Today i leave my wonderful hosts, Kevin, Nadia, and Viana ... and my 'safety net'. They have been instrumental in my getting here and enjoying my stay. Now off to new territory on my 'own' :)
Kim and i got a taxi at 7:30am to the Ferry and it was boarding as we arrived; perfect timing !
In Cebu we shared a taxi with a couple from Germany from the Ferry to the airport. This was a small compact car… 5 adults and LOTS of luggage… we were like sardines. They all got out and i continued to Lapu-Lapu Port and another Ferry that would take me to Olango Island.
Olango Island isn’t shown on the map, but it is under the words “Lapu-Lapu". It has a population of 50,000. We got on the Ferry at Tagbilaran City.
i know that all sounds very simple and fluid; but it is truly cumbersome and it is now noon. From the second Ferry, a tricycle took me to Talima Beach Resort, they knew where it was. I had my doubts for awhile, especially when we turned down this elevated 'PATH' that had been constructed over a low area by piling up old pieces of coral. it was rutted with large pointy pieces, it was really a rough ride. i wasn’t sure that little motorcycle with me and all my luggage was going to make it. At one point, he asked me to reposition myself a little bit so we could get up the last hill :) i would have taken photos, but i was busy holding on to make sure i didn’t fall out !
i was greeted by Neil and Nadine and welcomed enthusiastically. MaryJane showed me to my room … nice
It was a pretty 'resort', the nicest place i've stayed yet. It even had a swimming pool, but there were no fishes in it, so i never used it ;0
It was now after 2pm. The seas out front looked calm … i’ve learned my lesson: 'make hay while the sun shines’, it could be stormy tomorrow ! i got ready and got into the water.
There were several boats out front by the buoys so i headed that way. It was ok. Coral was not in great condition; but i met a new fish … this is a Pacific Sail Fin Tang. Nice blue spot at the base of it's tail. And that is a Mimic SurgeonFish on the right, that he's keeping company with
Named i think, because of the way his fins billow out and look like a 'sai'l
These are 2 Surgeon Fishes ... i don't have THE identification book, so i have to go by what i can find on line. And there are usually disagreements, or sometimes they are called by different names. So until further notice, this is just a Surgeon Fish, maybe an Elongated, Black, White Bar ??? ...your choice
Also a Black Streaked SurgeonFish. Amazing how different their coloring can be: maybe the lighting, maybe their sex, maybe their age :)
And another Parrot Fish i can identify .... a Yellow Bar ParrotFish. I am sure i've seen this one around before, but have never been able to get a photo clear enough to ID
i’ve seen glimpses of this fish before, but never could get close enough. i think this fish had a crush on me … he would not leave me alone. Usually i chase them, but he was pursuing me. i have no idea why.
Sometimes, there are things that i photograph that i never notice until i see the photo. Such is the case with this guys TEETH … what a mouthful !
This is a group of Scribbled RabbitFish. Don't you love some of these names? I first chased ONE of these at Balicasag, but could never get close enough.
I had a rum and coke and watched the sunset on our deck
and i wasn't sure if this was a fish or a dog in the clouds :)
I have heard so much about this area and how wonderful the snorkeling was. I chose not to stay at the really expensive resort, but was told i could take a 3 Island Snorkel Tour. When i asked Nadine about it, she said it was 80USD but maybe there was another couple i could share the cost with. Yes, at dinner they agreed they would go the next day. YIPEE ... it would have been tragic to come all the way out here and not be able to go.
Neil's dinner was the best i’ve had since i’ve been here. A perfectly sautéed fish filet with lemon, butter, herb. Lots of green beans, carrots, squash, and of course rice. Surprisingly, there have not bee lot of vegetables on the menus here
So, ... i heard it raining during the night, and the morning wasn't any better, or worse! No photos, but trust me, it was raining, windy, and i could barely see the sea :( ...grrrr . Nadine told me that the Captain said we should be ok to go 'later'.
Later came and it did clear up a bit and the Capt said ok. But where was the other couple? Nadine and Neil tried to wake them but they said they wouldn't answer the door. They were so quietly 'tapping' on the door ... i went over and POUNDED on the door, they answered, they wanted to cancel. We told them they had committed, the boat was here and they had to come. And they did :)
We stopped at our first snorkel stop. It was great, visibility was pretty good and the sun was in and out :)
I've seen this Trumpet Fish previously, but today i got some photos.
i love his tail with white spots, then yellow, and a dot at the end !
