An Extraordinary Cetacean Experience - Bonus Blog

I know, another Christmas family picture!!!

  Hello Everyone.  This is a bonus blog from the Philippines.  This would have made the previous blog a novel so I decided to break it down into two parts.  I know you will enjoy this one, and it is OK to get a little teary eyed during the video.  Cecelia and I did, but maybe that was because Claire is our daughter, but I don't know.  Maybe it was because this is just one of those really cool experiences that doesn't happen very often.  Kind of like, anyone other than Tiger winning the Masters.  I always tear up when someone else wins, I guess because I just expect him to win every time.  Come on, I had to get a golf plug in somehow, I haven't given you one for a while.
  Anyway, this blog is dedicated to our new friends at Ocean Adventure Water Park in Subic Bay. We particularly want to thank Paulo for his personal care and education that he gave Claire on her special day. The entire staff treated us and Claire to one of the most amazing days that we have had thus far.  That is really saying something, since we have had so many great experiences so far.  So, onto our story.
  Thursday morning in the Philippines we had to be up early in order to get to Ocean Adventure.  This was to be Claire's big day.  She had been waiting for this birthday present for eight years.  I was just hoping that it wasn't going to be a disappointing day.  I was soon to be pleasantly surprised.

Paulo surfing two dolphins at once.  Awesome!!!!

  The staff emailed me and told us to be there at 8:15, but when we arrived, nobody seemed to know that we were coming.  It didn't matter, they gave us a personal guide to view the aquariums and let us know what was going on until the main guide arrived.
  The first thing on Claire's agenda was to learn how to train a sea lion.  We went to the Sea Lion area and were met by the trainers there.  She was first instructed in hand motions and then how to use the positive reinforcement clicker.  I wanted to ask if the clicker would work in the classroom, but I refrained.  I figured if it worked for sea lions, it should work for kids in the classroom right?  I don't know, maybe sea lions are smarter than our kids.  She was then introduced to her trainee Taguila.  Taguila was a young south American Sea Lion.  He was a very nice sea lion.  Up close he reminded us of a dog with flippers.  Anyway, Claire had Taguila clap, roll over, shake and then do a flipper stand.  The best part of the training was when Taguila gave all the girls kisses.  Nothing like a wet, sloppy squid smelling smooch first thing in the morning.  I didn't get one, because someone has to be the photographer.
  After the encounter with Taguila, Claire was then taken over to the dolphin class.  She got some instruction on Dolphins and Whales, like she didn't know the stuff already.  Next, she was given a life vest and ushered to the water's edge.  At this point Cecelia and I were a little disappointed to find out that she was meeting the dolphin with four other people.  As far as we knew, Claire was the only one signed up to be the trainer for the day.  Apparently though, there were people that signed up  for the dolphin enounter, so they combined the group.  Even though there was only one dolphin and five people, she spent quite a bit of time with the dolphin, because the other people were so timid.  During this encounter she rode on the dolphin's belly to the dock, had a splashing fight with it and got to do some dancing as well.  The really great stuff happened after this.
  When Claire finished with the dolphin we had to hurry over to see the African Acrobats.  This was a unique show that featured amazing acrobats that did all kinds of balancing positions with up to five people.  The theme of the show was based on how we need the rain forests to balance out the warming of the planet and to recycle.  It was a very good show and some of the moves were amazing.
  We thought we had some free time until the dolphin show in the afternoon.  We figured that Claire would be doing the same kind of thing that Cecelia did at Sea World.  When Cecelia was in the Dolphin show at Sea World, she got to stand on stage in her matching trainer wetsuit and clap while the dolphin show was introduced.  We were soon to find out that Claire's experience was going to be a bit more extensive than that.
  We had a bit of free time, so we decided to head over and get a bite to eat.  While we were walking over to the cafe, one of the park guides came up to us and told us that they needed Claire right away.  Claire didn't even think twice about getting something to eat, so Taylor, Cecelia and I went foraging for food.  While we were standing in line, we happened to look out the window and there was Claire standing out in the middle of the tanks meeting the rest of the dolphins and the false killer whale that is at the park.  We found out later that she was being guided around to meet the animals by the head trainer Paulo.  Paulo was great.  He spent quite a bit of time teaching Claire about the animals and doing some of the hand signals that they use while training the animals.  While with Paulo, she got her first bath from a dolphin.  Claire and Paulo then left the tanks and walked back over to a different beach than the one in which she encountered the first dolphin.  We followed and tried to stay back to be unobtrusive as possible.  We then got a great surprise, the trainers had taken Claire to the different beach because they called in two more dolphins.  She was asked to come into the water with Paulo and she fed the dolphins that were to be in the show later.  Can you say BONUS!!!  It was awesome watching her feed and pet the animals.
  After feeding the dolphins she was given back to us, with strict orders to be back at the dolphin arena 30 minutes before showtime.

Forget about it boys, Claire has a new boyfriend and he bites!!!

  In the meantime we took a break from the sun and went to watch the Sea Lion show.  Taguila wasn't in the show, but it was fun and entertaining anyway.  Before the show ended, one of the park guides was motioning for us to come with her.  I took Claire and we followed her to the Dolphin Arena.  She sat us down and then we waited until it was time for her to meet with the trainers.  We waited and waited and waited.  This was the only time that we actually thought they forgot about her.  The crowd started to fill up the stadium and then a different guide came and took Claire from us.
  The show began with a drum line from the local tribe and then one of them blowing an amazing sound through a shell.  The MC then came out to do an introduction of the dolphins.  They came flying out from their enclosures and started jumping and flipping.  They then made their way over to the little dock where all the trainers had walked out onto.  To our great delight Claire was there in the middle of them.  As we watched, the MC talked about the dolphins and how amazing they are at learning and doing tricks.  Unlike Cecelia's experience, Claire was giving the dolphins the hand signals and they would go do their commands.  They would then come back and she would feed and love on them.  She then left for a little while and the trainers brought out the false killer whale.  The trainers did some wild acrobatic moves, like being flipped up in the air.  My favorite activity that they did was surf on the back of the dolphins.  After the wild and crazy acrobatics, they brought Claire back out and then asked a little boy to come down from the stands.  Claire was now working with the false killer whale named Tonka.  While working with Tonka, Claire did some hand motions and she got soaked by the whale this time.  By now, Cecelia and I were having a very difficult time watching.  The reason we were having a difficult time was, because Cecelia was tearing up and then I noticed her and then teared up myself.  Sometimes it's emotional watching your kid have an amazing, lifetime experience.  It is also very difficult to take pictures while tearing up.  The show ended and we went down to finish meeting all the trainers and staff.  We thanked them for the wonderful day.
  After all the excitement we decided to take a break by having some lunch and snorkeling at the Cayaman resort nearby.  We ended our day at six pm and headed home to have dinner with Sonny and Leslie.        
  The last surprise of the day was another homemade meal from Sonny when we arrived.  Unfortunately Leslie was not feeling well that evening.  We shared our day with Sonny and then headed off to bed.  All in all it was an amazing day. 

View from Leslie and Sonny's deck in the morning.

  The Philippines is an amazing place in its diversity both ecologically and economically.  There are supposed to be better tourist areas, but I am glad we had the experiences of a lifetime in the Subic Bay/Olongapo area.
  Here is the link to the video for the week.  Enjoy!!  http://sdrv.ms/12if3EO