Busuanga – Day #1

Busuanga – Day #1.

Over breakfast, the S family share that in one of their rooms, the air conditioning quit in the middle of the night. Oh dear. Now I guess we have all had the “no air conditioning” experience. I am P.R.E.T.T.Y. sure that we got the better “no air conditioning” deal being that during our situation we were in the mountains with a breeze coming through our windows and temps of 60s / low 70s during the night. Interesting how one’s perspective can change. How would I have felt if this happened to us here? At this 5 star resort? I am so glad that our occurrence happened when and where it did! I heard DS say, “I thought about getting up and lying on the floor.” Bless her heart. The S family took it like champs, and the staff resolved the issue while we were out on our first excursion.

Our first excursion was a full day out on the Black Island. One of the many blessings of traveling together as a group this size is that we filled all of the spots on each excursion. It was like having a private tour without the extra cost.

The Black Island is only accessible by boat. The cheaper boat was under maintenance, so for the same price, we were given use of the faster, more modern boat. We were taken by a captain and a tour guide. Again, a very VIP experience. Our tour guide, Aldy, was very warm and friendly and his English was pretty good. The captain was also warm and friendly, but always deferred to the Aldy when we had questions.

Upon arrival to Black Island, initially, we were the only people there. Again – SO COOL not to be on a crowded beach or in an area where we are rubbing elbows for space. I practically run into the water. It is just the right temperature. I don’t know if it is the salt water or what, but I float rather effortlessly. (This is normally the case for me, but for some reason, I am literally a human life vest. I am sure my water shoes were part of the reason. I could not keep my feet down in the water if I wanted to. They just kept popping up to the surface.) MC and DS kept commenting about my floatation “powers.” It was like being a super hero for a day! Ha!

The morning was spent swimming and gathering shells. Aldy said we could keep anything that we found, so the hunt was on for who could find the “shell of the day.” There was a rock to climb on and jump off of out in the middle of the water. Everyone but my dad and AS (7 months pregnant) took multiple turns climbing up and jumping off of it. There were rock outcroppings to explore, another beach to walk on. The art of discovery was endless. The boat came equipped with snorkeling gear for each one of us. It was delightful to hoover in the water and share our fish and other ocean life finds with one another.

We had pre-ordered lunch. The S family chose the BBQ lunch, while we chose sandwiches and fruit. Aldy and the captain actually make the cooked part of the BBQ lunch while we swim and then call us “to the table” to eat. They spread a white linen cloth over a covered bamboo table, set up plates and silverware, and then position the spread in family style fashion in the middle of the table. For the BBQ lunch, Aldy and the captain make a fire and cook the tiger prawns (relative to the shrimp). Once we were finished eating, they encourage us to continue to relax, swim, and enjoy our surroundings while they clean up lunch. It feels like we have island butlers. They certainly cater to our every need.

After lunch, we explore a cave that is there. Aldy says that here was a professional dive team that came and explored the cave. The cave is connected to the ocean. He says that the documentary showed beautiful scenes of ocean life. It is pretty dim in the cave, but light enough to see bats hanging from the ceiling. We each take turns getting in the cooler water. I stay close to my husband. I don’t like swimming in areas where I can’t see well.

In the afternoon, we hovered over a shipwreck in the shallows close to our boat. I found it interesting that there were so many different kinds of fish hanging out here, versus 200 feet away where we had been swimming early this morning. I figured that we would continue to see more of the same fish and coral, but it was like we had entered a different oceanic neighborhood. So cool.

My dad participated in everything but jumping off of the rock. He enjoyed wading in the water and gathering sea shells. We put him in a life vest, gave him a mask, and he intermittently held his breath while taking in the underwater scenery. While he was swimming / floating in his life vest out in the water, Aldy swam close by with a yellow plastic bowey in case he needed something to hold onto and rest. Dad didn’t need it even once, but none the less, I was very grateful for the extra eyes on him, which allowed me to continue to swim around more freely. I was impressed at his stamina and ability to hold his breath for significant periods of time. After lunch, I encouraged him to lie down on the covered bamboo bench for a rest, and he did for about 30 minutes and then was up and at ‘em again.

Around 4PM, I hear Aldy say, “time to go.” Our little band of 10 climb up into the boat, and 40 minutes later, we are back at our resort.

Each group takes a minute to rest and clean up, and then we all meet up by the pool in the dining area for supper and recount the events and discoveries of the day. The resort is built into a hill. Its campus is stacked vertically, versus being spread out horizontally. In order to get to the “dining hall,” there are many stairs and steep concrete paths to traverse. Thankfully, upon request, the resort has a golf cart to transport guests to and from their rooms and the dining hall. For my dad and AS, this is definitely a blessing to help them save their strength for the many days of activities while we were there.

Each meal it was fun to order something new from the menu.

It was at meal time that we discovered the Asian time table – in a word, delayed. Every meal took at least an hour, if not longer to be served. Even then, there was a staggered delivery of what was ordered. There was always one person who was last to be served, often getting his or her meal when everyone else was finished eating. Interesting, BUT it did teach us to relax, visit, not rush – all of which we desperately need to work on doing more of back at home.

Check out the evening views as Busuanga – Day 1 comes to an end.