|
|
|
Disney Land Vacations - Take the Whole Family
Disneyland Travel
What a feeling! As you enter through the gates and approach Main
Street U.S.A., you're transported into a world where fun is the
only task of the day. The quaint shops, delicious restaurants,
crazy rides for the young...
Florida Sun n Fun
The vacation rental villas in the Kissimmee and Orlando area experience an upturn in renters around this time every year, with those magnificent men in their flying machines turning up in the sunshine state to enjoy a whole week, wallowing in...
Getting The Best Travel Accomodations
Choosing the Best Travel Accommodation
There are many things to consider when choosing your travel
accommodations. The decision could make your trip fun or a
disappointment. Choosing the right hotel is a must. Most
travelers spend more time...
New Zealand’s Remarkable Lodge - Matakauri
New Zealand’s Remarkable Lodge - Matakauri Read Jetsetters Magazine at www.jetsettersmagazine.com To read this entire feature FREE with photos cut and paste this link:...
Top 10 Tips to Get Through the Airport Checkpoint Quickly
Seems travelers love to hate the screeners at the airport. Dont forget, the front line personnel that you see as you produce your way toward the gate are just the worker bees. They’re not Congress and they’re not the huge wig choice makers. If at...
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
A Close Encounter with Wild Dolphins
My first glimpse of Tangalooma’s famous wild dolphins was from the boat that ferried us to Moreton Island 75 minutes from Brisbane, Australia. They arched their black silken bodies out of the water as though to greet us as we docked at the island’s main pier. I was down at the pier later that night for an up close and personal meeting with these friendly sea mammals; a group of eight that frolicked in the floodlit waters as they waited for the party to start.
Along with the other guests of the Tangalooma Wild Dolphin Resort, the only one on the island, I trooped down to the beach, picked up a fish in each hand from a bucket and stepped into the water. Immediately a dolphin swam up to me. Large, gentle eyes looked into mine; pleading to be fed. I bent over and held the fish in the water and the dolphin gratefully accepted my offering in its smiling mouth. And then lingered on a while, I like to believe to say thank you, before swimming out and repeating the ritual with the next guest who stepped up to feed it.
The wild dolphins that visited this little outcrop every day of the year to bum a snack and say hello to us, their distant cousins that lived on the land, was only a fraction of the thrills that Tangalooma had to offer its guests. Over two days in this island paradise, I would snorkel with schools of colourful fish, scuba diving within shipwrecks, ride All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) across sandy banks and even go tobogganing down desert dunes.
Indeed, still recall the moment I lay flat on my stomach on a plank at the summit of a sand dune and looked down the treacherous plunge ahead of me. The moment of panic, however, had passed. I had already committed to the tobogganing run and focused my attention on doing it right. I grasped the front of the plank and lifted it off the sand and made sure that my elbows and feet were well up in the air so that they did not get scraped as I raced down the dune.
‘Let it rip?’ Alcester, our Tangalooma Wild Dolphin Resort tour manager and guide queried. ‘Let it rip!’ I responded. The next moment I was tearing down the face of the dune. I don’t know what speeds I reached, but it seemed like over 100 kmp and with the ground whizzing under me, no more than a foot from my face, it was both terrifying and exhilarating. When eventually I came to a complete stop at the bottom of the dune I stayed still on the plank, savouring the thrill of the ride. A little later I was trudging up the dune for one more zany run down its slope. It was the culminating highlight of the island safari which started with a drive through dense native forests that emerged onto a bleak desert in the middle of the outcrop.
Back at the resort I checked in at the resort’s dive unit and kitted up – tanks, wetsuit, the works – for an underwater adventure. A little boat ferried us to the dive site at the far end of the island where the rusted
superstructure of sunken vessels spooked the sky above the water. Soon I was swimming with fellow divers around battered hulls of ships resting upon the seabed and admiring the new marine ecosystem of colourful coral and tropical fish that had evolved around these ghostly galleons. I felt my pulse start to quicken when Lea, our dive leader and my diving buddy, led us into heart of one of these wrecks. Sensing my apprehension, she held my hand while we swam through an underwater passageway. I emerged from the ordeal with the sense of elation that comes from having confronted my worst fears and survived.
The rest of the dive was a visual delight. Soft coral swayed to the rhythm of the currents while brilliantly hued fish in amazing shapes and sizes waltzed around us in this bizarre underwater wonderland where life flourished in the midst of ancient wrecks.
