susieh
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Aug 3, 2005
- Messages
- 462
Weds June 14th. Woke at 6.30, up and dressed and at Discovery Cove by 8am.
There were 7 of us in the TFAD (Trainer for A Day) group and our swim time was 10.20am.
First we went and had breakfast (coffee, juice, danish etc) and met the trainer who was to spend the day with us. She gave us each a disposable underwater camera and a Discovery Cove Trainer for A Day T shirt and explained what we would be doing at what time. Our first visit was to the aviary where we met the staff taking care of the birds and fed them. Because it was early in the morning and they hadnt been fed all day we had loads of birds coming down to sit on our hands and eat out of the bowls of food we were holding.
We then went behind the scenes and saw where they prepare the dolphins' food and care for them. There is a list on the wall with each dolphin's name, age, sex, weight etc and how much food they will get that day. We were going to be interacting with Tyler - this was spooky because we visited DC in Septemeber 2004 and Tyler was our dolphin on that day too!
The time was whizzing by and before we knew it it was time to go and get ready for our dolphin swim. This was the standard dolphin interaction we did last time but the trainer we had was so much more informative and we really enjoyed it. We were sad to leave the dolphins but knew we would see them again later and that there was much more we would do that day.
We then went to feed the rays fish. I had thought this would simply be a matter of tossing the food in the water and they'd all swim up and eat it. I was wrong! For the rays we were taught how to hold the little fish they eat and then they swim over your hand and suck the fish out of it - it feels really wierd! For the tropical fish they had bowls of what looked luck yucky green jelly cubes. You took handfuls of it and swirled your hand around in the water letting it go and the fish came and ate it. If you held your hand still the mullet would come and suck the food out of your fist!!
After this it was lunch and an hour to ourselves.
After lunch we went to feed the sharks! Their food is also all carefully measured and allocates and we had to hold fish in long tongs and the sharks swam up and pulled it out of the tongs. We didn't go in the water this time
Next we went and met the small mammels - a baby 4 toed sloth and a baby anteater. We also met the larger parrots etc they keep there. This part of the day wasnt as exciting as the rest but it was still enjoyable.
Lastly we went back to the dolphin pool. We fed them again and this time we had a tow by two dolphins! You swam out into the deeper water and then trod water with your arms stretched out to the side. The dolphins came up each side of you, you held onto their dorsal fins - and off you went!
We then fed them and played with them a little more and then suddenly it was all over.
We'd had a marvellous day - it costs quite a bit more than a standard DC day but we felt it was well worth it and would love to do it again.
We bought the pictures and the DVD so we have some great memories.
There were 7 of us in the TFAD (Trainer for A Day) group and our swim time was 10.20am.
First we went and had breakfast (coffee, juice, danish etc) and met the trainer who was to spend the day with us. She gave us each a disposable underwater camera and a Discovery Cove Trainer for A Day T shirt and explained what we would be doing at what time. Our first visit was to the aviary where we met the staff taking care of the birds and fed them. Because it was early in the morning and they hadnt been fed all day we had loads of birds coming down to sit on our hands and eat out of the bowls of food we were holding.
We then went behind the scenes and saw where they prepare the dolphins' food and care for them. There is a list on the wall with each dolphin's name, age, sex, weight etc and how much food they will get that day. We were going to be interacting with Tyler - this was spooky because we visited DC in Septemeber 2004 and Tyler was our dolphin on that day too!
The time was whizzing by and before we knew it it was time to go and get ready for our dolphin swim. This was the standard dolphin interaction we did last time but the trainer we had was so much more informative and we really enjoyed it. We were sad to leave the dolphins but knew we would see them again later and that there was much more we would do that day.
We then went to feed the rays fish. I had thought this would simply be a matter of tossing the food in the water and they'd all swim up and eat it. I was wrong! For the rays we were taught how to hold the little fish they eat and then they swim over your hand and suck the fish out of it - it feels really wierd! For the tropical fish they had bowls of what looked luck yucky green jelly cubes. You took handfuls of it and swirled your hand around in the water letting it go and the fish came and ate it. If you held your hand still the mullet would come and suck the food out of your fist!!
After this it was lunch and an hour to ourselves.
After lunch we went to feed the sharks! Their food is also all carefully measured and allocates and we had to hold fish in long tongs and the sharks swam up and pulled it out of the tongs. We didn't go in the water this time
Next we went and met the small mammels - a baby 4 toed sloth and a baby anteater. We also met the larger parrots etc they keep there. This part of the day wasnt as exciting as the rest but it was still enjoyable.
Lastly we went back to the dolphin pool. We fed them again and this time we had a tow by two dolphins! You swam out into the deeper water and then trod water with your arms stretched out to the side. The dolphins came up each side of you, you held onto their dorsal fins - and off you went!
We then fed them and played with them a little more and then suddenly it was all over.
We'd had a marvellous day - it costs quite a bit more than a standard DC day but we felt it was well worth it and would love to do it again.
We bought the pictures and the DVD so we have some great memories.
Hope your neighbours still speak to you if/when we beat them!
