Mom and dad have finally followed in the footsteps of Petra and Grandma

This weekend, Pining and I were home alone. Mom and dad were off to Donsol to swim with the whalesharks. I did what I usually do - you know, go to the park, the playground, the potty. We've been over it before. Thus, I will lend some space for mom and dad to report from their trip.

But first, a photo of dad, at the beach in Donsol. I've never seen a less attractive looking beach in my whole life! Good thing I stayed at home!

"Finally! We managed to find a vacant hotel room in Donsol AND available seats on a Saturday flight to Legaspi AND available seats for a Sunday return flight. Lord knows we've tried before! But whaleshark season is whaleshark season and we're obviously not the only ones who want to experience swimming with those gigantic creatures. Thus, on Saturday morning we got up at 3 am to catch the 5 am flight (which left more or less on schedule - very appreciated at that time of the day!).

After a smooth registration process at Donsol Office of Tourism (as close to functioning eco tourism as you get here in the Philippines), we were ready to face the world's biggest shark. Now with big, I mean big. It can grow up to 17-18 meters. The weather was not optimal for whaleshark spotting (it was a day of heavy skies = less contrasts in the water and no shadow of the sharks showing), but we got extremely lucky. Our crew spotted a big shark that was feeding close to the surface and we swam with it for some 20 minutes. Being pregnant and all, I got to swim with the guide. Thus, I ended up spending most of the time more or less in the mouth of the whaleshark. There would have been a substantial risk for a Jonah in the whale situation, had I been just a tiny bit smaller. Yes, that is me on top of the shark. Trying to lie perfectly still in the water, as we were not allowed to touch the animal. But also wishing to move to the side, not to get struck by the shark's fin. Pretty scary. And pretty darn cool!

I estimated the shark to be some 14 meters long, but our guide just laughed. Just less than 10 was his verdict. Since the whalesharks transformed from annoying creatures that ruined the local fishermen's nets some ten years ago to a major tourist attraction and source of income, he had never spotted a shark longer than 12 meters. Whatever, 10 or 14, that one swim definitely made our entire trip worth-while. And I think that is a feeling we shared with quite a few others. The rule - one boat (=up to 10 people) per shark - is not really adhered to on a bad spotting day like Saturday. We spotted and swam with another five or six sharks as well, but they all decided to go down to deeper waters after just a short while. By the way, how burnt do you think that little bit of exposed skin on my back is, the part between the pants and the swim shirt? I am in pain!

Back ashore, we headed for lunch and subsequently dinner at Baracuda, where Petra and Gavin ate a year ago. Of course we took advantage of it being prawn season. Later on, during our fire-fly watching tour, we also learned that the prawns are caught by hand, by wading fishermen, who work with a candle on their head (to see something and also not to get hit by passing boats) when it's low tide. Veeeery exotic. (Although I guess it would be pretty much the same working method as the one used by Swedish eel fishers back in the days when eel was still allowed. If I had a choice, I would definitely prefer to be a walking fisherman in waters of the Philippine temperature, rather than that of the Baltic Sea!)

Here I'm waiting for our fire-fly watching boat ride, enjoying the sunset, but also feeling extremely heavy and pregnant (like I have more or less constantly over the last week).

Afraid of mosquitos? Wouldn't think so! Not with half a gallon of citronella/virgin coconut oil smeared all over the body. The mosquitos would drown before they found any skin.

We shared the whaleshark boat as well as the fire-fly dito with two Kiwis, Gary and Jim. Now, one could say that it was a bit unfair that they had to squeeze together in the rear of the boat. But they offered, and I'm much too heavy right now not to jump at the opportunity for some extra space.

And Fred also didn't mind, as he got the front of the boat all to himself. Yes, this may have been the smallest boat in Donsol. And yes, the reason may have been a misunderstanding regarding how many people were going to watch. One? Or four? One, decidedly. Even if this trip was great, and we're so happy we got to do it before leaving the country, we both longed to get back to Adam on Sunday morning. Fortunately no delays and on top of that we managed to hitch a ride back home with a person from the village (as in Dasma). We gotta stick up for each other, us privileged Makati people.

Interestingly, the Bicol area around Legaspi seems pretty affluent. Ok, that is a super-relative (and of course inappropriate) term here. But at least it didn't look as destitute as most other provinces that we've visited before. I would have guessed that it'd be the other way around, considering that typhoons and landslides keep tearing the place apart. But no. Fred has the theory that the unaccomodating weather conditions may have saved the area from getting claimed by the giant landowners of the country. That way, people there experience a greater degree of freedom and their incentives for buildning nice houses etc. increase. Looking at how this country works, that is probably not a far-fetched theory."

Ok, enough giving space to mom and dad. This is my blog, and so it shall remain! /babyboyaulin