DAVAO OR PALAWAN? These were the choices we had on our 2nd anniversary. Davao famous for Pearl Farm. Disadvantage, can't think of any. Palawan is known for its virgin beaches, world class dive sites, colorful corals, simple living...But its also known for abu sayaff (because of the kidnaping), malaria (the death of the son of a known broadcaster). We really wanted to experience diving despite fear from A sayaff and malaria but we still chose Palawan. Little by little through research from the net and interviews from friends A syaff and malaria were far from were we are going ( Coron Palawan ). Coron Palawan is on the upper most tip near Negros. I even consulted a doctor for a possible Anti malaria shot but friends of mine who went there did not take any, so did we. Next came what airline to chose..Asian Spirit (Fly as Asians and land as Spirits..hehehe) or Sea Air ( Leave on Land and land on Sea..;) )We decided to take Sea Air, it was more expensive means it is reliable and safe. The day before we leave, A teller from Sea Air moved our schedule from 7am to 11 am due to Preventive Maintenance on the plane, PM means it is planned and must not be a valid reason, so Valerie emailed the Manager of Sea Air to complain because of the sudden changes, imagine a day before !@#$@ grrr...there was no answer from them so my GF called the Manager to personally complain and something positive turned out..We were given a 50% discount on our next travel via sea air, yey!..It was my first time to take a 19 seater plane, its like a paper airplane inside a wind tunnel ...scary!!!.
On the day of our departure we were both excited and afraid, specially valerie, she almost back out after seeing the plane. The noise of the propeller scared her to death. She grabbed my arms like a little girl on her first day of school. Then in a couple of minutes we were off to the sky..the trip took 1 1/2 hour..Landing was as scary as take off because we thought that we would land on uncemented landing strip which my friend told me about. But i was wrong the Landing area was already cemented about 90% hehehe. We were the only local tourist on the plane, i think we were with Germans, we cant understand their language. We took a jeep which costs 150 php each for the ride to town, We arrived at Sea Dive just a few steps whre we were drop off. We stayed for one night and looked for another lodge because there was no television, Valerie was looking forward to watch Kakaksa ka ba sa grade five on Sat eveneing, we ended up on Village lodge, we loved the tinolang manok which costs 150 which was good for 3 to 4 persons, it was the best tinolang manok i've ever tasted yumyum :)..Since we had time in our hands we tried Maquinit hot springs, well the name for itself proved right hehehe, it was a bumbpy tricycle ride and the further you go you would notice the change from electric lights to just candles inside the household. I thought i could not dip in because it was so hot, Valerie took it with ease hehehe i recommend a slow decsend to keep youself from being burnt hehe..we had a great time and it gave us a rejuvination from the flight, we went back to our lodge to rest..Our island hoping was set, we contacted a local tourist guide, 1st day it costs us 1500 php, We were prepared, we even bought similar wet suits at Speedo for our plan to dive. 1st stop was Siete Pecados,i thought once you've seen school of fishes on the TV screen, movies it's just the same, but i was so wrong, my heart beat so fast after seeing school of fishes swimming in front of me and eventually all around me!!! it was like inside a huge aquarium. Second we went to Kayangan Lake, i thoughtlakes were just good to look at, i cant imagine it being clean, but Kayangan Lake was so clean, you could see the bottom!!! Third we went to Skeleton wreck snorkling, It rained and change the ambiance from paradise to an abandoned ship like we see on the movies hehehe, the hair of your skin will truly raise when you see the skeleton wreck, it was worth the trip. After the wreck we called it a day and headed back for shore, can't wait to eat dinner, and try another cuisine yumyum...we ate at a french restaurant, the owner ( French guy ) which already settled in palawan served us with mouth watering food, see pictures inside..after a wonderful dinner we walked the streets of coron, it was peaceful and calm. holding her hand and looking at her makes my day complete.
Our plan the next day was to go to banna island and Malcapuyao island, the trip would cost around P2500 for 2 persons, but we meet 2 filipino travelers like us who where looking to share a boat to save on the cost, the 4 of us costs 3000 php for the boat trip, the boatman added 500 pesos, we saved 1000 php and gained new friends, what more could you ask for..Banana island was more beautiful than what i have expected, and the best part of it we were the only visitors that day, the entire day!!! because it was a monday and most of the tourists went home on sunday. it was like a private island on palawan, everything so clean and untouched..i brought with me an underwater camera hoping to see fishes and corals, guess what??? we found NEMO!!! it was like a 3d animation infront of my face to see the full video open our video files. We even tried to treck the whole banana island, i never thought we would make it heheheh it took us quite a time and a ot of cuts and bruises but it was worth it, we can proudly say we've seen all the angles of banana island, Valerie was so strong and calm. We took our lunch and rested, went for some snorkling and went to Malcapuyao Island, it was equally beautiful as Banana island, it was in Malcapuyao that i saw my first sting ray yey!! Valerie wasnt able to see it because it was too fast :( We took some pictures together with our boatman and new friends, wrote on the sands of Malcapuyao Island that it was our 2nd Anniversary, i love you so much my baby valerie!!!! We went home before the sun sets because it would be dangerous to travel during night time because of the limited light available on the shoreline. We went home with a smile on our faces. Our last day we climb Mt Tapyas, we thought it would be a breeze, it was a hard climbed to the top, there were benches along the way, now i know why it is there hehehehe. i recommend that you climbed Mt Tapyas early because once you reach 9am it starts to get hot, if you didnt bring any water with you good luck of reaching the top, this was the second time we tried it because the first try was when we got here we tried and not even halfway we returned because we forgot to bring our water supply.
It was time to say Good bye, the experience and the sceneries that we saw will forever be in our hearts and mind, no picture can capture what the naked eye could see.
