holy molly!

FROM DOWN NORTH, TO UP SOUTH

i never actually thought that i could go to donsol on holy week... for so long i have always wanted to go there and experience swimming with the whale sharks... but a week previous to the planned trip, i had to go home to dipolog to attend my elementary friend's wedding -- in which i had the honor of becoming one of the bridesmaid's. It was kind of sweet actually, my friend was the groom and not the bride..yet he called me up last january to tell me that i have a part on his special day! 24 years of friendship -- a promise made in college... and there we were, him married, and me, his bride's maid.. hahaha he wants to be part of my wedding too.. told him to give me ten more years..

when i got back, i immediately confirmed with niel if i can still go... and he said yes, so long as i can ride topload if the jeep will be full.. without any hesitation i said GO!!! (of course, being poor in geography and never been able to go that far south, i didn't know what i let my self in for!) Fortunately for me.. some people backed out of the trip... even if i was the last person who confirmed, i got a seat on the bus, as oppossed to some who paid a month before, who had to seat on a monobloc chair that neil brought.. i felt a little guilty.. but the bus ride was looongg...

ARE WE THERE YET????

i slept, i woke up, i slept, i woke up... i ate, i went to the bathroom... asked where we were...asked once more how long... and i felt like getting up on the bus and wail.."are we there yet???!!!" from 6pm unitl 10am the following day we rode on one bus.. and to date that has been my longest bus ride ever!good thing i was able to borrow a friend's mp3 player at the last minute...so i fell asleep to ACDC and Black Sabbath music.. which amazed neil, my seatmate..apparently he could hear my music and wondered how i can doze off with those guitars and drums and wailings of "highway to hell!!"

finally in the morning, i looked out the window and looked at the scenery..i was quite excited to see a glimpse of Mt. Mayon.. the postcard picture perfect cone that i so often see in books during my elementary years.. and then i saw it.. i knew it was mayon, though i didn't know exactly where we were on the map at the moment. the cone was covered with clouds, just the same, i saw its magnificence.. i saw how it looked against the backdrop of green, blue and white..

finally, we reached daraga.. the bus driver dropped at the junction of daraga going to donsol since the bus we rode on was bound for sorsogon.. i kept looking at road signs and names of the places that we passed but some of the names just won't stick to my brain.. only iriga and daraga.. the driver told us that there would be plenty of jeepneys in the area.. true enough, when we got down, there was one willing to take us all to donsol.

neil made me ATL by default, which meant i had to do collections..and i negotiated with the driver for the lowest rate possible.. everyone loaded their bags on the jeep and off we went to donsol!

when we got there it was already past 11am.. the locals there told us that there were less butandings around that time we should wait for the morning when most are in the surface.. all 23 of us agreed that yes we will wait rather than have a dismal number of butandings..

after lunch, i dozed off by the beach...wanting to get a tan.. soon nette and her gusts followed with jay and maida.. we went for a swim but to our dismay, we found the sand icky.. it felt like mud underneath our feet.. these were i think algaes or planktons which made the experience gross..

later in the afternoon, we went for a boat ride to see the fireflies..we seemed to sail towards the sunset and it was beautiful..dusk is always the best time of the day for me..the setting sun sets my mood right..

the trip was well worth it.. i cannot remember the last time i saw fireflies that many..in fact, i don't think i ever have. i used to catch them another lifetime ago and put them in a jar.. and thought how pretty they looked.. seeing trees well lit by thousands of fireflies made me smile and made me remember part of my childhood in ozamis city.

as night fell deeper, the fireflies seemed to glow more and more.. we caught some just to see them up close but then we let them go again.. to join thousands more in this beautiful mating ritual.

HAMMOCK IT IS

the cottage we stayed in was owned by a certain "jack" it was nothing grand but it was a place to stay free of charge.. everyone marked their sleeping territory, some pitched tents others opted for the "cabana".. i saw alman's hammock and immediately asked him if i could sleep there.. so then it was settled, once again, i get to sleep on the beach in a hammock...

that night we had some drinks.. genie did the honors of doing the tagay.. but after three-fourths of the bottle she started climbing those coconut trees and meowling..some of the guests were alarmed with her antics..but us of course were used to it.. leo just said to let her be.. she'll settle when she pukes.. some of them looked doubtful but then after a short while everyone settled.

by 12mn i was pooped and so i settled in my hammock, from time to time awakened by alman's and rhayn's guffaws.. 5:30am i was awakened by dogs barking.. i couldn't sleep again so i started waking everyone up so we could have a headstart with the reservations.

IN SEARCH OF WHITE SPOTS!

by 7:30am we were all ready to go and interact with the whalesharks... although excited, i was also a bit fearful.. i am confident enough with snorkeling without the use of vest..but this will be a first for me in seeing something this huge in the water.. not even during scuba diving was i able to see anything even half its size.

as the boatman oriented us on the boat, the spotter already saw the dorsal fin of one whale shark.. so our boatman cut short his orientation and hurried us to put on our fins.. i did and i did it fast.. jumped in without even mentally preparing myself.. and then i saw it... i saw the side of its body while it passed in front of me.. my goodness, i thought.. this gentle giant is magnificent!! i quickly swam in front of it, and i saw its eyes.. in my mind, i think its eye rolled and looked at me directly.. though awed, i was also a bit overwhelmed by its sheer size.. i cannot help but curl my toes in my booties.. the water was murky and deep... and when i looked down after the whale disappeared, i couldn't see anything... my imagination kept running and i had to suppress it before it got the better of me..at the back of my mind, i can hear the theme song of jaws!!!

for three hours we circled around the water and saw a number of butandings.. neil's text before the trip proved to be true! forecast for butanding sightings was plentiful... all of us went in and out of the water.. in the hopes of interacting with the butandings much longer.. by my fourth butanding, i was already very much overwhelmed.. they were a sight to see.. although close enough to touch.. i never dared.. it felt far too intrusive with the gentle way that the butandings go about their daily feeding..

by twelve noon.. their number dwindled and we decided to head back to the beach... when we regrouped, we all had beatific smiles on our faces... we shared our encounters and that in itself made all those travel hours well worth it!