Another early morning check-out and some confusion over both the timing of the ferry and the location of the ticketing office made this morning less than ideal, but all worked out well. While on the three hour ferry to Argao, I visited with some of the only other foreign travelers aboard. We ended up being able to reduce our transport cost slightly by sharing a ride on bench seats in the back of a truck for the hour long drive to Panagsama Beach in Moalboal. (We would continue to run into these two couples throughout our holiday.) We wandered around the area a little finding our way and sampling some local snacks (fried veggie rolls, a cinnamon roll, and mango "ice candy"). Once checked in, we rested briefly before heading to the beach. I really enjoyed snorkeling just off the coast and seeing MILLIONS of sardines. The photo below is intended to show how close to shore the sardine run is. One can even walk half the distance before even needing to swim. While I was in the water, Lisa did a little more exploring on land and found wandering local vendors selling home-made "Revels", fried bananas, and lumpia with potato. We walked along the coast together. While wandering, we stumbled across a sign promoting a "Grand Opening". We returned in the evening to meet the owner and attend the free event at Daily Sweet Snow Ice Shop, featuring live music, pizza, booze, appies, and of course - ice cream! The following morning was a relaxed one, as we had breakfast and then I streamed the Super Bowl (while Lisa put in another hour of work). By the time the Chiefs had secured the victory, we were already set for a lunch of fried rice and noodles! After lunch, we negotiated to have one trike driver take us to both locations we wanted to visit. We started the afternoon by heading south to Kawasan Falls. Next, we drove just north of Moalboal to walk along White Beach. I decided to go snorkeling again, but this time my focus was not on the sardine run, but on finding a sea turtle. I swam out to the drop and began taking photos of the various fish along the reef. I decided to cruise along the shallower waters closer to shore hoping to find a turtle grazing... and it worked! I ended up spending quite some time with my new friend. A couple of times he swam so close to me that we made contact. He seemed oblivious to me and was quite content. I was delighted and happily snapped about 100 photos. I watched the sunset from in the ocean and then finally said, "Goodbye" to my sea buddy. Lisa and I rushed to find dinner before it became too dark. I found a cold beer and ordered some grilled chicken and rice - it looked good, but turned out to be almost all bone. We bought a loaf of banana bread to take back to our room. This mural was created while we were there to depict the neighbourhood dogs; each of which we met.
2 Comments
Michael
2/21/2020 07:35:30 am
Thanks again, Susan! The waters of Philippines are quite clear. I just use a waterproof Olympus Tough that I bought for under $150 Cdn. The difficulty is trying not to have water droplets on the lens once resurfacing to take shots out of the water.
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