POSTCARDS FROM OAHU PT. 5

wimming with dolphins is by far the most incredible experience I've ever had in my life! I don't even know where to begin. The whole encounter was amazing, and I loved every minute of it! So we began our encounter with touching the dolphins back, and warming up to it swimming by us. The package I bought included a dolphin kiss, belly ride, and snorkel time. Words cannot even express my love and excitement I had for these dolphins and this day. The photos our personal photography took were amazing and I'm so glad to have them for memory sake. The belly ride was so exciting and felt so good. It was hard for me to wrap my brain around the fact that I was swimming with a large water mammal, because dolphins are just so tame and friendly. Literally reminds me of a dog ha-ha. The one dolphin we swam with was named Maui and he was such a sweetheart.

When I first got in the water and lined up to touch the dolphin, I thought to myself how glad I was that I bought this particular package because I was getting nervous. I wanted the interaction with the dolphin personally, rather than just touching it and playing ball with it. However, once our time ended I realized how I could have totally done the royal swim. Once I felt very comfortable around the dolphin, it made me want to do even more with it. It was amazing to watch the trainers swim underwater with it and have the dolphin give them a nose lift with her foot. It blew my mind away at all the abilities these creatures are made with.

After we swam with the dolphins, we watched a dolphin show just like SeaWorld in San Diego! From the show I was able to capture the most beautiful photos of them jumping out of the air, twirling around, spinning a ball on its nose, and racing around the tank. Believe me, it was very hard for me to chose which photos to share here on the blog, because I have so many! Throughout the show I was also able to film some awesome footage of the dolphins jumping out of the water, and I cannot wait to show you all in an upcoming post once I'm done editing a YouTube video for my main channel. The grand finale of the show, they had all four dolphins jump out of the water two times, and I was able to capture that all on video (score!). Swimming with the dolphins was like never I've ever experienced before, and I hope that I can do it again very soon here in California with my family. Interacting with these dolphins touched my heart in a way I cannot describe. I've always had a love for animals, but never knew I could have a passion so strong for dolphins. Watching and observing those trainers made me crave the same opportunity everyday. Working with animals everyday of your life seems like a complete dream to me. Dolphin trainer...sounds like heaven! Who needs to be a dental hygienist anyway? Right?