atp

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Wrap up. Last day

Well talent night was special. It was the last nght on the island for many of the expedition, and so we had a large party. Live music from the house band of course.

We had nudibranchs of Danjugan – a short film showcasing the expanded species list thanks to Debbie and Rick.

We sang Bahai Kubo – a childrens song in tagalog about a small house and its garden. Then it started getting very good – Rick and Valerie did a yoga demonstration that involved a new pose that saw her suspended upside down over the concrete floor.

That one made us all a bit nervous – definitely won't be trying that one at home.

Pete sang a traditional Irish song in memory of his dad, and the girls (the 'Danjugan Dolls') had a very inventive song that wove all of their experiences on the expedition together to the tune of 'favourite things'. Much red wine and whisky was consumed again.

A coconut crab visited us, hitching a ride on Pete's shirt. Had to stop Zoe from playing with it, as she was fascinated by it, but you don't mess with coconut crabs and their claws.

A lazy morning as people packed. Rhoda, Rick, Valerie and myself snuck off for a last dive at 'twin peaks' near the south of the island. A good shallow dive with plenty of coral and invertebrates. I saw diploastrea heliopora, which although common, is a favourite of mine.

Seriatopora and Galaxea.

 Debbie took the catamaran out for a sail, while Jo and Dave had try dives off typhoon beach.

The kids mucked about on the raft again

Then leave taking, group photos and swapping of email addresses before the boats left with their cargo of people all wishing for another week here, leaving a very empty typhoon beach.

Its always sad at the end of an expedition, However, we have the science analysis from our surveys todo, we have an expanded species list for nudibranchs, and we've learnt a lot. I'm sure we'll be taking this forward now to the benefit of the foundation. What a special trip, with so many thanks to everyone, but in particular Kaila and her circle of musicians, scientists and artists who added so much colour, Dave - who made everything happen with great humour, and of course Gerry for being the inspiration for it all. Thanks go to the UK visitors for sharing our vision of a working holiday helping with conservation and supporting PRRCFI. What a trip! Not even typhoon Hanna could dent it.

We're heading back to Dumaguete tomorrow. I'll post this and the other backlogged posts when I get back to civilisation.

Written by atp

Friday 14 August 2015 at 12:05 pm

Posted in Conservation

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