An INCREDIBLE day. While the group slept till about 8am, Sonia and Devon woke up quite early- around 6:30- to go to the local fish market with the boat crew to pick up fresh tuna as well as some chicken and pork, rice, and coke for a beach barbecue on Limisawa (a nearby island almost untouched by development) in the afternoon.
After the group had breakfast, we all headed out to the boat and started the day by traveling to a spot where whale sharks (the biggest non-whale fish in the world!) are sometimes seen by the lucky.
Amazingly, within 2 minutes of pulling up to the bay, we spotted not one, but three of these gigantic animals, and most of us were able to swim with them around the boat as they moved majestically through the sea at a pretty leisurely pace. These animals were awesome- massive- about 12 to 15 feet long, and very stalky- but don't worry- they only eat plankton :)
After we tired ourselves out trying to keep up with the whale sharks, swimming frantically to keep up with their lazy oscillatiory back fin, we got back in the boat and travelled to Limasawa for a beach BBQ lunch with an open fire on the beach and turtles and Nemo (clown fish) in the reefs just off the shore!
As if we hadn't had enough amazing experiences in one day, on the way back to Southern Leyte (where we are staying) a couple people (one of Eric the boat owner's friends and Andrew from our group) got to go out and try scuba diving for the first time ever- Andrew was very excited!
Finally, we headed back to the beach, ate dinner at the beach resort and were picked up by Jergen, a 70+ German man who has lived here for about 25 years and runs a shelter/ village for children from rough backgrounds. We went with Eric (Let's Share) to show the kids a movie on Eric's projector and also to make a donation to the children's village which appears to be run very effectively and transparently with little in the way of overhead costs or hidden agendas.
Naturally, everyone was exhausted by this point, so it was early to bed for everyone once we got back to the resort!
Sonia and Devon
DWC Student Team Leaders
Philippines 2010
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