The return of the sunset deck
Danjugan came good for us today in many ways. Today's blog entry comes from the sunset deck, glass of wine in hand. The sun is a handspan from the horizon, there is blue sky above and the sea is back to a semblance of placidity.
Last night was a lovely talk by Dr Andrew. A very learned man – he taught us all about the biogeography of the Philippines, warty pigs and all. We listened to the call of the oriole and the the frogmouthed kingfisher. A 5:30 start for birdwatching rewarded us with views of the eagle.
It turned a bit grey and overcast, with the odd shower as we made the trip from Bamboo Bridge to Bulata. There was a bit of a hairy transfer from the small and somewhat overloaded bangka that picked us up to the larger more robust one that took us across the channel to Bulata.
There we were met by a fleet of pedicabs. These, for the uninitated are motor bikes with locally manufactured side cars of various designs. A fun pastime for long journeys is to spot which one has the most people on it. My max score was 17.
A quick buzz round to Elsie's shop and we stocked up on Cloud 9's and various other essentials. Then a trip to Bing's ever expanding emporium followed by a tour of the PRRCFI farm where we learnt about vermicomposting, and local plant derived organic insecticides and fertilizers as part of a sustainable farming initiative. Not only is it kinder to the environment but apparently cheaper too. Hopefully it takes off. On the way down to the old basket ball court we stopped off by Uwa's and saw a bunch of other people from our last times here. We met Tikyo's charming family and the piled back into the bikes for a trip to Bing and Nancy's farm.
Then there was Lechon, shared with Kaila, Paul and Antoinette from PRRCFI. Afterwards a local dance school gave us demonstrations of local folk dances, culminating with the tinikling, which is danced between two clashing bamboos. It was all very graceful and beautiful right up until the point where they invited us to try – at which point it was not so graceful and beautiful. Rhoda and Dave led the way and danced elegantly, as did Kaila and Jamete. I fell over a lot. Even when they didn't move the bamboo together for me.
My skills lie elsewhere.
Em did her first dive today, had fun with Christmas tree worms and anemonefish. And found my lost notebook. Amazing. A nice walk back along turtle beach
The ants are invading my keyboard so, its time to stop, watch the Sun go down with everyone.
