Having a Whale of a Time - Day 1

Easter weekend I took Luis to a place called Legazpi (sometimes spelt Legaspi) for a bit of adventure.  Legazpi is a place I'd been wanting to visit ever since I first came to the Philippines, primarily to see its amazing volcano, Mt. Mayon, which is still active (hence the puff of smoke from the crater in the photo below) and said to be the most active in the Philippines.  It is a near perfect symmetrical cone that rivals Mt. Fuji in Japan for it's shape and appearance (it just doesn't have the snow cap).

Mt. Mayon, with Lignon Hill in the foreground

We took a flight down to Legazpi from Manila and arrived early afternoon and checked into a cheap hotel, the Vista Al Mayon, which was fairly basic but spotlessly clean.  I saw the domestic staff putting the beds on their side so they could clean and polish the floor under the beds: how many hotels does that happen in?  The tiled corridor floors we also polished to a deep sheen and looked clean enough to eat your dinner off of.  Breakfast was good too, taken with a good view of the volcano.

Late afternoon we had a walk into town as we'd been told there was a fiesta on with music and beer and entertainment but as it was the Easter holiday the place was rather deserted and basically closed.  Which was a nice change from the usual noise, crowds and chaos you normally get.

Mixing with the locals #1 (but holding on tightly to my camera)

Mixing with the locals #2 (Luis has a penchant for men in uniform)

What does that mean? Open "Almost" 24 hrs!

After a late lunch we headed back to the hotel where Luis had to have one of his pathetic naps (bearing in mind he'd had one on the flight on the way over!).

Narcolepsy kicks in during the flight

Whilst Luis was napping I went for an evening walk with my camera to see what photographs I could get of the volcano, which dominates the city skyline.  There wasn't much to be seen without there being power lines, lighting columns or other man-made objects spoiling the view and besides, there was a blanket of cloud obscuring half the volcano.  There was however a place I could see called Lignon Hill that looked like it would give a remarkable and uninterrupted view of Mayon, so I made a plan to go there very early morning the following day.  Although this was rather risky as we were being picked up early to go to Donsol and I had no idea how long it would take to get to the hill and back again.

That evening we went back to the city centre in the hope the fiesta had picked up for the night, but no, it was as dead as a door nail so we had dinner and headed back.

I awoke early the next day but I figured not really early enough to make it to Lignon Hill.  So whilst Luis was doing his hair/nails/eyebrows/trim his leg hairs (more about that later) or whatever it takes him so long to do in the mornings and evenings I went for a walk again but in a different direction, but disappointingly there was still no decent view or photo opportunity of Mayon.

The volcano dominates the city

We were late getting picked up (I think Luis had to trim his nasal hair as well) but we needn't have rushed (not that Luis did) because we found out we had to pick up a family who had arrived late from Manila.  I seem to spend most of my time waiting for other people.

When they boarded the mini bus I greeted them with a cheery hello but was COMPLETELY blanked by the dad.  Well, that sets the standard.  They also had a puny kid with them who whined just about the whole way, telling his mum that it was her fault he was a miserable, spoilt brat (probably not wrong there) and kept complaining that he wanted to get off the bus.  All I could think was that I could oblige him but it meant opening a window and not slowing down.

Then they all fell asleep, along with Luis (they must have contracted Luis' narcolepsy), and snored heavily.  Great!

We arrived in Donsol mid morning and as we were too early to check-in at the hotel we went straight to the dive centre and registered.  Donsol is famous for its whale sharks, which visit the bay in large numbers every year from February to May, probably to feed in the plankton rich waters.  For those of you too lazy to click on the links I provide, whale sharks are the largest fish in the seas (not really whales then) growing up to 40 ft in length but are harmless to humans (unless you get in the way of one and it runs you over).  Primarily then, that's what we were there to do: swim with the whale sharks.  After registering and watching a introduction video and being briefed on the dos and don't of whale shark watching we were allocated a guide, mask, snorkel, fins and a boat and headed out into the bay.  We were fortunate to have a boat to ourselves which meant no whining kids or rude parents.  The number of boats and people in the water is supposed the be restricted but I'm not sure how this is managed or achieved as it looked rather chaotic and jolly busy at times.