I saw the Pacific SailFin Tang again. In this photo you can see the tiny spots on it's face.
I noticed the couple was in the boat, and i told the Capt that would ‘stay in here all day’ if he didn’t tell me to get out. He said we would go to another snorkel spot. So i got out, reluctantly.
We saw this great rock formation and i was excited.
Unfortunatly on the other side was a BEACH ! There is no snorkeling at a BEACH. It took us a long time to get to shore because the boatman was basically pulling us through the water, it was too shallow to motor. I asked where do i snorkel … he pointed … So i took off in water that was barely deep enough that my belly wasn’t touching bottom. I snorkeled and snorkeled, and kept looking up, …still further to go. Finally i stood up in knee-deep water and realized there was no reef there, … no fish.
I made the best of it and found these 2 crabs fighting, or mating. You can see the blue eyes of one on the left and the claws of the one on the right.
There were many many Sea Stars of varying colors, quite fascinating actually. i’ll bore you with some here
WoW, what a variety ....
And also this one, which i’ve not see before … it is an Indian Cushion Star.
It has a a very different shape to the more typical five-armed examples of the starfish family but if you look closely you can still see the pentagonal shape of the animal. Juveniles look like typical sea stars, but as the Cushion Star grows, it becomes more inflated and the arms grow together, eventually reaching a point where they are almost no longer discernible. On the underside, however, the Cushion Star clearly shows its five-part symmetry, particularly near the mouth.
I was done … although our alotted time was not up, they were all back in the boat. Had i known i would have quit sooner. i asked Capt, ‘why did you bring us here? …there is no snorkeling’. He looked rather apologetic and said something like, ‘i had to bring you to 3 islands…’ He asked me to go up to the beach and pay my ‘Entry Fee’ … i told him i wasn’t going to pay. We left.
Back out ‘at sea’ the waves had picked up a lot. We went in the opposite direction of the resort i thought we were going to. The sun was gone, we were all cold. i WAS wrapped in a DRY towel. He was crashing through the waves, splashing us all ….. and laughing. He could have avoided this. i gave him ‘the look’ and tried to find cover from the spray and wind on the floor behind the seat. This went on for 20min and the waves just kept getting bigger and bigger.
He put his ‘boatman’ out there on the riggers to try to balance us … and by this time, he had quit trying to be ‘cute’ with the spraying. He needed to concentrate on what he was doing.
We went to the other side of the island to a restaurant. A lunch stop was included, at our own expense of course.
The wind was blowing through the restaurant and it could have been a fun lunch if it wasn’t cloudy, windy, and cold :)
We ate quickly and left, back into the storm. Then we were back at our resort …. huh? …. what happened to our 3 Snorkels ? But we were getting off the boat, it was over. I wasn’t happy and went back out and snorkeled again the same place i was yesterday.
Visibility was poor because of all the waves, as you can see in these photos. I spent a lot of time observing these Nemos, as we were all being tossed around by the waves. They always look so grumpy! But then i realized why. Do you see the orange 'mass' on the bottom right? ...It is their eggs ! ...They are protecting them!
I saw them going down to the eggs and wiggling around, i also thought i saw them put some of the eggs in their mouth. I've read that some fish do this to protect their eggs. At this point i felt guilty and left them alone !
But, I had to do some more research on sweet little Nemos:
The MALES guard and care for the eggs throughout the whole incubation period, aggressively chasing away other fishes. They frequently 'fan' the eggs, and remove debris and dead eggs with their mouth! HA, i did see him put something in his mouth ! ... The first day they are laid they will appear orange ....they were newborns ! After a couple days they will appear grey and finally grey with silver eyes. When the silver eyes appear, the eggs will hatch the following night.
Awesome !
That was a great day to a rather disappointing 'snorkel tour'.
At dinner, Nadine asked me how it was. i said i was disappointed, i must have misunderstood, i thought we got 3 snorkels and were going to ‘the’ resort. She was not happy, said i understood correctly, and wondered why we returned so early. i asked her to report what had happened.
Neil asked me before we left that morning what i wanted for dinner. I asked him to make me a Ceviche Appetizer... they don't call it that here, but it's the same. And, i wanted that same fish filet that i had the night before .... they were both perfect.
I enjoyed visiting with Nadine and Neil, the resort wasn't that full and they had time to chat. Nice people !
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