tried to swim with dolphins, we were in Phuket, Thailand. We spent way more than our budget allowed to take a fast boat out to a tiny island in search of dolphins because we were “guaranteed” they lived exactly where we were going ... Eight hours later, no dolphins, but we did see 2 sharks and Jason discovered he was/is allergic to jellyfish.
But I digress! We had gone to see the dolphin encounter show yesterday and were fairly impressed. It was a free show at a resort called Anthony’s Key and the dolphins were beautiful. We booked our dolphin encounter for the next morning at 9. Luckily we had rented a car because getting all of us ready and then trying to find a taxi is not pretty. We showed up, got on a boat with a bunch of Italian tourists and off we went to the dolphin training area where there were 19 dolphins. There were walkways all over and signs that said not to disturb the dolphins after 4 as they needed their downtime. Lucky dolphins!
We went with our English speaking (YEAH!!) dolphin trainer to meet our dolphin, Maurey. She is 6 years old and amazing. There was an Italian couple with their little girl in our group as well as the 5 of us. We got to hug, kiss and pet the dolphin while learning all about her and watching her show us her talents. She loved it when we clapped and she made all these dolphin squeals when she was happy. While they took pictures Jason and I got to hold her out of the water, just like a giant baby. After the encounter, some of the folks snorkelled with the dolphins, too, but there was not enough room for any more snorkelers, so we just watched the dolphins swim around. I didn’t want to leave! It was so very nice to see the dolphins taken care of and loved so much by the trainers. Not a familiar sight with most animals in Central America.
After the dolphins we drove to Arch’s Iguana farm. It sounded good in the guidebook, so we went searching down a dirt road to find it. We walked up and there were 50 or 60 iguanas of all sizes basking in the sun and chomping on cabbage leaves. No cages, just free to roam around. We got to pet them and feed them. They were very friendly and felt very cool with all of their bumps and curves and pokey bits and pieces. The iguanas were great and again it was so nice to see animals treated so well.
Unfortunately, not so much for the spider monkeys, coatamundi and possum. They were in small cages lacking any stimulation at all. The monkeys had a fair size cage, but the other 2 did not. As Jason said, even the chickens they had were in bigger cages than the mammals. It was quite upsetting to Lena, so we ended up leaving shortly after. It was unfortunate, but another learning experience for the girls.
After driving around trying to find Reed a birthday present for tomorrow, we headed home to our beach bungalow. Lena pointed out a barracuda hanging out under the dock while we watched the sunset. Yep, bliss returned...
