Alpaca is Cruisin' to a Merry Christmas!

And who wouldn't be merry aboard a cruiseship?

Alpaca Learns He Can't Hide Behind a Palm Tree

Traveling Alpaca took a trip to Curacao to visit some dolphin friends in the Seaquarium (http://www.curacao-sea-aquarium.com/). We walked to a really scary-looking bus depot (really, just a few minivans taking locals around) and managed to figure out which "bus" we needed to take to get to the Seaquarium. We were the only tourists (and the only white people) in the area. Admission to the Seaquarium was a ripoff at $16 per person. A museum area housed some elementary school-level shells and fish bones, and a series of tanks contained a variety of fish, crab and lobsters. The open-air exhibits of flamingoes and birds were empty.

Two large sections of the ocean were cordoned off by the Seaquarium. One section housed large sea turtles, and the other housed beautiful dolphins, which the Seaquarium put to work by offering "Swim with Dolphins" programs for tourists (http://www.curacao-sea-aquarium.com/main.php?id=105&parid=1&headid=0).

After a while, Traveling Alpaca had enough of watching others frolic with dolphins and paid to use a private beach adjoining the Seaquarium. The water there was warm, calm and relaxing, and the beach chairs provided Alpaca ample opportunity to soak in the rays. He was feeling a little shy, however, when we turned the camera to take a picture of him. He even tried to hide behind a tree. But alas, the Alpaca couldn't hide for long, and he couldn't hide at all behind the palm tree.