El Peregringo

When we made a side trip to Puerto Vallarta on the Pacific coast, we signed the girls up for a dolphin adventure. It was fairly expensive–$60 US for each girl, but what a wonderful experience. Here, the girls are meeting the dolphins.

The place was kind of interesting. Most everyone working there was an American, though Sofía, the dark haired girl in some of these pictures working with the dolphins and kids was Mexican. The company seemed to be called “Vallarta Adventures” and had not only dolphin events, but also jungle canopy tours, rock climbing, bizarre and huge high speed truck rides through the jungle for tours and more.

Marina, as usual, showed no fear whatsoever, though Amalia had a few more reservations. They learned about dolphins, that they are mammals and got to see their belly buttons, learned that their tails are oriented differently than fish, etc. Amalia tells me that their skin feels like soft rubber. I’ve never touched one myself. Click the image of Marina for a larger view. These images were shot from quite a distance and then cropped. Not ideal, but the best my 135mm lens could do.

Here are the girls feeding the dolphins:

A few more images here. Again, click them for larger versions:

And finally, Ana took this shot which I think is simply amazing. The lighting and color reflections are stunning.