And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupery.

Kate first visited us in 2008 and now returns every year to be in the ocean with the dolphins where she feels most happy.

My dream was always to swim with wild dolphins. Back in 2006 I spent so much time researching where I could do this in a respectful way and couldn’t find anywhere. Finally I found WildQuest online and my partner booked us the trip for my birthday in 2008.

My first experience of diving was with Jwala and I felt so happy and comfortable in the water. Feeling the energy of the dolphins was everything to me. After experiencing them for the first time I cried because I felt so lucky.

I was in my 20s when I lost my sight, due to an eye condition called retinitis pigmontona. I can see some light, and if the light is good I can see shadows. But when I dive I’m in another world, I feel like I’m not on this Earth. It’s so peaceful.

Being with the dolphins is like nothing else. I can clearly hear them under the water, the whistles and clicks. When I’m in the water with them, I can actually feel when they’re connecting with me and looking at me. I feel it in my whole body when they’re around me. It’s like I can feel the energy waves from them, it’s so powerful.

I communicate with them when I’m in the water and I can hear them communicate back to me. And after they’re gone I can still hear them for so long under the water, even when they’re far away. This experience is very deep in my heart.

I feel so at home in the water, it’s where I want to be. I like to dive down and touch the soft sand, and I can feel the fish swimming around my hands, small fish between my fingers. I can even hear the fish eating from the coral reef. There’s so much to experience in the ocean.

To dive down and touch the bottom is so exciting. People always ask me, ‘how do you know which way is up?’, and it’s funny as I don’t even know what they mean, as my body just relaxes and goes up to the surface naturally.

What I love at WildQuest is that the crew are always close by, keeping an eye on all of us and offering support when needed, without holding onto me. I feel so free and not disabled at all. When I’m here I’m a person that is not just a ‘blind woman’. I’m a woman. Nobody here says to me, ‘you can’t do this or that’. I’m the one who knows my own ability, no one else knows that and when I’m here I can experience everything. It’s a dream come true.

In 2018 I planned my honeymoon to be at WildQuest, but then my partner got sick. We hoped that we could make the trip but he died in my arms before we could make it. I told him I’d bring him here with me and that’s what I did in August 2018. I came with my sister Christina and my son Niclas, to share with them this paradise that’s home in my heart.

WildQuest will always be home for me, being free in the ocean with the dolphins.