Fungie the dolphin - Dingle (part 1)

The reason why I have decided to go to Dingle, to wake up one day at 6:00 am to be at the harbour at 7:15 am, to wear there - in a desert and still sleeping village - a 7 cm thick swimming DRY-suit (included its shoes), and at certain point between 8 am to 10 am to jump in an almost zero degree water....is a DOLPHIN...

More exactly, a well-know dolphin, FUNGIE....and from what I had read and been told...a very friendly dolphin with a preference for women ( ;)) ..I thought that could have been the occasion for realising my dream of swimming with dolphins..

Well, after some come-and-go, Jimmy told me to jump into the water..Jimmy is the nice and well-prepared man from the Dingle Dolphin Boat Tours who brought us around within the two hours Early Morning Trip (well, the name says already a lot! :)) to try to get close to Fungie as much as possible.

So I did..I jumped...

I am a good swimmer...really...but when I entered in the water I was shocked...

It was my first time I was wearing a swimming suit, and the sensation of being immobilised was quite scaring...together with the cold in my face and in the hands (then I put the gloves on)..

The dark sky and the dark water were not helping much.

I really thank Jimmy for his ability to read my face....he told me to go close to the boat and he reassured me...he gave me then the life belt...and after that, everything was easy and nice...(but please, do not say this around..it would be a shame for my swimming trainer ;))

A part that, Fungie seemed not to like me too much..as he was neither interested to see who else was in the water...;(

Well, ...maybe next time a swim in Australia or New Zealand will be easier...;)

Here some photos of the morning trip, also with me...I do not like to put photos of myself in this blog..but well, this has to be remembered as one of the (several) "crazy" things I did in Ireland (ha, yes, as a parenthesis...I was the only one of the boat to swim that morning....;)..and yes, I think I had temperature!)

Me alone at the Dingle harbour at 7:15 am....with my fantastic swimming dry suit!!



 



Some visits  around the Dingle Peninsula...

 

 

 

 

And finally Fungie! :)

 

 

 

 Au revoir Fungie!!!!



 

*** All photos of this post have been taken with a compact camera



Inis Oìrr: its dolphin and its beach

Inis Oírr is one of the Aran Islands.

If you want to escape from civilization and get lost amongst green fields, ancient ruins, animals, clear beaches, etc...so go to the Aran Islands.

They are three: the Inishmór (the biggest), the Inishmaan (the middle one) and Inis Oírr (the smallest).

I have been cycling ;)  Inishmór and Inis Oírr (cycling is the best way to visit the islands, and you can rent the bike for 12-15 euros directly when you arrive on the Islands).

I will come back to these two islands with other posts...

Here I want to tell you about its dolphin...

Several beaches in Ireland have their own dolphin who became a kind of mascot..the most famous is for sure Fungie in Dingle (well, I will also tell you soon or later how I woke up at 6 am to try to swim with him in an almost zero degree water)...

And Inis Oírr has Dusty, Sandy, Clet..well I did not know this otherwise I would have been gone prepared instead of taking out running shoes and rolling up the jeans for quickly enter in the water and taking the pictures...

Now probably you are also thinking the same of what I thought when I saw the girls swimming without the swimming suit...Irish mysteries...and Irish strength! ;)..or just being young! :)

This father was fantastic...he chased the dolphin for 15 minutes for bringing the daughter as close as possible...

And this is the amazing multicolour beach of Inis Oírr... 

 

and the small island seen from the boat... 

More info on Inis Oírr
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inisheer
http://discoverinisoirr.com/

And on the dolphin :) http://www.dustythedolphin.com/

PS: nice photos (;))..nice to see children with dolphins, swimming with a dolphin is my dream..BUT NOTE that dolphins in the sea are wild dolphins, and attention should always be placed for our and their safety!