Started off today wih a 10min walk along the deserted beach in front of Acqua Dive to the Malapatay Wednesday market. All the locals and a handful of tourists go there to eat (of course, it's the Philippines!), shop groceries, second hand clothes (rather fifth hand) and livestock. 7 people on one tricycle are nothing compared to the 3 bulls, 7-8 goats, 10 piglets and ca. 25 chickens you can squeeze on it it, all of them alive and kicking. The piglets I felt most sorry for, lots of squealing and sqeaking all over where those poor things were being traded, carried, dragged, thrown around or even wrapped in sacks or blankets and tied to motorbikes. And some of them were already roasting as "lechon" (Spanferkel) only a few meters away. Quite a mess. You constantly had to watch out not to get run over by an ox or a motorbike carrying a bull or sheep. People wih pigs and goats on leashes, dried fish, seaweed salads, fighting roosters, fake DVDs, veggies, different types of rice and pan de sal (= the local bread - this is what I got, and a piglet leash to tie up our fake GoPro camera). An all amidst the most beautiful scenery right with palm trees and the ocean right next to it.
Upon my return, we got into our diving gear and walked into the sea to go diving at the house reef. We had two divemasters with us, KF and Troy, an Australian ex-GI, ex-peacekeeper in Timor, children book author (Sorry Wally, with a Napoleon and 2 turtles, all live pics, no Photoshop), photographer, ... with more than 150 dives at that reef. He knows all the frogfish here by name. And that's what we saw: a Moray eel, banner fish, mantis shrimp, frog fish, ghost pipefish, razor fish,...little stuff, so-called critter, some not more than 1 cm. Wading back out d the sting current wih our gear on I took the BCD/tank from my back and carried it along to make walking on the rocky surface easier, thereby losing the fake GopPro camera that I had fastened with the new piglet leash onto my hand. Only noticed 20 min later. We all walked along the beach to see if the current had spilled it onto the shore but no luck. Troy even jumped into the water and snorkeled around in case the leash had got trapped to a rock or old tyre. No luck either. But then, suddenly, one of the small local boys showed up: he and his friends/brothers had found it and brought it along. So cool, we invited him over for a Sprite and ca. 6€ award. He looked so happy, and so were we.
The best thing: the camera was on the whole time! Got a great video of 3 boys saving it out of the water, dancing around their find, inspecting it, and trying to open it with their teeth and by hammering it on a coconut. Priceless!
Sorry again about the bad picture quality - most have been taken with the big camera and I just photographed them off the laptop screen in order to use the snip stich program and upload them with my iPhone (so much easier)...
Upon my return, we got into our diving gear and walked into the sea to go diving at the house reef. We had two divemasters with us, KF and Troy, an Australian ex-GI, ex-peacekeeper in Timor, children book author (Sorry Wally, with a Napoleon and 2 turtles, all live pics, no Photoshop), photographer, ... with more than 150 dives at that reef. He knows all the frogfish here by name. And that's what we saw: a Moray eel, banner fish, mantis shrimp, frog fish, ghost pipefish, razor fish,...little stuff, so-called critter, some not more than 1 cm. Wading back out d the sting current wih our gear on I took the BCD/tank from my back and carried it along to make walking on the rocky surface easier, thereby losing the fake GopPro camera that I had fastened with the new piglet leash onto my hand. Only noticed 20 min later. We all walked along the beach to see if the current had spilled it onto the shore but no luck. Troy even jumped into the water and snorkeled around in case the leash had got trapped to a rock or old tyre. No luck either. But then, suddenly, one of the small local boys showed up: he and his friends/brothers had found it and brought it along. So cool, we invited him over for a Sprite and ca. 6€ award. He looked so happy, and so were we.
The best thing: the camera was on the whole time! Got a great video of 3 boys saving it out of the water, dancing around their find, inspecting it, and trying to open it with their teeth and by hammering it on a coconut. Priceless!
Sorry again about the bad picture quality - most have been taken with the big camera and I just photographed them off the laptop screen in order to use the snip stich program and upload them with my iPhone (so much easier)...