Philippines, Part 3
Day 17, January 14
I slept a little better last night but woke up cold and had to use my towel to cover up (thank you ZRP for the awesome towels!). We went to the courtyard area to get our breakfast and then went to Starbucks after since we were still hungry.
The minute we walked in, the girl from yesterday that helped me yelled out “hi Jillian, hi Bethany!”. I can’t believe she remembered our names.
They got a little closer with the spelling of my name today. They told me the Filipino Gellian was working tomorrow morning so hopefully I’ll see her.
They’re getting closer with my name
After coffee we laid out on the beach for a little and then started to negotiate prices for some of the activities we wanted to do.
We decided on the helmet walking activity and got a good deal from one of the beach guys. We then decided to head back to our hostel to see if they’d go any lower than the deal we just made. The activity guy, Walter, at the hostel said he could do 100 pesos less than the beach guy so we agreed to go with him. We get all ready and head over with Walter to the boat area only to find out that the helmet walking is only a package with paragliding. None of us wanted to do that so we said no and instead found the original guy on the beach to take him up on his offer.
So we head back over to the boat area, pay our money and then load up on the small boat.
The speedboat then takes us to a large boat that is docked further out from land. We carefully climb onto that boat and wait for our turn.
I go down first and am kind of nervous because I have never done this and don’t know what to expect. I get down there and the instructor checks that I am ok before going back up to get Taryn and my sister.
We’re finally all 3 down there and are all so happy! It was so pretty down there with all the fish and was really calm too.
Aquanauts
I filmed a lot of stuff on my GoPro while we were walking around at the bottom. We were only about 15 feet underwater so it was still really clear. Then our instructor gave us some bread so we could feed the fish. That was such a cool experience. You could see there little mouths open up and even feel it on your fingers. So get ready for a lot of fish pictures.
I couldn’t get enough of their little mouths
After about 20 minutes it was time to head up. He had to escort us up one by one just like when we came down.
BNPayne headed up
Shortly after we loaded up on the speedboat to take us back to land. The boat ride back was crazy. We sat at the front of the speedboat so we felt every wave. It became like a ride itself. I filmed that too but it was mainly us screaming and laughing.
The speedboat ride back was crazy in case you can’t tell by our faces
When we got to land we went back to our room to grab our money so we could go get some lunch. We went to this Italian place and got the food to go so we could sit on the beach and eat.
Squash soup and spaghetti and meatballs on the beach
Lunchtime view
After lunch we hung out there for about another 30 minutes and saw a starfish. I’ve never seen one in real life so I wasn’t sure if it was real or not but one of the local workers said it was. It just looked and felt like rubber to me.
The plastic looking starfish
It looked like it was about to rain so we headed back to the room to shower off. We sat in our cabana like last night and watched the videos from today.
When it was time for dinner we decided to try a new spot. The place we found was known for their crepes but none of us got them. I wasn’t all that hungry so I just got some veggies in coconut milk and a mango juice.
While we were eating we had a little visitor come up to us. It was a skinny little cat. There are a ton of stray cats and dogs on the island. It’s really sad to see them all wondering around hungry and most with fleas and stuff.
My sister got a salad with tuna on it and she didn’t want it so I fed it to the cat. She ate is up real quick. I then tried to give her some water but she just stood next to me before moving under our table and taking a little nap. We stayed at the restaurant until she got up to move to another table. We just wanted to make sure she’d be ok when we left.
So sleepy
After dinner we headed back to the room to get ready for our island hopping activity tomorrow.
Day 18, January 15
We woke up pretty early so we could get ready and eat breakfast before meeting up with the group at 9am. Once we were all accounted for, we took a tricycle cab ride to a few stations down so we could board the boat.
The docking area was a logistical nightmare. Way too many boats crammed into such a small spot
We’re just enjoying the boat ride
Our first stop was Crystal Cove or Magic Island. We chose to do Magic Island because there was cliff jumping there. We each jumped from the highest spot, 10 meters (32.8 feet) Even though we were all in major pain, I’m glad we did it.
Magic Island
The 10 meter jumping point is to the right
I really felt like my legs were straight
After Magic Island they took us to another island to eat lunch. We weren’t there that long, just long enough to eat lunch.
Our beautiful spread of food
Our nice island lunch
I did some picture taking after lunch
After that we all boarded the boat again to another location. We stopped in the middle of the seas to do some snorkeling. I really don’t like snorkeling but I did it anyway.
I’m struggling in the background
The Payne sisters snorkel
I decided to forget out the snorkel part and just hold my breath so I could swim
We spent about 30 minutes snorkeling and then were in route to go over to Puka Beach but then we had to turn around because the coast guard said that the weather was not good. So we didn’t get Puka Beach in today but we are going to try to do it tomorrow.
Once we were back to our area, we went in to shower and wash all the salt water off of us. I had the biggest knot in my hair from the goggles so it took a while to pull myself back together.
Taryn laid on the beach while my sister and relaxed in our room. I had to go out to buy some flip-flops because mine broke this morning right before we were heading out for the boat. After I successfully found and pair and negotiated a good price, we headed out for dinner.
We went back to the place we ate at last night because we really wanted to try the crepes this time and to see if our little cat was there. I had bought a can of tuna fish that I wanted to feed her. When we got to the restaurant she was underneath the very first table we came to. So I set her food up there. She was eating so fast we thought she might get sick.
Then another little cat came over to try and get some food. There was a stare off for a minute and then our original cat decided she was full and then the other one got in on the food.
I ordered the salad my sister got last night and had them put the tuna on the side so I could give it to the our new little cat.
We were laughing because all the other tables around us were taking shots and drinking beer and we were consumed with feeding the cats. But the two little cats walked away full that night so that’s all that mattered.
Anyway, I got the salad like I mentioned and then the apple cinnamon crepe for dessert.
It looks like a quesadilla with sour cream but it’s really a crepe with cream
That was it for the day. We headed back to the room because we are planning on getting up early (5:30am) to see if we can find the Cowboys game on the tv out in the courtyard area. Wish us luck!
Momma Payne
January 16, 2017
You girls sure are staying busy. Gellian, you are taking some beautiful pictures. That little cat looks like Huck, bless his little heart. Cowboys, so sad. 🙁
Jillian
January 16, 2017
All the stray cats roaming around break my heart. I bought more tuna to feed to them today.
Holly
January 17, 2017
I LOVE that you took care of the cats! I also love that even though the spelling isn’t correct,there IS a hat on your “J”. Small things.
Jillian
January 17, 2017
They really knew me well!
Sarah Brockway (Johnson)
January 29, 2017
I would have done the same thing for the cats!!! How do those helmets stay on your head????
Jillian
January 30, 2017
Every place I go now I buy some tuna cans to set them out for the strays. And the helmets are hooked to a rope like thing and then it just sits on your shoulders. I think the water helps it float a little so it’s not so heavy. I honestly have no idea but it was really cool!