One thing we take for granted is water. Clean, fresh, available, drinking water. Getting water on this island is a bit of a challenge. Thera are no plastic/disposable bottles allowed here. Instead, in the rooms they put two 24ish ounce carafes of water. I am so glad we read about this before we came because we brought our own bottles to fill and carry around with us. But having to ask to have our water ration refilled multiple times a day is getting old.
I’m not really sure what time zone my body has decided that I am on but I was naturally wide awake by 5am again this morning. I was excited to wake up to a picture of our lab, Ducky, from our pet sitter Amy, and couldn’t wait for Brandon to wake up so I could show him how good his old man was doing at home. It’s so important for us to know that our babies are well taken care of when we are away. I fell asleep before I could finish going thru my pictures again last night and Brandon woke up as I was finishing my review and weeding out of redundant shots. We laid in bed and reflected before I finished uploading the select few to my blog.
By 7am, we were already at breakfast. There was only one other couple in the restaurant; I wonder what time zone they are on. Breakfast was similar to yesterday’s though the omelet today wasn’t nearly as good. I’ve decided that I am all in on the savory breakfast spread though. Chicken, beef, and salad for breakfast. Yes, please! I think my love of the breakfast chicken is probably attributed to the mass amounts of sugar I’m sure they prepare it with that gives it such a dazzling sweet flavor.
Gloomy skies and a “cool” breeze met us this morning. Though it was still muggy enough that every time we stepped outside from our cottage our sunglasses would fog over! The movement in the air was welcome as we sat at breakfast and we were glad the weather had cooled slightly as we planned to finally do the island hike this morning that we had struggled so much to find information on. And let me be clear, by cool air I meant it was more like 80* with 85% humidity instead of 85* with 90% humidity.
We finished breakfast, returned to our cottage to take our vitamins and malaria-prevention prescriptions, put on tennis shoes, and headed back across the resort to the Grotto where we had been told the trailhead would await. Only there wasn’t any trailhead. Just as we had finally been convinced last night that someone actually told us where to find the trail, there was no fucking trail. The cooler morning air was being stifled by the return of the higher temperatures and more excessive humidity; Brandon was dying from the heat. Even I was starting to sweat through my shirt and that NEVER happens! But it didn’t matter since there was no hike to be found.
I bee-lined back to the activities coordinator in the lobby and reiterated my desire to hike and inability to find a map or trailhead. I got a flew blank stares at my request to know where the fuck the damn hike is hiding and was finally told that it was guided and available in the afternoon. The guys must have hated me as I explained that there was no hike on the schedule so that didn’t make sense. He got on the phone to the activities director, speaking in Tagalog so we couldn’t understand, and finally hung up and asked if we would be ready to hike at 9:30, that was 20 minutes away. Yes, we are ready now actually. He said a guide would meet us by the kayaks to take us out he hike. We had hoped to be alone but whatever. Would security join us too like they did everywhere else? We have finally realized that all the security guards are in fact armed, they just conceal. Why so much security???
We were both hot with our shirts sticking to us so we ran back to our cottage to change and then straight back to meet the guide. We were frustrated at how disorganized this place really does seem to be.
At 9:30 sharp we met the guide and the first words out of his mouth were to ask if we had put on enough insect repellant. Insect repellant? No, no we had not. If fact, we had been kicking ourselves in the ass since we arrived that we had forgot to pack some and they did not have it available for purchase. We explained that we didn’t even have any but hadn’t really seen many mosquitoes during our stay and he cautioned that the hike was through the jungle part of the island and would be full of them. After realizing that the hike doesn’t even go to the viewpoint at the top but only through the jungle we decided to scratch the whole idea. That’s right, we had spent about an hour at this time trying to find the damn hike and gave up on it. Our doctors had put us on malaria preventative meds due to the high risk in this area so hiking somewhere where we were warned was full of mosquitoes was just not worth it. We had probably spent as much time hiking back and forth form our cottage to the main lobby to the activities areas as we would have on the actual hike.
We had massages scheduled at 11am so we decided to go back to our cottage and snorkel off our deck. The winds were strong and the seas were rougher this morning though and we just kept getting tossed around. I couldn’t keep water out of my mask or snorkel. We spent about five minutes trying to make it happen, and did see some beautiful fish right off our stairs, but then easily mutually agreed the rough water was making it difficult. We opted to give up and go hang by the beach instead.
Our massages were fantastic. Awkward at first but fantastic. They stood in front of us as they asked Brandon to take off his shorts and me to take off my top. So he got to take his shorts off and I would be getting my massage in a wet bikini bottom? Whatever. As the masseuse started to stretch me she quietly leaned down and asked, “Can I stand on the table for your greatest pleasure?” Of course! The tiny Filipino lady straddled my back and gave a fantastic massage. They incorporated a lot of stretching into their massages and we both loved it. We need to stretch each other at home. At the end, she handed us a little handwritten check to sign. We had coordinated all our paid activities through a special package so I refused to sign as this check indicated an additional charge. We agreed with the masseuses that we would talk to the front desk.
