We were picked up from the hotel at 3pm to go to see the Dolphins that Toni has been itching to do forever. We had one stop to make on the way to the Dolphin Lodge to pickup three ladies also from Perth in Poppies 1, which happens to be a very narrow lane with mopeds and pedestrians barely fitting between the van and walls. It’s amazing that it all seems to flow without incident.

This is the first time out of Kuta on this trip and its always very busy with what seems to be thousands of mopeds, cars and bikes on the roads with most heading to the big city Denpasar. One of the girls with us seemed a bit panicky with all the traffic… She was sitting in the front. But it doesn’t bother us anymore.

One thing to notice on our drive out was the amount of construction taking place throughout Bali, it never stops and although parts can be quite dirty, it seems to be a city always improving.

After our short 30 min drive to Pedang Sampur, near Sanur we arrived at the Dolphin Lodge to prepare for a short boat trip to the dolphin enclosure out at sea. We were given the quick run down and the girls had to remove their jewelry so they couldn’t scratch the Dolphins skin, we were told to avoid contact with the eyes and blowhole.

The tour guide headed us down the beach and mini jetty to a long blue and white motorboat that almost tipped over with every new passenger and we had to sit evenly spread on the starboard and port. A little boy had a bit of a hissy fit upon having to board but his Canadian mum soon calmed him down. The boat soon fired up and we were off, passing fishermen in the water and a few large boats where one looked like a pirate ship with three huge masts.

After a few minutes we arrived at the enclosure where the dolphins were kept that was like a floating island of jetties stringed together with nets and ropes.

As we took care to disembark the boat once again in single file to avoid tipping over our groups split up to different parts of the floating island to meet the different dolphin residences.

Magic, I really can’t explain the feeling of meeting such a wonderful animal. He immediately sung to us (actually it was probably to the trainer for fish) and they really are beautiful and majestic creatures.

The trainer called us down to enter the dolphin enclosure on the submersed platform to meet our new flippery friend Freida, a 6 year old male who was rescued from Borneo. Our trainer pointed out his spotted pinkish belly that younger dolphins have.

He had a minor injury on his side from a fight with his pen pal that I think he came out second best. Hearing Freida sing out of his blowhole was truly wonderful experience, the sound is unique yet familiar, almost like a baby crying. (You can hear him sing in the videos). Freida felt rubbery and dirty, but there wasn’t any dirt it’s just a funny sensation of his cool skin. He enjoyed several massages from the group and was very well trained. We all had an opportunity to interact with him individually and get some great group photos.

Boy did he sing for fish, after each trick the trainer blew his whistle and Freida would sing again looking for fish which we all had several opportunities to feed him. Even accidentally missing his mouth a few times Freida always got the fish.

Freida performed for us, danced with us and played a game of fetch by returning a thrown stone to us on the tip of his nose. I’m amazed at how friendly he is.

What a wonderful experience being able to get so close to this magical and mysterious creature that seemed to have a lot of fun entertaining us. Toni couldn’t keep the smile off her face and just quietly neither could I.

It was the one of the few things we hadn’t yet experienced in Bali and recommend it to anybody that likes to get up and close to nature.

Tonight we have nothing planned but to eat our 2 minute onion noodles, pack our bags and get ready for our 3am wake up call to leave for the airport at 4am to catch our 6am flight.

Next stop….. Kuala Lumpur!