Dolphin Ride

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Traveling by boat is one of my favorite ways of travel. Don’t know exactly why, but I have always found the big blue fascinating. The ferry ride between Tarifa, Spain and Tangier, Morocco is trafficking a route where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean. Makes the ride a bit rocky, when two large oceans come together in one strait, fighting for space when the Mediterranean wants out and the Atlantic wants in. The rocky kind of ride that cause a large proportion of the passengers to feel very sick, completely unable to enjoy the ride to any extent, only wishing to set their feet on dry land. Seasickness however does not become me, it takes more than a wave - even if the waves in this case are rather big and frequent - to throw me off course. King Neptune and I are best buds.

Anyway, the word is that you can spot dolphins in these waters. The entertainment options below deck are very limited, consisting of merely a cafeteria, residing the seasick. Hence, I spend most of the two-hour or so trip on deck staring at the water. I have never seen a dolphin in the wild before, I want to catch a glimpse of these wonderfully intelligent and beautiful animals. One would think that a dolphin jumping out of the water would be an easy target to spot. Problem is, in the wild they don’t jump through rings or play with colorful balls or let people waterski after them. At least not today. And since they don’t, I’m not quite sure what to look for, and there is a lot of water to cover with only one pair of eyes. Probably something deviating from the ordinary, and on a few occasions I observe some irregularities on the surface. Could very well be sea creatures of some kind, but could just as well be wave breakers.

On a couple of occasions I proudly tell my travel companions that I spotted dolphins out there. Two of my friends are seasick - very much so - and do not share even a tiny bit of my enthusiasm. My third friend is a tough little creature, and resisting the curse of the rocking and the rolling she joins me with the hope to catch the whales in action. None to be seen. This day was apparently no good for whale watching. The question remains; did I really see any dolphins that day? Don’t know, and I never will. The search goes on.

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