Dolphin!!!!
We had planned to do so many things during this trip like exploring the Hundred Islands, make a trip to Baguio, Ocean Adventure, and go to the beach for a day or two while enjoying some of my uncle’s cooking. Uncle is an amazing cook and one of my all-time favorites especially when it involves the beach is tuna cooked in charcoal, buried under the sand while we enjoy our day. I told Lily about this, so she was under the impression that we would be looking for buried food everywhere. In fact, the last thing she said the night before our trip, and the first thing when she woke up the next day was,” We are going to find buried food on the beach!”
Unfortunately, the weather was so bad that we were not able to experience finding the buried food or even go to the beach. We were, however, able to experience some new and amazing things together that was a pleasant surprise for us. We got to touch and feed a Dolphin!!!! As a desperate bid to do something besides stay cooped up in the house for the rest of our trip, we went on a ride through town, and the old Navy base trying to find something to do.
During this drive, we saw bats hanging off some trees looking like black fruit ready to fall. We saw horses grazing by the side of the road, and waterfalls in some unexpected places. Lastly, we stopped at a place called Ocean Adventure in Subic Bay which Paul, our family friend, recommended we take the kids to. I am glad that we did!
We were some of the first people to get to this place so it wasn’t overly crowded. There were seven of us all together which included two cousins and my Uncle. Admission, food, snacks, dolphin encounter for myself and my kids, plus pictures with a sea lion and a dolphin costs roughly $200! We all enjoyed our time here, and we would gladly come back to experience it again.
There are three different packages to encounter the dolphins. I chose the cheapest, and most convenient (bad planning on my side) due to the weather. It was raining heavily so I did not think that we would have any encounters with the dolphins in the first place. The encounter we chose allowed us to sit on the dock by the dolphin pens where we could feed, touch, and take pictures with a dolphin.
No cameras are allowed here so that if you want to receive any pictures you must purchase them from the shop. Not bad really considering 20 pictures with a possible once-in-a-lifetime experience with a dolphin costs roughly $12. Another encounter with the dolphins was to sit in the shallow water, and a dolphin would come up and be right next to you for a period of time so that you could touch it, as well as take pictures with it. The last encounter with the dolphin would be to spend some time swimming with it.
Yes, you read that right. Swim with the dolphin. There was a package for a family of 4 which would cost 10,000 pesos for this experience which at the exchange rate of 46.50 pesos, was roughly $215. Just so you know, the admission was separate from any animal encounters. The price to have a dolphin come to the shore was 2,500/person.
These dolphins are all rescue animals harmed by the dynamite fishing still practiced in some areas. Some of the dolphins were heavily, physically scarred, while others were rendered permanently deaf. Still, these creatures are so beautiful, graceful, and gentle in their movements. The show that they put on for us alongside their trainers was one of the most amazing I have seen. The choreography, acrobatics, and music all came together to make a show that would be very hard to forget!
Sea Lions!!!!
We really only stayed for two shows at the Ocean Adventure park, but we were very happy with these new experiences. The last show that we watched was the Sea Lion show. This show was about a competition between one of the Sea Lions and a volunteer from the audience. I have to say this was incredibly funny. There were three tasks that each had to perform.
The first was to see who could spin the most, the second was to roll, and the last was to slide across the stage and stop at the edge and perform a handstand. Well, the volunteer wound up falling into the water and being helped out. He was a great sport though and was told to go to the gift store and get a new shirt, pants, and pair of shoes.
Before we left there was an individual walking around with a camera asking if anyone wanted to take pictures with the sea lions. We already had a picture with a dolphin, so I just had to add a picture with the Sea Lion too! Lily was pretty scared to get close to the sea lion because he was so big but she did it. We got to have three different poses with it. The most surprising for me was the one where I got a kiss from this animal! I tell you the whiskers were extremely bristly, and having his face pressed to mine was unnerving, but I would take another picture with him anytime!
http://www.oceanadventure.com.ph/
Mary H
