Like some fellow Bloggers I have been on a break during the Christmas holidays, but felt like it was time to come back. I have missed writing so I am just adding a quick entry before leaving to celebrate the New Year in Scotland. A far cry from the cold, windy, Scottish countryside I still have more stories to tell from my humid Amazonian travels.Before going to the Amazon, and knowing little about what diverse and immense beauty the region contained, one of my incentives for going was to swim with dolphins in their natural habitat. On my last full day in the Amazon I entered the waters of the Rio (river) Negro, with more than 10 dolphins, and swam amongst them, feeling their bodies touch mine as they swam past.
The dolphins that occupy the river are called botos de cor rosa, pink dolphins. When they leapt out of the water, to catch the fish I was holding in my hand, they appeared to be grey in colour as it is the dark colour of the water that makes them appear pink. There are two methods of feeding them. Firstly I entered the water and standing on a platform, with the water at waist height and fish in hand, I waited for them to leap up and take it out of my hand. It felt like they were almost throwing themselves at me as the weight of their large bodies crashed into mine. All they wanted was the fish, they were not trying to harm me, in fact they are gentle giants with poor eyesight and for this reason their bodies met with mine.
It was then time to fully enter the water, I was first fitted with a buoyancy aid, before entering the dark waters again. The moment my body was submerged in the river I was surrounded by the dolphins, all looking for food. They swam between my legs, raised out of the water brushing past my arms, and with mouths open once again took the fish from my hands. After 10 more minutes of feeding the buoyancy aid was removed and I was free to swim the river and dive with the dolphins. Swimming under the water I could clearly see the size of these gentle creatures, and running my hands along their bodies their skin felt like a hard-boiled egg with its shell removed. What a truly beautiful creature.
The dolphins that occupy the river are called botos de cor rosa, pink dolphins. When they leapt out of the water, to catch the fish I was holding in my hand, they appeared to be grey in colour as it is the dark colour of the water that makes them appear pink. There are two methods of feeding them. Firstly I entered the water and standing on a platform, with the water at waist height and fish in hand, I waited for them to leap up and take it out of my hand. It felt like they were almost throwing themselves at me as the weight of their large bodies crashed into mine. All they wanted was the fish, they were not trying to harm me, in fact they are gentle giants with poor eyesight and for this reason their bodies met with mine.
It was then time to fully enter the water, I was first fitted with a buoyancy aid, before entering the dark waters again. The moment my body was submerged in the river I was surrounded by the dolphins, all looking for food. They swam between my legs, raised out of the water brushing past my arms, and with mouths open once again took the fish from my hands. After 10 more minutes of feeding the buoyancy aid was removed and I was free to swim the river and dive with the dolphins. Swimming under the water I could clearly see the size of these gentle creatures, and running my hands along their bodies their skin felt like a hard-boiled egg with its shell removed. What a truly beautiful creature.
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