Roadschool Trip to Cabo San Lucas

We had the chance to visit beautiful Cabo San Lucas with the whole family.  It was a holiday delight!  There was sand, surf, culture, and one kid even took the opportunity to take a full-day Dolphin Training course at the local marine center...  

While one of the kids spent the day in the (very cold!) water learning how to train dolphins, the others went exploring in caves and out for a day of sea fishing.  Then, we parents wrapped up the evening with a sunset cruise...   

Our hotel was amazing!  The architecture and natural elements brought into the design were beautiful and peaceful.  Being way high up with an oceanfront view didn't hurt either!

Some fun activities we got to experience were a pirate ship ride, snorkeling, and taking a family boat ride!  A long, sunset dinner on the beach was a delightful treat.  We spent a lot of time enjoying the beach, too, from hiking over the rocks to watching the gulls.  We found this one rock that looks like a plesiosaurus...

 

Dolphin training was admittedly pricey, but one of those once-in-a-lifetime opportunities that we felt would be worth the expense.  (It turned out to be...while he enjoyed it, he decided that this was not the career path for him after all.  I call that money well spent!)

Facts About Dolphins:

• Dolphins are mammals, they breath air, feed their young milk, are warm blooded, and have hair on their bodies.
• Dolphins make clicking and squealing noises to communicate.  You can approximate a dolphin’s whistles with a balloon by letting the air out slowly with the neck stretched.
• Dolphins like humans and can be trained to do everything from tricks in an aquarium to carrying the mail for underwater research labs.  Some dolphins have been trained to swim with handicapped children.
• Dolphins can stay under water for fifteen minutes at a time.
• If a dolphin gets sick or injured, other members of its family help it swim and get breaths of air until it can swim on its own.
• Dolphins work together to protect the group from predators like sharks.
• Dolphins use echolocation to find food.
• Dolphins eat fish and squid.
• Dolphins are really interesting mammals, especially when it comes to their interactions with humans.  They are incredibly friendly and trainable, so we can observe them and their behaviors.  They are used by the military to find mines, by many resorts that allow you to go swim and interact with them, and by Sea World and other similar attractions for shows.  They do amazing tricks.

Resources:

• Free Dolphin Lapbook
• Dolphins
• Step into Reading : Dolphins
• Dolphins at Daybreak (Magic Treehouse)
• Dolphins & Sharks
• Dolphin Fact Sheet
• Coloring pages
• Winter's Tail & Lesson Plans
• Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
• Dolphin Tale / Dolphin Tale 2