That evening I slowed down the pace of the adventure and lazed around in the shallow of one of the many swimming pools that dot the property. I lay in the water and congratulated myself for following up on the lead I found on Traveljini.com. I was browsing through the site looking for something in India – Traveljini.com is the leading travel portal in the country – when I noticed that it was offering a close encounter with wild dolphins package in Australia. Before I knew it I was hooked; curiosity turned to desire and desire to compulsion. I had to get to Tangalooma. Now that I was here, it was all Traveljini.com promised it would be and more.
Later that evening I was down by the floodlit pier to interact with the Tangalooma bottlenose dolphins once more. The ranger attached to the Dolphin Research Centre assured us that the feeding ceremony accounted for only around 20% of the dolphins’ diet and that they had to depend on their own hunting instincts to catch fish in the open seas. According to her the contact between dolphin and humans on this island goes back a long way to the time when the two cooperated to catch fish. The dolphins would herd schools of fish towards the shore where the aborigine would catch them in their nets. Once the catch was hauled in, the local fishermen would throw back a part of it into the water for the dolphins to feed on.
The next morning I shifted back into high gear when I mounted an all terrain vehicles (ATV), a modified four-wheel motorcycle with a souped up engine, and went speeding down a deserted beach before heading for a dusty rollercoaster ride over sand dunes that waved over the island. It was a fitting finale to an adventure that lifted me to zany heights and gifted me with peaceful and quiet moments; an adventure during which I had the good fortune to be part, if only briefly, of the legendary bonding between humans and dolphins.
Gustasp Irani
About the Author
Travel Writer for the past 25 years.
Currently working for Traveljini.com
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Some
Frequent Keywords leading to this site: airlines singapore,airline network,alaska
airlines,us airways,american airline,malaysian airlines,malaysia airlines,air
canada airlines,charter airlines,sas airlines,airlines,flights airlines,air
lines,flights to orlando,airlines american,flights to goa,turkish airlines,delta
airlines,thai airways,easyjet flights,scandinavian airlines,cathay pacific,flights
to bangkok,thai airlines,flights new york,emirates airlines,flight status,business
class,klm flights,flights to new york,flights usa,flights to belfast,flights
to nice,cheap flights to new york,qatar airlines,british airlines,flights to
egypt,cathay pacific airlines,cheap flights to south africa,charter flights,flights
to geneva,thompson flights,flights to south africa,flights to usa,flights to
glasgow,flights to dublin,flights to venice,flights to cork,flights to madrid,airlines
schedules,flight airlines,air france airlines,cheap flights to usa,airlines
reservation,airways airlines,flights to prague,express airlines,america airlines,flights
to jersey,flights to valencia,internal flights,flights from bristol,flights
from belfast,flights to edinburgh,emirates airline,air canada,flights edinburgh,cheap
flights to dublin,flights to london,flights to thailand,flights to rome,flights
from glasgow,airlines fares,flights to budapest,flights to majorca,flights from
edinburgh,gulf air,airlines tickets,cheap flights to thailand,flights to paris,flights
to manchester,cheap flights to london,flights to palma,flights,air india,air
flights,flights to sydney,flights from birmingham,flights to athens,flights
to ireland,airtran airlines,flights to india,flights from newcastle,flights
from cardiff,business class airlines,travel airlines,flights from southampton,america
west,flights from manchester,flights to canada,flights to new zealand,cheap
flights to prague,iberia airlines,cheap flights to india,klm airlines,flights
to toronto,airlines flight schedule,phone number,domestic flights,cheap flights
to paris,flights to faro,flights australia,flights from gatwick,cheap flights
to canada,flights to greece,flights to australia,flights to crete,schedule airlines,cheap
flights to australia,cheap airlines,flights to naples,flights to america,cheap
flights to faro,cheap flights,flights to malta,flights to dubai,airlines ticket,flights
to portugal,low cost airlines,flights to italy,flights to barcelona,flights
only,airlines flight schedules,direct flights,flights to france,flights to lanzarote,flights
to germany,cheap flights to dubai,uk flights,florida flights,cheep flights,cheap
