Day 9

I started the day with a little walk,

along the jetty to the dive shop looking at some mullet on the way,

going back past the banca,

in the mornings there was a never ending number of small aircraft landing then taking off and landing, all from the local air school,

there is going to be some fun here later on, this is a works outing,

group on the left, dive shop on the right,

time for breakfast,

a selection of salads and eggs, there were also a selection of heated dishes,

coffee, tea and juices,

my selection,

eyes down and tuck in,

then let the games commence!

four teams competed against each other,

in the first round a straw had to picked up from a bottle using your upper body and arm,

then a sack race around a chair,

the next team member then had to replace the straw using feet only,

then another sack race and so on,

it is not as easy as it looks, also I should have said everyone has to land a foot in each tyre, great fun for participants and spectators,

we made our way to the dive shop to buy tickets for the Ocean Adventure,

on the way there I noticed these seeds from a palm tree,

the beach from the dive shop jetty,

looking down a school of fish,

tickets purchased so off we walked,

in no time at all we were at the entrance,

and in we went,

past what I think is the main administration building,

a panoramic view of the facility,

and into the first show,

all settled down,

so let the show commence, the presenter gave a talk about conservation,

as she did so animals like the white rats on the right appeared,

and other presenters brought birds onto the stage,

like this owl,

that gave a small screech, 

next this strange animal appeared,

a Binturong, (Arctictis binturong), also known as the Asian bearcat,

we were also introduced to a flying fox,

that seemed quite unfazed about being awake in the daytime,

but was happy to fly back to its roost,

next a hornbill,

or two,

one of which seemed to be looking straight at me,

next a bit of comedy, they had lost a snake that was in a backpack,

and it was found under Marvin's seat, you should have seen him jump!

which made everyone laugh,

the snake was brought on stage,

and the call went out for a volunteer from the audience,

to show that snakes are not slimy as many people believe,

then from out of nowhere this bird flew in,

and landed on a perch,

at the front of the stage,

a white bellied sea eagle, (Haliaeetus leucogaster), what a magnificent bird,

next man's best friend,

which was trained to perform tricks,

followed by a performing cat,

that would jump from post to post,

the final bow, a great program all of the while the announcers were giving out information about all of the starts of the show,

we then moved into the insect room,

where different tarantulas were on display,

like this red kneed tarantula, (Brachypelma smithi),

we passed the fish spa,

to have a close up look at some of the stars of the show,

like the python,

which Dad was not fazed out about at all,

and the owl,

that Daisy Mae thought was cute,

we started to walk to the dolphin show,

which was going to start shortly,

passing some of the pens on the way,

where some of them were giving a unscheduled performance,

tail walking,

back flipping,

and jumping,

some of us then decided to use the fish spa,

it was really funny,

a lady who was using the spa was also extremely ticklish, 

and just could not stop laughing as the fish swam around her feet, by the way these in the picture are Steve's not the ladies!

we passed the mermaid,

and made our way to the show area,

where the dolphins would perform,

there was wheelchair access,

with plenty of seating for the show,

looking at one side of the seating area to the show jetty, the pens here contain sharks and turtles,

and from the jetty to the dolphin pens,

then the show began,

the dolphins choreographing their movements,

then some street theater as a fisherman tried to catch the dolphins,

meanwhile the dolphins continued to entertain us,

with leaps,

and tail walking across the area,

in both directions,

the fisherman was learning that dolphins are not fish and how they should be protected,

next one of the trainers was suddenly propelled through the air by one of the dolphins,

they both went so high,

it was almost unbelievable,

next a trainer took a ride on the back of one,

across the lagoon,

then jumping off at the end of the ride,

next a photo shoot,

the girls wanted to get up close to a dolphin,

first Diana,

then Kai,

took the pose,

ta-da!

we continued our walk,

past the shark pens,

note to self, do not confuse the shark pens with the dolphin pens,

this looked interesting,

the Ocean Discovery Aquarium,

so we went inside,

where various biospheres had been created, like this one in a mangrove tidal zone,

and on a coral reef,

with moray eels,

and shrimp fish,

each of the aquarium's inhabitants had a information label giving a description of itself,

lobsters as well, but these were not for eating!

next into the sea lion show,

I expected to see the cute ones we are all familiar with,

not this huge one,

a volunteer was needed,

for a wet sea lion kiss,

much to the amusement,

of the spectators,

the sea lion was a bit cheeky, sticking it's tongue out,

but was a star performer,

although I am not sure that I would like to kiss it,

as one member of the audience did,

the sea lion was trained to show it's teeth that it uses to catch fish,

make faces,

and look serious,

and beg for food,

I was still surprised by how big it was,

then one of the 'normal' sized seals came on stage,

both giving a performance,

to the delight of the crowd,

then the grand finale,

a handstand,

dive,

swim,

jump,

dive,

swim,

jump,

swim and jump again, we all enjoyed the show so much,

then all aboard the skylark,

we hired the banca,

for a trip around the bay,

we were off,

everybody was here,

we had the boat to ourselves,

in no time we were racing away from the shore,

and going across the bay,

the captain,

as we neared the dockyards on the other side of the bay,

I noticed this submarine anchored in the bay,

we went past some other resorts,

and back past the shipyard, but the submarine had gone,

then I spotted it under way and leaving the harbour, for anyone interested it is a Los Angeles class nuclear attack submarine, in this case the USS Topeka (SSN-754),

we continued our way around the bay,

looking at different resorts in the far distance,

luckily it was not too sunny, the clouds making a nice pattern in the sky,

another resort,

this sea wall defence looked almost like a jumble of Lego bricks,

one more resort but this partially built,

these I think could be holiday homes,

a resort perhaps,

or could this be a private house?

or this one?

and what a view from here,

all along the coast there were secluded bays like this one,

stands of mangroves,

and what appeared to be lava going into the sea,

we then passed what appeared to be a training station,

where different escape capsules were used in the training of maritime sailors,

a few over the water rooms, 

and then we were back,

schools of fish greeted us under the jetty,

as a group of divers,

 started their dive,

walking back I bumped into Kieran and Abigail and had a chat with them,

after a shower,

it was time for our evening meal,

some Filipino dishes,

for the family,

seafood for Kai,

steaks for Steve and myself,

all followed by apple pie and ice cream,

and a few beers,

as usual,

we retired to the Sandbar, where the waitresses took great care of us,

on our way back to the rooms a good night to Kieran and Abigail and we were all off to bed.