Covered in oil, we walked back to our cottage to shower and change for lunch. But our room key wouldn’t work. We tried multiple times and the red light flashed, refusing to grant us entry. Right away Brandon theorized that they did that on purpose because we wouldn’t sign the massage check. We walked the five minutes back to the front desk and as we approached, before we could say anything, a woman I had not seen there before, said, “You are in 18 right, we have a concern about your massages.” I had to stop myself from raging at her. How dare they say they had a concern with us when they were the ones trying to double-charge us. The situation diffused fine but I was furious at their implication that we were somehow trying to screw them over. The disorganization around here is becoming more and more palpable by the hour. By the time we cleaned up and enjoyed another delicious meal my anger was diffused.
After lunch, we gathered up a few things, including half a bottle of wine, and trekked back down to the far North end of the island to the private beach we had found the day before. The reptile community of the island decided to challenge our walk. We stumbled upon a snake sunning himself across the path, he was probably three feet long and only about as big around as my pinky, and he was PISSED. Instead of scrambling away in fear, this little asshole raised his head up to us like he was ready to strike, I’m so glad Brandon saw him and we didn’t walk past! After research tonight, we discovered that this angry dude was a Palawan Pit Viper, a poisonous creature local to these islands! A brief stand-off ensued before he finally slithered away. This slithery dude definitely had an attitude problem! A little further up the path, a giant monitor lizard was sunning himself. Normally they move away as you approach but this guy, nope, he just stared at us. We kept getting closer and he kept holding his ground. Brandon got within about a foot of the beast before he finally, slowly, moved off the path to let us pass.
Despite our reptilian obstacle course, the walk was worth it; as once again, we had the entire beach to ourselves, not a soul to be seen. We laid in the warm sand, splashed around in the water, and snorkeled. And guess what? I snorkeled without any help or a life jacket! This was the first time I have ever swam in the sea like that! And I felt confident and secure under the water! I could hardly believe it as I realized I was suspended in the sea, with my snorkel gear on, swimming just fine! We realized we were actually on a reef and approached the edge. As I saw the reef drop into an abyss I held myself back from panic and maintained my composure as I continued to explore. It was hard not to wonder where the mom and dad black tip sharks were with so many babies swimming around. We’re both going to miss our private beach most of all when we leave here. And we really need to get a damn GoPro!
We hiked back to the main beach and grabbed a kayak to explore before it was time for our nightly happy hour. As we started to paddle out to sea, Brandon was frustrated with my navigational skills but we got our rhythm down and left the row of bungalows behind us. We made it to the tip of the island and we were in real seas now. The water was choppy and the kayak started to buck. White caps were crashing around us. We probably could have made it around the tip but it seemed like it could get sketchy so we turned back. Big waves picked us up and propelled the kayak, it felt like our own rollercoaster, pretty cool. We found another reef area and hope that the weather tomorrow morning cooperates for us to to snorkel it before it’s time to leave.
We enjoyed a cocktail from our nightly happy hour loungers and the sun finally broke through the clouds. As we sipped our cocktails we discussed our itinerary and the amazement that we still have more than ten days left on this trip! We finished up happy hour with a dip in the pool and realized we were running short of time for our 7pm private beach dinner.
Instead of eating at the buffet restaurant, we had arranged a private dinner on the beach for tonight. Upon booking, the description said we would get to work with the chef on our menu but upon inquiring when we arrived, we were told it was chef’s discretion. Whatever. The private table was set at the far end of the beach with a pathway of light leading to it and luminaries surrounding. The lapping water serenaded from ten feet away as we enjoyed a delicious meal of mango cheese lumpia, pumpkin garlic soup, salad, beef, shrimp, garlic butter scallops, cheesecake, and fruit. We spent close to two hours enjoying each other, good food, decent wine, and a magical atmosphere. Our server’s name was Den and he was attentive to any need. However, he only addressed Brandon. This has been a recurring theme here, it’s like I don’t exist half the time as everything is directed to the Sir. It’s their culture, I can’t be mad. We were amused when Den asked if we had rice in California and he was shocked when Brandon explained how much rice California actually exported! As we sipped on our wine and finished our deserts we heard a loud banging sound very close to us. It sounded like a bomb had gone off! Not knowing what it was we decided that we didn’t want to be there any longer to find out. Turns out, a coconut had just fallen from a tree beside us and hit a wooden bin on its way down. I would NOT want to be standing under one of those things when they fall!
On the dock there is a resort chalkboard where guests are encouraged to note the different creatures, land and sea, that they spot during their stay. After watching mini-Godzilla claw his way out of the shed yesterday we found it fitting to add “Godzilla” to the board. Let’s see if they leave it on there. As we neared our cottage in the dark we could see flashes of light in the water about 100 yards offshore. Was that a spotlight beaming down? No, we’d see more of a trail. We stood in the dark and watched the eerie beam of light moving along the water. Underwater aliens? Hmm. Finally it hit us, night snorkelers! Duh! Tonight is our last night on this beautiful island. It truly is a paradise in so many ways but I think three nights is just the right amount of time here. It’s crazy to think that this was just the first part of our trip and we still have so much more to see and do. 
Taking On the World 