Road to Whale Sharks

Wednesday 23rd February

We left Borocay and headed for a place called Sugar beach via ferry from Iloilo to Bacolod and bus to Sipilay city. We arrived in Sipilay after 11pm at night and had planned to go to Sugar Beach straightaway which we thought was nearby. It turned out, after a local man informed us, that we had to take a further pump boat to get there in the morning as all trips had stopped by then. He showed us the way to a guesthouse (during this time we thought he was just another local who was eager to get our business) but they were full. The next thing a squad car arrived and he told us he was a police officer and that we could get a lift to another guesthouse with them! He said that Sipilay would be a bit dangerous at night to be walking around so I was glad to get their help and it saved on taxi fares too!

Thursday 24th february

Got a pump boat out to Sugar Beach. We booked in to a place called Sulu Sunset, a really relaxed set up with individual outdoor huts and lofts and a large bar/restaurant beach hut. The place was so secluded there was hardly a soul on the beach. We headed off in the afternoon to walk to another beach on the island and from there would snorkel back to where Sulu Sunset was.We walked on a path through plenty of jungle area where potential critters of creepy varieties lay above and below the growth and past many of the local's houses which are like thatched huts built on stilts (which I presume keeps out the flood waters in rainy season). Once we got to that beach we entered the water to snorkel back. When we turned a corner at one of the shoreline cliffs we saw that it wasn't our beach but just more cliffs. AT this point we were in really deep water (about 10 metres) and too far away from Sulu Sunset beach to swim (we would have made it but couldn't take the chance) so decided to turn back. If we had kept going or gotten into any difficulty there were no lifeguards to help out and besides the water was exactly the right level of murkiness where one would expect a shark to emerge! We made the right decision.

Friday 25th February

We set off on the road again to Dumaguete where we planned to catch a ferry from there to Apo island, a natural reservation full of interesting wildlife. One we got there however there were no ferries leaving until the next evening. Due to a lack of time (we had to be in Donsal by Sunday or Monday to go swimming with whale sharks! See below) we just ended up staying in Dumaguete in a hostel called Harold's Mansion. It was a bit stressful after the relaxed vibe of Sugar Beach but I think that was due to the anti-malaria tablets i've to take every Friday. I was feeling dizzy and irritable after them and the girls who shared our dorm with us did not help that in the slightest..I won't even bother writing what happened as I won't waste your time or mine on the wallies. You can ask me in person if you're that interested!

Saturday and Sunday 26th and 27th February

These two days are a haze of travelling by bus, plane and mini-van in order to get to Donsol. We had 0-little hours of sleep and were delirious and cranky by the time we got to our hostel called the Shoreline. I conked out around 8pm and woke up at 10am the next day!

Monday 28th February

Checked out the town of Donsal. Each and every one of the locals said hello to us so it felt like we were saying hello for a few hours. We went to a local eatery in the evening where we sat outside in a small separate roofed area until a giant beetle flew around our heads, flew into my hair and then onto my dinner plate. After some girlie screams the waiter came to our rescue and pushed him off it. We regained our composure before the cretaure decided to do a few more rotations around our heads and succeeded in freaking us out totally. We ran inside to the more sheltered tables. Two of the girls ordered a dessert then called a 'Hohla Hohla special'. It arrived out consisting of flavoured ice, fruit, gello pieces, red beans and grated cheese on top. Uuugh! I don't think the Filippinos are famed for their desserts for some reason.

Tuesday Ist March

Today was the highlight of my travels so far. We went swimming with whale sharks!!! We registered at 7 30 in the morning with the local tourist centre where they send out many boats of 6 people along with a crew and guide so we could swim with these beautiful creatures. We set out and after arund 20 minutes or so in the sea a shark was spotted and our guide gave us the signal to jump into the water. He pointed down in the direction the whale shark was coming. With my snorkel mask and flippers on I looked down into the ocean and low and behold there was a whale shark swimming about 2 metres below me and I was one metre in front of it. I let out a bit of an underwater scream and started swimming along with it. My god it was incredible. It was so scary even though these rare creatures are harmless. It was huge and the water we were in was so deep. It was so thrilling......to be continued