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| These are the digs. We were in a duplex
house, hut looking on the outside (straw on the roof, etc) but hard
walls. Air conditioned, mini-fridge, the beds are small
doubles. Upstairs the same deal (2nd pic), less the fridge. Balcony
out back, with stairs leading right into the water, as the buffalo is
demonstrating in picture three. All manner of small and colorful
fish gathered at the base, especially when tossed bread crumbs, something
the kitchen staff were all too willing to provide. Pamela even saw a
small black tip shark cruise by. Bonus points for the huts on our side
facing the sunset! Lost bonus points because it was overcast and
socked in both days we were there, no sunsets. Opening and scrolling
the last picture will give a side to side view from our deck. The
little digital camera does alright, and I've since learned there's a
setting that makes linking together pictures into one long mural very
easy, and eliminates the jagged edge problem found on the right side of
the one here. I've got a picture of Subic Bay for Dad made with that
setting, should be much better. |
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| Here's Pamela, she's spotted a large water
gazelle just below our deck. They tend to be graceful and quite,
it's a real treat to see one this close. I've heard that sometimes
you can feed them an open cold beer, but only if you keep quiet, and hold
the beer on your palm with it outstretched, very flat and still.
Tracking it tired Pam out. It was VERY nice on the deck, as Pam is
demonstrating here. |
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| Out snorkeling. We picked up a couple of
kayaks and snorkeling gear, and took off around the island. There
was a nice rock out in the bay, with open roughish ocean on the far side.
"Just stay in the bay, and don't go around the back to the caves,
it's too rough right now" were our only instructions. There are
caves with bats on the backside, and they'll take you inside if the water
isn't too rough. But it faces open ocean and can get pretty
battered. They give you a life vest to make it easier to float, but
you can take it off if you want, for short distance dives. I can't
do that yet, I'd swallow water in the tube and choke. I did that
once trying to look underneath and behind me, forgetting that move placed
my tube end under water. Salt water doesn't taste very good,
especially when it bypasses the mouth and heads straight for the lungs!
They breed rabbits there, not sure what for. But we quickly
discovered the entire island was stocked with the critters. They
would hop all over the place, under the dinner tables during dinner,
across the paths, etc. And very tame, though this one was going to
take Liz's finger off if she got any closer. Grrrrr!
Oh, that last picture is of my split pants. Twenty minutes into a
new pair of board shorts, straddled the boat, and RRRIIIIIIIPPP!
But we were already out to sea. Liz kept telling me to try them on
before buying them, but I was too busy not asking for a map to
listen. Fortunately they came with internal steel reinforced mesh
kevlar netting, Huuhh!
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| At dinner, really nice spot. The staff
took a liking to us, they seated us at the edge of the small dining area,
closest to the pool and view of the bay. At least that's how I read
it. It was an open air room, just a roof. Nice room, the only
walls were around the kitchen area. Didn't need any walls since the
temperature means no heating required. One of them took the
picture, probably Randy. He was always around, at one point I asked
him when he slept. The card shot represents our view, we basically
got the same table for every meal. Except the last meal of the last
day, when they took the three of us over to the secluded beach for wine,
appetizers, and guitar serenades. I'm not sure what Liz is thinking
of, but I liked this shot, and in the large version you can see a line of
single room huts in the distance. This is the inner bay area, and
that earlier picture of Pam with her snorkel tube in the water was taken
over by the end of those huts.
The last couple were some nice folks on the same boat ride with
us. This was over to another island for excellent corals, but very
few small fish. Most of the fish here were killed by dynamite or
cyanide fishing. The dynamite outright kills, making it easier to
collect the fish for food. The cyanide is for collecting them
for sale to pet shops. Something like 70 percent of all tropical
fish in stores in America come from the Philippines. They become paralyzed,
and easy to collect. About half die, but the rest survive.
Unfortunately, the cyanide kills the coral too, and they don't grow back
so easily. The good news is that the Club Noah resort does a lot of
protection work, and has managed to help get big slices of the coast line
around there declared as safe zones. Don't know how well it's
respected by the local fishing folks, but it's a start.
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| A couple good shots of Pam, especially the
middle one after enjoying some 15 year old scotch we brought along. The
last is a shot from the hill side overlooking the main beach and bay. They
built a little bar exactly 109 crooked steps up into the
"jungle". But there was never a bar tender there.
The walk was nice! |
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| Some sun on the water sunsets, the only ones
happening during our stay. Those are for Martel, who likes the sun
reflecting off the water! |
