We all do vacationing differently. Some of my clients want to just relax at the resort with no schedule for the entire week. Some of my clients want to adventure into the culture and experience it and some of my clients want to do both. No matter which is your idea of a vacation, all inclusive resorts have plenty of options. When I go to the Caribbean for conferences or vacation, I like to experience popular excursions so that I can help advise and set my clients up with the best excursions for them. Last week was no exception…
One of the most popular excursion options in Exuma is Swimming with the Pigs. I love animals and especially farm animals so I set up this excursion on a day when I had some free time. I was SO excited. I worked with a local tour company and they picked us up at our resort mid afternoon.
We boarded a large boat and put on our sunscreen and away we went on the most incredible blue water I have ever seen. Along the route to the pigs, the boat crew would stop and show up some really cool things. My favorite was the blue hole.
The first stop was Pig Island. As we pulled up the pigs started running towards the water. Once they got into the water and we anchored they were trying to get into the boat for their treats.
I was one of the first off the boat. (Mistake number 1)
We were given instructions to splash the pigs in the face if they were too pushy. The boat crew was in the water with us and they had buckets of carrots. They would pass out carrots for us to feed them. I was so overwhelmed at the amount of large pigs coming towards me and behind me and beside me wanting to get food. All I heard in the water from the rest of the guests were screams and laughter and that was exactly what you heard from me too.
Some of the pigs were extremely large and when swimming their hooves would bump into you which could potentially hurt. One of the medium size pigs did swim close enough to me that his hooves hit me. Not a good feeling. That was why the splashing them in the face instruction was the best. That kept them at a distance so they would not hit me with their hooves. Once I figured that out, I was better.
She was happy with her treat! She grabbed it and swam away.
There just happened to be some baby pigs at the time we went too. They were my favorite and I got to hold one. It fell asleep in my arms! So Sweet.
Once the food was depleated, the pigs calmed down and went back on shore. We loaded up because our excursion was a half day excursion and we were just getting started. We went to 2 incredible beaches, went to feed the Iguanas, hiked to the top of a cliff for stunning views and snorkled.
As far as swimming with the pigs…here are my thoughts.
As excited as I was, I was surprisingly overwhelmed and intimidated by the pigs. Not what I expected. However, I would do it again with some differences.
- I would not be first off the boat. I would stay on the boat and let everyone else feed them for about 5-10 minutes before I got in the water. By that time they calm down some.
- I would go in with better expectations and know how to handle them better. Plus, if they are overwhelming you, you can stand on the shore where they are not swimming.
Overall, this was one of the best excursions I have ever done. It was just a fantastic day of adventure, relaxation and experiencing the incredible beauty of Exuma.
