Princess Cruise: Sail to the Caribbean

Amber Cove, Dominican Republic [Kayaking & Manatee Reserve]

Landing on the shore of Amber Cove we were once again picked up by a bus but this time it was an extremely long bus ride, nearly 2 hours. Our guide did his best to keep our attention along the way, talking about the history of the Dominican Republic and its people. We arrived at the shore of a beautiful, beautiful blue ocean and were led into a very tiny room where another guide explained to us the manatee's and how they come to this certain area. The brackish water is just right for them since there's an underground fresh water source that the manatees drink out of and they love to graze on the different seaweeds and grass that grow underwater. They love to just graze and lay about which is how they've earned their name as a sea cow. The place itself has worked hard in keeping and raising their manatee population. In 1996 there had only been 10 manatee's that lived Amber Cove, and now in 2018, there are approximately 55-60 manatees. I'd say that the naturalists have done a fine job.

Before kayaking, we explored the 'garden' nearby and spotted a couple of lizards, a few butterflies, and an outstanding number of hermit crabs. It was as if there were a whole family of hermit crabs just trudging beneath us trying their best not to get stepped on. There were many other people on the excursion and half of us split up since there weren't enough kayaks for all of us. My group chose to kayak while the rest went up to a lookout that's said to overlook the prime spot that manatee's visit.

Jumping into a kayak with my auntie (in Hawaii we would call anyone close to us auntie or uncle) and we started kayaking further out. I was so glad it was a sunny day so that we would dry off quickly. The kayaking took a lot of strength but even more so on the way back. The wind had picked up, making the water a bit more choppy and I was just relieved to have another person with me. The view of the mountain range was beautiful and I took a few pictures when I could with my AKASO.

After our paddle back we got onto a bus and had the rockiest ride I've ever had, but it was actually exciting for me. We had to all huddle towards the middle because the tree branches would whip us if we were any closer to the sides. When we got to the lookout we all held our breath, hoping that at least one manatee would pop their head up. One long minute later we saw the nose of a manatee and a few nervous chuckles were made out of relief and we continued to make small talk as we watched them breach for air. My mom liked to think, against the guide saying no, that, just like dolphins, the manatee's responded to our voices. I sadly wasn't able to capture any of them coming to breach, they seemed to pop up whenever we weren't taking pictures or recording. :( Camera shy perhaps? The guide informed us that the manatee's we did see were a mother and a son. What surprised me is that it's been said that the manatee's had evolved from land creatures and they still breathe air just like us. Which makes me wonder, what if somewhere in the evolution cycle, manatee's found that the better environment to live in is the ocean? Will we, somewhere in our evolution cycle, find that the ocean is a more vast environment than here on land? Maybe if we're given more time we'd find out, but just my wild imagination going wild.

Not too many pictures on this post, sorry guys! The next post will have more ocean pictures so I hope you like them!

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Disclaimer: Pictures were taken by me on my iPhone or my AKASO V50 Pro Native (an off-brand GoPro) unless otherwise stated.

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