After leaving Camiguin Island, i returned to my Philippino Family for the last time .... this year. I was able to experience a "Boodle Fight". Boodle Fight: ... Philippino traditional shared meal with a banana leaf as platter where every food is arranged and friends eat using fingers only, no silverware. It started in 'olden times' with soldiers getting feed together, having to eat as fast as they can, to get their share.
It started with Nadia, Pat and a bit of help from me, preparing food. Then, Pat and i selecting the perfect Banana Tree Leaf, one with no tears in it, and large enough to cover a large table. This one should do, Pat took it down stealthily with her machete.
She took it to the stove and 'heated' it, until it was soft and pliable, and wouldn't tear as easily; plus kills any bugs. Crazy, right ?
It now serves as the plate for the food.
The she started the charcoal, with no lighter fluid, just matches and paper. What a Girl Scout! They roasted Eggplant, and pork ribs.
Eventually the people and food arrived and the party began. It was a lot of fun; and now i can say i participated in a Boodle Fight ! Most of the girls i've met over the years, and some new ones.
It was time to move on. My trip was 1 month shorter than usual, and i had places to go. The Family went out to dinner my last night. I am so fortunate to have them in my life. In the morning we said our 'tearful' goodbyes.
I had a flight on Air Asia from Tagbilaran to Manila at 12:30pm, arriving in Manila 2pm. It cost me $58, including an extra charge for my luggage.
In Manila, i took a $2.50 Grab (like Uber) to the Bus Terminal for a 3hr ride AC to Batangas Terminal for $2. From there i sat in a crowded $.25 Jeepney for 30min, and finally left for a 1hr ride to Mabini. I arrived after dark in a 15min tricycle ride, $.50, to Anilao Scuba Dive Shop. Cheap !
This is the same place i stayed last year, and they were waiting for me with hugs. The owner, Gina; Dive Shop guys: Oliver and Carlo. Also, 2 other dive photographers that i met there last year: Bogdan and Adam. All fun great people, we were all ready to dive in the morning. But first we had dinner and welcome drinks. I got an upgrade on my room this year, A/C, and hot water :)
As an aside if you are interested: Last Blog i was lamenting about the difference between a SeaHare and a Nudibranch. A friend posted this on FaceBook. It is very informative ... and funny ! Check it out, it repeats many of the things i've talked about too, but in an easier to understand format:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7V8DRfZBQI&fbclid=IwAR1prFmF8QMZmK9kG-YLoonN6RokjG5B0BeRVJWskGutho33NEPzpGr-miY
First day, first dive, dropping down into underwater wonderland, it wasn't long before we came across a 'neighborhood' of Cardinal Fish, a pretty fish i've seen before
In the same area, was this fish with a parasite on it ... a BIG one ! I am not sure what it ultimately does to the fish, hopefully just falls off :(
This shrimp also had a couple on it .. different kind, but the same situation.
The above shrimp was on a Whip or Wire Coral. You might also see this Dragon Shrimp on this coral. I've never gotten a photo of this before. I don't think you see many of them.
We also saw these 2 Coleman Shrimp.
they usually live on these beautiful Sea Cucumbers, with moves that will mezmerize you.
Skeleton Shrimp are pretty amazing to see when they have all their babies on them. Maybe you can see lots of tentacles. If not, ... all that 'stuff' are babies.
We did 2 dives a day and saw many Nudibranchs. I've named this one the Fried Egg Nudi
This one is of the family Janolos, The name Janolus is derived from the two-headed god Janus, in ancient Roman mythology.
I named this one the Psycheodelic Nudi ... the people that named it must agree with me (Sagaminopteron psychedelicum). Cool huh?
And i finally found the name for this one, Krakatoa Hypselodoris. The name krakatoa, from an Indonesian island which exploded in a massive volcanic eruption, refers to the high volcano-like gill pocket.
This is the beautiful "BackPacker" that i first saw in Camiguin. The one in Camiguin was more 'blue' than this one which is more light turquoise, but none the less beautiful and intriguing !
This is a sweet tiny Nudi, looks like another 'Bunny Rabbit', and has a name similar to the black and white one, Jorunna parva.
It so fun diving with this group, the dynamics were perfect. Three of the guys are GREAT photographers... honest, my photos don't hold a candle to theirs. But i'm not going to show you theirs, so you will still think that mine are great ! But all are great, and just watching them, and their resulting photos, and asking questions... it was perfect!
I only did one night dive with the group; had i known that we were going to leave ABRUPTLY after the second night dive, i would have gone the second night :( I am learning: 'you snooze, you loose'
The one night dive that i did, produced amazing finds. Photos however, don't tell the tale. I am still struggling with my new 'light'.
Another example of finding different creatures at different locations. I finally saw my first BobTail Squid. Honestly, i'd never heard of them before coming here! But for some reason, they are prevalent here. They are only out at night; and there were a lot of them here. Very tiny, only up to 2", and colorful !
I also saw a PipeHorse ... this is the 'evolutionary link' between the SeaHorse and the PipeFish. The PipeHorse, has a prehensile tail like the SeaHorse that also is capable of wrapping itself around something. It differs from the seahorse only in its lack of upright posture.
