Making up for it in Malapascua

We boarded an overnight bus in Banaue heading to Manila at the end of our journey through Luzon's northern cordillera. It was one of those things in which the planning seems to have no logic: the only bus available leaves at 7:00 p.m. and arrives around 3:00 a.m. in a city you would rather not be arriving at such a time. Tired after the commute, we wanted to get the envisioned island paradises of the Visayan islands as fast as possible, so we boarded a taxi for Manila's airport. We hadn't yet purchased a plane ticket to Cebu so we stopped at a ticket outlet to buy one on the way (big mistake). Booking online can save you some serious cash as the ticket outlet only had tickets available that were twice the price we saw online. Needless to say from now on we will stick to booking flights online, and I would recommend anyone do the same. Not only were our ticket prices inflated, but the taxi driver left his meter off so that he could charge us at least double for our taxi ride. You can never be too careful when it comes to this kind of stuff. So by the time we reached the airport it was about four in the morning, and we (but mostly Graham) were exhausted and frustrated by our circumstances. 

Somehow, though, right when you need it, a kind-hearted helping soul reaches out as if sent to you at your time of greatest need: a kind of messenger from God, if you will. An old man named Ben was that angel for us; he was from Vancouver and recognized the British Columbia flag patches sewn onto our bags, and struck up conversation with us in the airport while we waited for our flight. We shared with him our frustrations and he, having spent his summers in the Philippines since 1988, had some great advice for us. It set our minds at ease and kept us excited about what lay ahead on the road rather than in demise over what lay behind. 

Arriving in Mactan Airport in Cebu City (interestingly the exact location that the famous explorer Ferdinand Magellan met his demise at the hands of Chief Lapu-Lapu during the first circumnavigation of the globe) we hopped in a taxi with an Irish couple who we travelled with to Malapascua Island, an idyllic little island off the north coast of Cebu. Claire and I became fast friends with the couple, Dubliners named Eric and Sinead, and we spent our time on Malapascua together diving with thresher sharks, drinking with Scots, and getting sunburned on the beach.

After the relatively cold temperatures of northern Luzon, sunny Malapascua Island was a welcome change.

Until this happened...

These bangka boats are the islands transportation, serving as ferries and dive boats. Pretty fun in choppy waters.

These puppies became Claire's obsession. Here they are with mama pup, only one month old.

Claire named this one Mango.

A cute picture of the hotel's newborn puppies.

The sunset on our last night in Malapascua.

Feeling happy during happy hour on the beach with some margaritas.

Cute thresher shark we saw on our 5 a.m. dive. Later got a glimpse of a giant manta swimming past during our ascent.

Finally enjoying some tropical sun on the beach.

A cute squid Claire spotted during our ascent from our final dive in Malapascua.

Waiting for thresher sharks, time for an underwater selfie!

Luckily we had a spot of good weather between storms during our stay at Malapascua. The night before we arrived it had rained and was very windy, and as we were waiting to board the boat to leave the island the rain started again. Things ended up turning out pretty well on this little island, especially once we discovered the bar that charges you less for triple shot rum and cokes than it does for singles. Gonna miss this place.