The Philippines: Southern Leyte, Masbate, Donsol, Legaspi
After a night of partying we headed off to our next destination, this time we were off to Southern Leyte, first by bus, then by ferry and later by car before we reached the resort around 11 in the evening. The next morning we were up and ready for diving and some more excitement and yes it was fun and we even saw some more new things. After the dive we heard that a typhoon was heading our way so the weather got very unstable but we still got some good diving in. Here we dived: Voltares, Max climax, Bunga bend, Bunga north, and 2 dives at Napantao. Not much to tell about what we saw as it was about the same as the other places we have been to. Napantao had some beautiful underwater walls with lot's of corals on them and an amazing amount of fish, and I think there is some really good diving here but the weather did not help and we were the only people at the resort most of the time.
Travelling in the Philippines can be tiring and time-consuming. There was first 2 different jeepneys to get to the ferry to Cebu City. We headed over to the mall to pick up tickets for the overnight ferry to Masbate. The ferry was very cool with the air conditioning and as we were in an open sleeping area it was pretty noisy with people watching DVDs, playing music and snoring loudly. From Masbate there was a ferry to Donsol, from there we travelled by tuk tuk taxi on a very bumpy road, paved for 20 meters, washed out mud road for 20 meter and so it went for 3 kilometers before we reached the starting point for whale shark watching.
The Donsol area is the feeding ground of whale sharks, and they gather in large numbers every year between November and June. A group of 5 of us rented a boat (there are limits to how many boats that can go out at one time and there is only one place you are alowed to rent boats) early in the morning to look for this beautiful fish (Whale sharks are the worlds largest fish and mainly eat plankton). The boat crew would spot one for us then we would jump in and watch them as much as possible before they swam away. Then it was back in the boat to search for more. With all the plankton in the water, the visibility was not very good, and sometimes we wouldn't see the whaleshark properly until it was just a few meters away. Taking pictures was also difficult, but we had to try ! So by the end of three hours we had seen a total of about 20 whale sharks, all between 6 to 11 meters long, what an andrenaline rush! This was really an experience of a lifetime, and we were very lucky to be able to come to this place. We can recommend this to all !!!
The next day we were off to Legazpi, where we spent the night before we headed off to Manila, flying this time. Legazpi is a pretty city next to the ocean but what really makes it interesting is a large volcano, Mayon Volcano, close to the city. It has a tendency to erupt every once in a while, but it's beautiful, stretching hundreds of meter to the sky and with green and brown slopes.
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