There were a lot of Mimic Octopus and also this tiny one that had made this little shell it's hide-out. The shell was just a bit larger than a golf ball. It's difficult to get a clear photo of an Octopus, but he was so cute.
You might get a better idea of the situation in this video. Or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/IzxiiHe9Ixk
i became obsessed with this Yellow Flat Worm that i saw Gina photographing. It was so cool against the black darkness.
Our day dives start out with Oliver taking a photo of all of us on the boat.
Inspirational Message: This is a story that will warm your heart. Susan and Robert joined our group. Robert was in a motorcycle accident and was not certified to Dive. His loving wife, Susan, decided to become certified, and asked her Dive Instructor if he would be willing to certify her husband, Robert. That was over 1,000 dives ago. They have been diving ALL over the world, locations that i just dream about.
This was so awesome to see, not even paraplegia can keep Robert out of the water. Oliver carried him onto the boat, up a 12" wide plank that i had trouble navigating. And several of them pulled him from the water onto the boat after the dive. And Susan, behind in the photo, lovingly helped him getting dressed and ready to go diving. They told of us the interesting story of their meeting, just 2 weeks before her wedding, and after meeting him, her decision to NOT get married! ....and to go with her heart. btw, he was already in a wheechair! It was an amazing heartwarming devotion of love to watch. "Your ability is only limited by your imagination" Never let anything get in the way of your passion!
Another reason why traveling is so rewarding to me ... the people you meet and the stories you hear!
The ride out to the Dive Site is sometimes 30min..... time for everyone to chill before the first dive. This is my Dive Guide, Carlo on the left, and Oliver on the right ... being silly !
On one of our dives we saw this Cockatoo Waspfish. It is distinguished by it's long sail-like dorsal fin. It sways back and forth to mimic debris and dead leaves on the sea floor.
It's always fun to see an Orangutan Crab ... so fuzzy, just like the primate
Carlos is an amazing Dive Guide. He guided us deep, to find the Pygmy SeaHorse. Some stayed shallower, while some went deeper to photograph the little one. After our 'turn' the next group came down. When diving, the deeper you go the less time you can spend at that depth. So to insure that everyone got to see the SeaHorse, and still had lots of time to time at shallower depths, we followed this procedure. Carlo took this photo.
and i took this one, .. after he made sure i could see it :) look closely you will see the eye
i am not sure, but i think this is a Decorator Crab. They pick up things from the sea floor and 'paste' them on for disguise. This looks to be a tube anemone, which seems strange, ... so don't quote me on this :)
i couldn't find this nudibranch anywhere, so i submitted it to the authorities. No wonder, all the photos show more of a 'green' color than mine. But i love it just the same, it's a Petalifera ramosa, actually a SeaHare. I told you i'm loving the SeaHares !1
Carlo never disappointed us, and found this tiny FrogFish ... so cute.
usually you see FrogFish from the side ... here is one, face on
and this Nudi... i'm just going to be content to enjoy it for it's beauty !
Three more distinctive Nudis ... a Dark Margin Glossodoris
Love the veins in this Batangas Halgerda, which by the way ... Batangas is the general area where i was.
and this Creamy Chromodoris, hard not to identify this one, with it's distinctive pattern.
There were many other new Nudi's, but i continued to have trouble with my camera case fogging up. If the lens is foggy, the camera cannot see to focus. Of course, a 'manual focus' is not an option, with eyes like mine. All in all it made it difficult to get many photos worth showing.
At the end of our last dive, which none of knew would be our last dive, everyone was excited to see this Phyllodesmium rudmani, referred to as simply Rodmani by the locals. It mimics the soft coral that it lives along side; you can see both of them in this photo. The Nudi on the left, the coral on the right. The colors are different only because of the flash, but notice the similarities in the shape. Amazing imitation !
The neighbors next door had this awesome puppy... which was brought over to visit with us often. Who can refuse a beautiful puppy, ... not me !
We had begun hearing the news about Manila closing all domestic flights, (international flights still going), but all local transportation was terminated beginning 15 March. So, effectively no way to get to the airport after 15 Mar. We all decided to travel to the airport on the 15th, within regulation, and book flights out on 16 March. i had a difficult time with my flight into Bali, but after an entire afternoon, had a flight. What did we do before the internet ?
Most of the group went on a night dive that night, and i declined because i was a bit stressed after all that time looking for flights. The group was barely out of sight, when Gina came to me and said she was sorry ... we all had to leave in the morning! The village area where the dive shop was located was initiating it's own 'lockdown' ...everyone out !
Back to the internet to try to change my flight a day earlier. Thankfully Cathay Pacific was being kind and let me change with no fee.
We had such a great group there, diving and enjoying each other's company. Here is a photo of our last night together ... a bit of alcohol was consumed :)
We were all sad to go, some just going to the airport with no reservations. And the entire Dive Team was sad to see us go, as well as the recognition that they would be in lockdown and have NO income for at least 2 weeks !
It was obvious to all of us, that this was getting serious and our last chance to get out of the Philippines.
The next day we boarded 2 vans and traveled to the Manila Airport. My van arrived around 3pm; my flight was at 3am the next day. So much time spent in airports!
My flight left on time, about half full; so there was usually a seat between passengers. It wasn't too bad; but the recognition of possible virus in the air was always on my mind.
Indonesia arrival and a wonderful visit is up next.
dp
