Nathan and I woke up to the sound of birds singing and the smell of sweet flowers. We looked out the window to the breathtaking scenery of Plumeria trees and the golden rays of the sun rising over the lush green mountains. Words cannot even describe how peaceful and incredible that moment was. I've never woken up so refreshed and exhilarated at 6 in the morning.
We got up and ready and were greeted with breakfast! We have the nicest friends!!! First they are nice enough to let us stay with them, and then they are sharing a delicious breakfast with us! While eating breakfast Amanda said she would love to meet up with us at Sea Life Park and take pictures of us swimming with the dolphins. Amanda I cannot thank you enough!!!! We were so excited by this super nice offer and happily offered to pay her instead of spend a fortune on the one or two pictures we could get from the parks photos.
Before Sea Life Park opened we drove around a bit. I loved having the ocean on the right and the mountains on the left. Wherever we looked we were surrounded by beauty. We found a beach close by and enjoyed the ocean! The water was so clean and warm! It was the most beautiful blue against the soft cream sand and green trees. Nathan and I practically had the beach ourselves. HEAVEN!
After our relaxing morning on the beach we headed over to the park. We saw sharks, sea turtles, penguins, birds, and sting rays. We watched feeding time for the seals and a seal show. (They are so cute and talented.) Then we headed over to watch the dolphin show. I love dolphins! And as soon as the dolphin show was over I was going to SWIM with them!!!!! That's all I could think about while we watched. I was getting super super excited and a little bit nervous. My dream was finally coming true and I couldn't believe it!
It was finally time to get set up for our dolphin swim. OH MY GOODNESS!!! Getting in the water was a little colder than I expected, but I didn't care. Nathan and I were going to swim with and feel and kiss dolphins!!! The first time the dolphin swam past us was surreal. We got to stretch out our hands and feel the top and then their stomach. Dolphins are soooo soft and slippery. Then we got to take turns holding and kissing the dolphins. I finally kissed a dolphin!!!
We swam out to the deeper part of the water and took turns doing the "Foot Push" and then later the "Dorsal Fin Pull". It was amazing to feel the power of the dolphins push you up out of the water! Nathan was a born natural and made it all the way across while on the dolphins. (He also got slammed in the hip by one on accident... oops..) I got up on the foot push but slipped halfway through. (They are slippery I tell you! but it was so cool!) The dorsal fin pull was really fun too! I felt like I was in the movie "Flipper".
We got to tell the dolphins to do tricks, feed them some fish, feel their skin, and learned a lot about them. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life and was everything I hoped it would be! Amanda was amazing and took so many pictures! I love them so much!!!
When we were leaving Sea Life Park there was a down pore of rain for about 5 minutes and then it was beautiful and sunny the rest of the day. Nathan and I did more exploring of the island and went to Sam's Club to purchase some snacks. It was weird going to a Sam's that was up about 3 stories above a Walmart and parking in a parking garage.
That evening we walked around Waikiki a bit to find a place to eat dinner. Of course we chose a pizza place. Then it was back to the house and to bed so we could start again bright and early the next day.
.......To Be Continued.......
So amazing! Can't wait for part four. I think I'm living vicariously way too much these days. :)
ReplyDeleteIt looks like you had a lot of fun! What an awesome thing to be able to do.
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