Summary: It was awesome, Palawan is beautiful, Filipinos are a cool and superfriendly people, Freya loved it and I am reborn! That’s it, bye bye…
Got time? Read on, but not to worry, it’ll be mostly pictures, with some text on reflection at the end. After the last blog post we moved to Palawan, and there we spend time catching up with some old friends that live there, did some days of Island Hopping (spending the day moving from the one island/coral reef to the next to relax and snorkel, whilst drinking from coconuts and basking in the sun in between), and having honeymoon time at Secret Paradise Retreat and Flower Island. On the latter we had the whole island to ourselves, as we were the only guests… A photographic impression (click on the pictures for an enlargement):
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| In a tricycle to Honda Bay for some Island Hopping |
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| Pandan Island |
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| No Fam, it is not what you think it looks like! |
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| Feeding fish my own burnt skin that is now peeling |
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| Nemo's brother in law |
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| Sea cucumber amongst sponge |
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| Pufferfish |
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| Our Honeymoon suite at Secret Paradise Retreat |
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| Aahhhh... |
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| Long-tailed Macaque |
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| Enjoying some waterfall in some rain forest |
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| Hermit Crab |
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| More Island Hopping: Nudibranch |
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| Giant Clam |
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| Freya with her new friend that followed her for an hour |
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| The whole island for ourselves |
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| Our suite |
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| The view from our suite |
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| Snorkelling at Flower Island, Cowrie |
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| Giant Clam again, different colour |
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| Mangrove Excursion: 300 year old mangroves |
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| Python in mangroves |
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| Mangrove Snake |
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| Excursion into the Underground River |
But then again, my name wouldn’t be Nick if it would all go normal (I know my name isn’t Nick, so shut up, it just by figure of speech). For example, after 1 day in Palawan, while still in its capital Puerto Princessa, I got bed-ridden for a few days by high fever. Haven’t been so ill in years. Freya took wonderful loving honeymoon care for me only to get ill just once I was getting better. Just as she was getting better and we were finally ready to move on with our journey I got a Fukoshima like nuclear meltdown in my tummy, which luckily only lasted for a day. Over the next few days at Secret Paradise Retreat we both got time to enjoy and to recover fully.
And then lovely Paradise Retreat was indeed lovely, but not only for us… Also for some mutant flesh-eating fruit fly like horrible little things that devoured Freya alive… Never seen anyone going so crazy with itchiness…
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| Her legs and arms looked the same |
And we learned a lot too: For example: Filipinos have a life-jacket fetish… You are required to wear it everywhere, not only in boats on complete calm water, but even whilst you are snorkelling!
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| Typical Filipinos |
We also learned that T.I.A. doesn’t only stand for This Is Africa, but can equally mean This Is Asia, and we learned it the hard way… Despite being used to a fair amount of stupidity and non-logical things in Africa, here in the Philippines they can be quite a match for Africa at times. Why did the amazing honeymoon suite at Secret Paradise Retreat have everything right except its mosquito net? That was a square net, wee-coloured, with a too big mesh size and its ‘ceiling’ hanging only 50 cm above the bed. Only if we would lie flat on our back we would not touch it. Some duct-tape, fishing line and some Dutch practical thinking solved it quickly though. Diving was advertised as an activity at Flower Island. Upon arrival: No there is no diving here, but we take you on an excursion to a nearby pearl farm instead. Our dolphin excursion from Casa Rosa in TayTay also went a little strange: We were picked up late, by a drunk tricycle driver, were brought to the ‘tour operator’ who wasn’t informed he had to do a tour, who then found a boat somewhere, had some boys take all the leaves out of it and off we went. Oh no, we didn’t, the engine wouldn’t start. Paddle back to the shore, new spark plugs and here we go again. One and a half hour later, without the tour operator having said a single word to us, he says: ‘There are no dolphins, we go back now, hope you liked it…’ And so there were a hundred other small things that we thought would only happen/be found in Africa.
And we learned that the Mayor of Puerto Princesa is really pro-tourism…To the point that his marketing is a little exaggerated… Everywhere (Lonely Planet, brochures and folders) Puerto Princesa is advertised as ‘the city in a forest’ and that it is the cleanest and most orderly city in the whole of the Philippines. Well, to us it looked like a Mtubatuba, but then squared. Okay, there was little litter, me must give her that, but the amount of smog that those hundreds of tricycles produce is unbearable, and the way they drive is everything but orderly. It makes a zulu taxi driver a neat, considerate and safe chauffeur… The forest? Not to be seen, it is indeed surrounding the city on its outskirts, but isn’t that the case with almost any city in the world? And to conclude, Puerto Princesa’s major attraction, the subterranean river with which it draws hundreds of tourists is actually not in Puerto Princesa, but in Sabang some 70 km away. It’s like Amsterdam claiming that you must come and visit it for its Amsterdam Forest National Park and then sending arriving tourists to the Veluwe… Ach well, T.I.A. (Asian version), we had a good time anyway.
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| Puerto Princesa |
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| 70 km away from Puerto Princesa ;-) |
One thing we must say though: The Filipino version of the Toyota Quantum Taxi is just awesome! Can you believe they have thousands of these everywhere in the Philippines?
Self-reflection: As mentioned in the previous post, I have had lots of time to think, and on Palawan I have had even more time. I even managed to find time to read two novels this honeymoon/holiday! Amazing! Another book I read had a more serious side to it, and the information/wisdom in that book made me ponder my life even more, which was good. Coupled with lots of time to think things over and reflect on my life in South Africa I almost feel like being reborn here. And on our last day in the Philippines, Kung Fu Panda summarized all my thoughts into one line: “We must search for, and find, inner peace.” Yep, blablabla but for me it makes sense…
We’re back now in St. Lucia, life is good here too. Lets see how long my inner peace lasts in Zululand…
Bye Bye,
Geert-Nick and Freya