flights to florida,low cost flights,flights to alicante,flights to murcia,flights
to ibiza,budget airlines,flights to florida,china airlines,cheap flights to
alicante,flights to cyprus,czech airlines,cyprus flights,flights to gran canaria,flights
to dalaman,flights to malaga,flights malaga,flights tenerife,airlines offices,flights
to bulgaria,flights to tenerife,budget flights,cheap flights to barcelona,cheap
flights to tenerife,air travel,flights to spain,cheapest flights,bangkok airlines,cheap
flights to malaga,cheap flights uk,flights to jamaica,cheap flights to rome,cheap
flights to cyprus,flights to paphos,discount airlines,flight schedule,cheap
flights to spain,bargain flights,airline tickets,airlines timetable,flights
to turkey,flight schedules,america west airlines,aeroflot airlines,zoom airlines,air
india airlines,cheap flights to turkey,cargo airlines,airlines fare,passenger
airlines,airlines booking,domestic airlines,gulf air airlines,air france,flight
information,dubai airlines,spirit airlines,airlines fleet,frontier airlines,airlines,delta
airlines,emirates airlines,klm airlines,thai airlines,british airlines,china
airlines,flights,flight airlines,schedule airlines,cargo airlines,flights airlines,travel
airlines,airlines american,airlines ticket,iberia airlines,malaysian airlines,sas
airlines,airways airlines,domestic airlines,airlines fares,airlines singapore,american
airline,charter airlines,discount airlines,airlines booking,bangkok airlines,dubai
airlines,aeroflot airlines,america airlines,gulf air,airline tickets,airtran
airlines,air india,gulf air airlines,spirit airlines,air india airlines,passenger
airlines,cheap flights,air france airlines,business class airlines,cathay pacific,thai
airways,airlines tickets,air france,cathay pacific airlines,air canada,flight
information,air canada airlines,airlines reservation,us airways,flight schedules,air
lines,airlines fare,air travel,airlines routes,express airlines,alaska airlines,america
west airlines,flight status,airline network,flight schedule,airlines departure,cheapest
flights,flights to australia,flights to new york,airlines schedules,flights
to malaga,flights to tenerife,flights to cyprus,business class,flights to dublin,frontier
airlines,flights to spain,charter flights,flights to alicante,america west,flights
to canada,flights to barcelona,flights to paris,budget airlines,low cost airlines,cheap
flights to new york,turkish airlines,flights to florida,cheap flights to malaga,airlines
fleet,flights to faro,flights to turkey,cheap airlines,flights to prague,cheap
flights to australia,flights to orlando,airlines timetable,uk flights,flights
to dubai,flights to rome,flights to india,flights to usa,cheap flights to tenerife,flights
to lanzarote,flights to thailand,cheap flights to spain,flights to new zealand,airlines
flight schedules,cheep flights,flights to south africa,air flights,flights to
edinburgh,zoom airlines,czech airlines,flights from manchester,flights to malta,cheap
flights to cyprus,flights to america,low cost flights,flights to london,cheap
flights to alicante,malaysia airlines,flights to nice,flights australia,flights
to ibiza,flights to palma,emirates airline,phone number,thompson flights,cheap
flights to dublin,flights to jersey,airlines flight schedule,flights from bristol,budget
flights,flights to belfast,flights to goa,flights to murcia,scandinavian airlines,cheap
flights to barcelona,easyjet flights,flights from birmingham,direct flights,flights
to bangkok,cheap flights to paris,flights new york,cheap flights to canada,flights
to ireland,airlines offices,cheap flights uk,flights to paphos,flights to glasgow,flights
to portugal,internal flights,flights to dalaman,flights to italy,flights to
athens,flights to bulgaria,cheap flights to india,flights to geneva,flights
from newcastle,flights to france,flights tenerife,flights to crete,flights from
edinburgh,flights from glasgow,flights usa,flights to madrid,cheap flights to
turkey,flights to manchester,flights to venice,cheap flights to prague,cheap
flights to usa,bargain flights,flights to egypt,flights to toronto,flights to
gran canaria,cyprus flights,flights to jamaica,flights from southampton,domestic
flights,flights to naples,cheap flights to faro,flights to greece,cheap flights
to dubai,flights to sydney,florida flights,flights malaga,flights to majorca,flights
edinburgh,flights to valencia,flights from belfast,cheap flights to rome,flights
only,flights to germany,cheap flights to florida,cheap flights to south africa,flights
from cardiff,flights to cork,cheap flights to london,cheap flights to thailand,flights
from gatwick,klm flights,qatar airlines,flights to budapest