The Legend of the Pink Dolphins
The next day, Finn hired an English-speaking, Indian guide and a motorised canoe to take him on a half-day tour of the area. Setting off at midday, they cruised up through the Lagoa and drifted into a spectacular section of flooded rainforest full of nesting birds. This was followed by a short trek up into the rainforest where they saw numerous bright-blue and yellow lizards and even a couple of monkeys hiding in the trees.
After a late lunch of pineapple, goiaba juice and coffee, the guide took him round the headland to a visit a deserted river beach and a dark, eerie lagoon hidden amongst the trees.
Finally, as the sun began to set, they headed further out onto the river near Ponte Verde where the guide informed Finn that several schools of pink dolphins lived. Almost as soon as they had turned the engine off, one jumped out of the water right next to them and Finn almost fell out of the boat. Within five minutes they seemed to be everywhere, leaping and playing with each other in the evening air. In shape, they were almost the same as regular ocean dolphins except for a less obvious dorsal fin. Indeed, the only real difference Finn could see was their striking colour: a bright, fleshy pink.
"Why do you have pink dolphins in the Amazon?" Finn asked the guide.
The guide thought for a moment, then replied, "The Indians believe that the God of the Ocean travelled up the Amazon river one day on a chariot led by dolphins. He saw a beautiful Indian girl bathing in the river and fell in love with her. To show his love, he turned two of his dolphins pink and gave them to her as a gift. She agreed to be his wife and became pregnant. Sadly, she died in child-birth, but their son survived. The God was upset and decided to return to the ocean, but left his son with the girl´s tribe instead. He left the two pink dolphins in the river so that when his son grew up, he could go to his father and take his place by his side."
"Wow," replied Finn. "So did the son grow up and go to the ocean?"
"I don´t know about that," said the guide. "But the pink dolphins are still here."
After a late lunch of pineapple, goiaba juice and coffee, the guide took him round the headland to a visit a deserted river beach and a dark, eerie lagoon hidden amongst the trees.
Finally, as the sun began to set, they headed further out onto the river near Ponte Verde where the guide informed Finn that several schools of pink dolphins lived. Almost as soon as they had turned the engine off, one jumped out of the water right next to them and Finn almost fell out of the boat. Within five minutes they seemed to be everywhere, leaping and playing with each other in the evening air. In shape, they were almost the same as regular ocean dolphins except for a less obvious dorsal fin. Indeed, the only real difference Finn could see was their striking colour: a bright, fleshy pink.
"Why do you have pink dolphins in the Amazon?" Finn asked the guide.
The guide thought for a moment, then replied, "The Indians believe that the God of the Ocean travelled up the Amazon river one day on a chariot led by dolphins. He saw a beautiful Indian girl bathing in the river and fell in love with her. To show his love, he turned two of his dolphins pink and gave them to her as a gift. She agreed to be his wife and became pregnant. Sadly, she died in child-birth, but their son survived. The God was upset and decided to return to the ocean, but left his son with the girl´s tribe instead. He left the two pink dolphins in the river so that when his son grew up, he could go to his father and take his place by his side."
"Wow," replied Finn. "So did the son grow up and go to the ocean?"
"I don´t know about that," said the guide. "But the pink dolphins are still here."
posted by Dan Osborne | 17.1.06
3 Comments:
Are pink dolphins a gay metaphor? Only kidding numbnuts, enjoying the story and thought you deserved a few more posts on here. Have you lost any weight yet?
Juan Spilman xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I loved the legend of the pink dolphins. I hope that on some level its true. It would be a lovely one to expand. keep going x
Are there any pink canoes in the Amazon?
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