Boats waiting to take out the whale shark spotters

As we headed out, spotters on the mast and at the front of the boat look for the tell-tale sign of the shark, the dark shadow in the water as they swim at a shallow depth. That is until they get fed up of being gawped at by a load of noisy humans, then they disappear into the murky depths.

Whale shark spotting

The process was one of being on standby until a shark was spotted.  As soon as one was it was all systems go as all the other boats circling in the bay piled into the area.  You then had to quickly don your gear and sit on the edge of the boat.  When you got the instruction you jumped into the ocean (trying not to get speared by the boat's bamboo outrigger) and followed the guide swimming to the location where the shark is.  For the most part there were large groups of non-swimmers all bunched together wearing bright orange life vests, thrashing around, but largely stationary in the water.  What with all the arms and legs and thrashing and the water boiling with frenetic activity they reminded me of a basket of chips when it's lowered into the hot oil   So when when you got to where the shark was it was like swimming into the chip basket.  You get kicked, clawed, slapped by fins and generally bashed about.  It really was every man for himself.

A whale?

There were two ways to avoid this:  firstly, dive under the surface where there was an immediate tranquillity and you'd be largely alone swimming alongside the shark, looking into it's eye.  I could help wondering what he/she might be thinking, looking back at me.  Secondly, either because the life jacket wearing chips couldn't swim or were not good swimmers hampered further by the bulky buoyancy aids, it was easy enough to out-swim the chips on the surface and keep pace with the shark and leave the thrashing masses behind.  The downside was this didn't last long before you'd swim into another group strategically placed in the path of the shark.

Beady eye

I found most people were fairly apologetic about crashing into you by accident but there were a few who didn't give a monkeys and thrashed around with complete disregard to anyone else.  When in these groups I would stop using my fins out of consideration for others and if there was someone in front of me I just pinch and hold the end of their fins with my thumb and forefinger, which was oddly enough to stop them from thrashing around and induced a mild panic in those that weren't swimmers.  But once my face was clear of their fins I'd let go.

Not a great photo but the only one that has a person in it (which may be me)
so you can get an idea of the size of the whale shark.

Enough about the people.  The sharks were magnificent and impressed in a way that only animals of that size and bulk can.  The relaxed movement through the water and the slow, rhythmic sweep of their massive tails was a marvel to watch.  Trying to take photos was difficult as you'd have to take your eyes off the shark and look through/adjust the camera, which meant not being able to swim so fast and losing ground to the shark.  Hence it was rather a point-and-shoot exercise and hope for the best.

We were in and out of the water so many times I lost count.  Extremely tiring but extremely rewarding nevertheless. 

Once off the boat we went and checked-in at the hotel, the Vitton Beach Resort.  This was pretty basic, almost beach hut accommodation but a tad more civilised.  The rooms were functional, no wi-fi or TV (which wasn't missed) but they did have hot water and air-con.  In the three days we were there there was no housekeeping so we had to make our own beds and keep the place tidy.  And you know what?  It was actually quite good not having someone hassling you out of your room so they can make it up and not fretting about about leaving gear laying around.  Without the housekeeping it felt more like home from home.  The resort had a couple of bars, two restaurants and a pool.  The beach wasn't really anything to write home about, with rather too much litter and broken bottles to make it a really welcoming prospect, but with a bit more effort from the locals to keep it clean (rather than rely on the tides to carry the rubbish away) it could be much better.  The resort is quite a long way from the town of Donsol so there isn't much to do in the evenings but a trike ride into town is cheap enough if you're looking for a little local entertainment (local entertainment = karaoke).