1st February - Donsol
We woke up early and went round to the Tourist Centre and signed our names up for the whale shark trip. The boat was cheaper if there were 6 people on it so we had to wait a bit for them to fill the boat. Luckily there was a couple and a solo man from Denmark who joined us. The weather started off gorgeous so we were really hoping we'd get to see them...until I got talking to the couple from Denmark...it was their THIRD attempt with no luck on the previous two, and the solo guy had only seen one for a minute on his second attempt - it was his third go too...ohhhhhhh poo!
So we started out optimistic as always, our entire trip since India had basically been...it's ok everything will be fine, nothing will go wrong; until there's no accommodation, or no flights/transport, or no banks/ATM's, or no nightlife etc. So we need to start thinking negatively now and perhaps our luck will get better (or maybe just my luck needs to get better!) Pah, yeah right!
We set out around 8am, with a guide, a spotter and the boat crew, and the boat ride was great...for the first hour. Then once two hours had gone by, we started to lose hope a little, and then...the rain came! Excuse the pun, but it REALLY dampened our moods, because without the sun, it was practically impossible for the whale shark spotters to see their shadows in the ocean. Plus, it was really cold! Made use of my underwater camera for a bit though, taking a few snaps in the rain, so guess we got something right? (Me in snorkels...ooooo) After 3 hours on the boat and rain on-and-off (oh, guess what? We'd also decided to go to the part of the Philippines where the rainy season had just started!!), our guide asked if it was ok to head back to shore. So our day of spotting was over.
Due to the temperamental weather we couldn't really do much for the rest of the day - couldn't even sit on the beach. So we went into town to check out the ATM (there was only one, and it was only open at certain times - of course!), went to an internet cafe to book flights and online banking (which only had two computers working - of course!), went to get a sim card for Laura (sorry no Iphone sim cards - of course!), I went to get credit whilst eating my icecream, I'd only just opened it when...oh yes, the whole lot of cornetto icecream went literally, in the gutter - of course!! Just don't even get me started on how this is light in comparison to THAILAND - you'll see when I get around to writing it all up.
So, generally annoyed and hot and sweaty and wet, we went back to the hotel and sat under the little huts, ordered food and watched sunset. The main thing was the food was good, otherwise I'd not be a happy bunny. I ordered shrimp curry and meat lumpia (spring rolls) it was amazing. We then just sat all afternoon, which lead into evening, drinking, chatting, trying to find accommodation in Legazpi for tomorrow, yep, same old story, everything was fully booked. We had lovely staff at the hotel, so friendly and chatty! Another woman came from the dive company to chat with us and I struck up a conversation as she had an identical ring to me (my nan's white gold ring), except it had a tiny pattern in the middle that was slightly different. In turn she told me it was her wedding ring, which then turned into a conversation about her engagement ring, which she wore on her pinky finger as, I quote, "I'm much too fat now. My husband gets angry sometimes - why you no wear on your wedding finger? So I answer 'don't complain, YOU made me this way, it's your fault. You're responsible for your sperm getting me pregnant'. When we women have children we lose our shape and get fat, but I have a beautiful son so it's ok I forgive him." She was hilarious! And then she looked at Paul and Laura and said "Now she worried you get her pregnant and leave her fat!" HAHAHAHA Laura and Paul looked horrified!
So day turned to night and we ordered MORE food, the woman taking our ordered looked at us like we were pigs - but she did laugh so it was ok, we weren't really pigs. Then we just went to bed. We were going to try again the next morning to see if we could spot some Whale Sharks...sigh...
We woke up early and went round to the Tourist Centre and signed our names up for the whale shark trip. The boat was cheaper if there were 6 people on it so we had to wait a bit for them to fill the boat. Luckily there was a couple and a solo man from Denmark who joined us. The weather started off gorgeous so we were really hoping we'd get to see them...until I got talking to the couple from Denmark...it was their THIRD attempt with no luck on the previous two, and the solo guy had only seen one for a minute on his second attempt - it was his third go too...ohhhhhhh poo!
So we started out optimistic as always, our entire trip since India had basically been...it's ok everything will be fine, nothing will go wrong; until there's no accommodation, or no flights/transport, or no banks/ATM's, or no nightlife etc. So we need to start thinking negatively now and perhaps our luck will get better (or maybe just my luck needs to get better!) Pah, yeah right!
We set out around 8am, with a guide, a spotter and the boat crew, and the boat ride was great...for the first hour. Then once two hours had gone by, we started to lose hope a little, and then...the rain came! Excuse the pun, but it REALLY dampened our moods, because without the sun, it was practically impossible for the whale shark spotters to see their shadows in the ocean. Plus, it was really cold! Made use of my underwater camera for a bit though, taking a few snaps in the rain, so guess we got something right? (Me in snorkels...ooooo) After 3 hours on the boat and rain on-and-off (oh, guess what? We'd also decided to go to the part of the Philippines where the rainy season had just started!!), our guide asked if it was ok to head back to shore. So our day of spotting was over.
Due to the temperamental weather we couldn't really do much for the rest of the day - couldn't even sit on the beach. So we went into town to check out the ATM (there was only one, and it was only open at certain times - of course!), went to an internet cafe to book flights and online banking (which only had two computers working - of course!), went to get a sim card for Laura (sorry no Iphone sim cards - of course!), I went to get credit whilst eating my icecream, I'd only just opened it when...oh yes, the whole lot of cornetto icecream went literally, in the gutter - of course!! Just don't even get me started on how this is light in comparison to THAILAND - you'll see when I get around to writing it all up.
So, generally annoyed and hot and sweaty and wet, we went back to the hotel and sat under the little huts, ordered food and watched sunset. The main thing was the food was good, otherwise I'd not be a happy bunny. I ordered shrimp curry and meat lumpia (spring rolls) it was amazing. We then just sat all afternoon, which lead into evening, drinking, chatting, trying to find accommodation in Legazpi for tomorrow, yep, same old story, everything was fully booked. We had lovely staff at the hotel, so friendly and chatty! Another woman came from the dive company to chat with us and I struck up a conversation as she had an identical ring to me (my nan's white gold ring), except it had a tiny pattern in the middle that was slightly different. In turn she told me it was her wedding ring, which then turned into a conversation about her engagement ring, which she wore on her pinky finger as, I quote, "I'm much too fat now. My husband gets angry sometimes - why you no wear on your wedding finger? So I answer 'don't complain, YOU made me this way, it's your fault. You're responsible for your sperm getting me pregnant'. When we women have children we lose our shape and get fat, but I have a beautiful son so it's ok I forgive him." She was hilarious! And then she looked at Paul and Laura and said "Now she worried you get her pregnant and leave her fat!" HAHAHAHA Laura and Paul looked horrified!
So day turned to night and we ordered MORE food, the woman taking our ordered looked at us like we were pigs - but she did laugh so it was ok, we weren't really pigs. Then we just went to bed. We were going to try again the next morning to see if we could spot some Whale Sharks...sigh...
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