Yesterday, we went to Marine World. On the way out, we stopped at Starbucks to get coffee. Robert had been watching Pulguito all morning, so I assumed he had fed him, but he hadn’t. I bought Pulguito a crossont at Starbucks; Pulguito really liked it. I offered Chunguita half, but she said she didn’t like it. For the rest of the trip to MarineWorld, Chunguita complained, whined, and cried that she was hungry.
This was Pulguito’s first visit and Chunguita’s second. It was so hot, like 100F. School had started earlier this week, so the park wasn’t very crowded. We had forgot to bring caps for the kids, so we had to buy them some. Chunguita picked out a pink on (of course) with sparkles, and Pulguito got one in red and blue with Baby Tasmanian Devil on it.
For lunch, the kids had hotdogs and french fries. Pulguito didn’t know what to do with his hotdog in the bun, so I took it out and bit it into bitsized pieces for him. Chunguita ate very well.
We saw the killer whale show. I had forgotten how much smaller Marine World is compared to Sea World. The shows don’t compare at all. They only have one orca at Marine World, Shouka. She’s been there for 5 months, and she’s 11 years old, pretty young. She’s not really into performing, and she’s insecure about everything. So the show was not very good, but it was interesting to see that not all orcas are into performance. It was kinda funny when they sent her out to splash the audience. Instead of turning upside down and splashing with her tail, she spyhopped the audience. The trainer had to go over to the spot and tell he what to do.
The best part of the orca experience was the preview area before the show. Shouka likes to come to the window and see the people looking at her. So it feels like you are really close to her. Pulguito loved it, and Chunguita was a little scared.
After the killer whale show, we headed out to the waterski show. There was no shade, but both kids liked this show the best. (sigh) Pulguito liked it so much that we had to move up to the front row in the center. After the boats went by, he’s baby-sign and verbally ask for more.
We visited the walruses. There are 4, 3 females and one male. This is the first time I’ve ever seen a walrus moving. In all the other exhibits, they just sit there. The docent thought it might be because they were hot. So this was another really cool exhibit. They would come swimming right up to the window and flip. Sometimes they would hang out and watch us. The male spyhopped and stopped fully extended vertically, and we were able to appreciate how long he was. Pulguito loved it. He was right up against the glass. Chunguita was a little afraid at first, but after she saw Pulguito, she went up to the glass.
Next to the walruses, they have a ride area for little kids. The water ride is 2 towers with water spilling over them. Chunguita wouldn’t go on, so Robert and I took turns taking Pulguito on. It was so cooling. We went on a submarine ride that went around a vertical circle, so you “lose you stomach”. Pulguito clutched at me the entire time, but as soon as the ride stopped, he was saying more, more, more! We spent over an hour in this area. The kids really liked it.
After that we headed over to the animal nursery because someone had told us that they had the tiger cubs on display for the first time since they’d been born. On the way there, we stopped at the butterfly exhibit. It wasn’t as good at the one in Canada at Nigara Falls, except that they had a really great koi pond with fish that looked to be 75-100 years old. Pulguito loved it and spent most of his time watching the fish. It was too hot and humid in there for me, so I had to leave early.
Then we stopped at the aviary and bought some necter for the birds. I had Robert give the birds all the necter so that I could take pictures. Besides, I’m afraid of the birds, and I really don’t want them landing on me.
We finally got to the tiger cubs, after a stop to see the giraffes, lions, and bengal tigers. The tiger cubs were only 20 days old and very, very cute. They had a cheetah, there, too, but she wasn’t cooperating and had her back to us the entire time.
After a stop at the prairie dog exhibit, we had Subway sandwiches for dinner then raced to see the dolphin show. Again, it wasn’t much of a show. But there was a marked difference in the bottlenose dolphins’ desire to perform and the orca’s. The dolphins were having fun. Pulguito was so tired that he couldn’t sit still. I know that sounds like a contradiction, but his attention just couldn’t be focussed on anything, so he was constantly moving. We had to move up to the back of the show, to a spot where it was safe for him to climb and move around.
When we got back to the car, Pulguito was asleep instantly. Chunguita fell asleep about 15 minutes later. The drive home only took 45 minutes, no traffic.
