the sea...

We went to Tudela yesterday and visited Dolphin Island...click here to read a better description of this place from a native......i would put that in parenthesis but those keys don't work.... It was beautiful! Even the drive is very interesting as we pass by so many different "houses" of the rich and poor. There were many rice plantations and coconunt trees. When we got to the entrance of the Island the road was flooded. It was high tide. We drove through the first part of the road and then parked our van and walked the rest of the way carrying our stuff. sophia was having a hard time wading in the water because she had to use the bathroom "real bad"! We were ahead of the group a little and i didn't know how to ask for the restroom but my 7 yo nephew did. There was no public restroom nearby. We had to keep walking out across the sea to a little resturant. since it was high tide the wooden bridge....think those suspended bridges from the movies that are rickety and missing slats....was right at water level in some spots. I thought "for sure there is another bathroom somewhere closer. there was other buildings around the entrance to the park"! but no....we really had to walk across the bridge to get there....so we carefully started our journey. We made it to the bathroom and like most here there was little or no toilet paper. The flushing mechanism was not there and no toilet seat. Those are 2 things that are useless. There was a large bucket of water and a large ladle. you pour water into the bowl to flush. it was an experience.

So after using the bathroom we kept walking across the wooden bridge to the ferry boat that took us to the island. it was a 20 minute boat ride. The island was really out in the middle of the sea! It was gorgeous! It was also a place where they rehabilitate dolphins and for 250 pesos you can swim with them for 20 minutes. That is only $6 so we let sophia do it. i would have loved to pay for all the kids to do it but we still have over 2 weeks here and needed to save money....and i think if we started paying for stuff now it might become expected that we buy other stuff!

So anyway....we spent the afternoon swimming in the sea....so so salty. I don't remember the Atlantic Ocean being that salty....although it has been a long time since we have been to the beach. it was also so clear and clean. The water was not freezing cold either. it was such an enjoyable day!