The Long and Winding Road – Face to Face with a Whale Shark

The whale shark encounter is actually a gamble. Whale sharks are wild animals (meaning they are not kept in cages for the tourists to see) so it’s really the work of faith and luck to witness the grandeur of one of the largest mammals on earth.

And because it was a gamble, the team would really want to maximize their bets. It’s no joke paying 700Php++  per person out of nothing so we ‘kinda’ played safe.

The government of Donsol continuously protects the whale sharks by imposing rules regarding the whale shark encounter. One of the rules is securing that there will only be 30 boats on the waters at the same time. So this leads them to having 2 batches every day. We placed our bets by registering for the second batch. The logic behind was if there will be a sighting for the first batch then the second batch will have a higher probability of seeing it also.

Before boarding the boat, the tourists need to undergo a 15-minute orientation/presentation of the rules and regulations. This also gives us an idea of what to expect and what to do during the encounter.

We started to sail at 11AM. We were divided into 2 groups because the policy says that a maximum of 6 persons [per boat] can interact with the whale shark at any given time. We were excited (me afraid) to meet the gentle giant. We sailed for almost 2 hours but the gentle giant was still out of sight. We were beginning to get frustrated because we cannot afford to stay for another day in Donsol. We need to move to Matnog the next day (and that is a strict IT. :P) So our companions started praying. Oops! Pati ako nakisali.

Well prayers do really help! After a few more minutes the spotter from another banca saw the whale shark and alerted our BOI. Our bangkero (being the expert that he is) positioned our boat on the most likely path of the fish. Our BOI instructed us to sit on the edge and jump. When he said “Look down!” we all submerged ourselves and the moment of glory came rushing though our veins.

The first thing we saw was its enormous mouth. It was directly underneath us. I was delirious at the same time excited [more of afraid.] We stayed there for a couple of minutes and watch the creature swim past us. I thought we will be slapped by its tail because it seemed so close. I was actually frantic when I saw the tail.

We don’t have pictures of the Butanding encounter. But the image and the grandeur of the whale shark will always be in our minds - forever.

Group Picture after the encounter. Happy kids! :)

The Long and Winding Road – Getting to Donsol and Firefly Watching

It was almost 4Pm when we started our journey to Donsol. Nobody in the group reached that far yet so we just relied on google maps hoping that it shows the right path. I noticed that most of the time it was just us on the road. I felt somewhat isolated. I knew that the air outside is fresh. That the fields are bountiful and the coconut trees give abundant harvest. That makes me excited to stare at the night sky!

Prior to coming to Donsol, I booked 3 rooms at Aguluz Homestay. I was hesitant at first because I didn’t know what to expect but I thought that’s what adventure makes it an adventure. Moreover, it was suggested by a friend who is from the region so that was an added point. The house was as we saw on their FB page. I was hoping to meet Tita Marilyn but the caretaker told me that she was in Legaspi that time. The caretaker immediately led us to our spacious and beautiful rooms. It feels like home away from home. J

On our first night; with tired bodies, aching muscles and sleepy heads we managed to squeeze in the firefly river cruise. We were fetched by our boatman at around 8:30PM. I thought it was a little bit late for the activity but the boatman told me not to worry because fireflies are plentiful even after midnight. From Aguluz homestay, we walked a few hundred meters to reach the river. We boarded a boat that brought us to the mangroves.

The river was calm; the stars were shining brightly in the velvet sky; the air was smooth and soothing enough to make our eyelids fall. (Pagod na pagod lang ang peg from 15 hours of traveling!) It was the perfect condition for firefly watching and dozing off. (Ha ha!)

I was not expecting anything because out of my extensive research abilities, I did not see any video/picture describing the tour. A few minutes after we boarded the boat we saw a tree glittering from the rest. I thought it was a Christmas tree (on May). The boat went closer and I realized there were hundreds and hundreds of fireflies dancing and swaying. (I mean the tree looks like dancing and swaying because of the tiny sparkling fireflies.) We were like, “Oh em gee!” Disclaimer: I know how a firefly looks like but seeing so many of them on the same tree makes me want to believe in fairies and shout “Pixie dust!”

I think we saw 4 trees glimmering like Christmas trees during the whole tour. It was an amazing experience. What really caught our attention was when our boatman went to one of the trees to get some fireflies and handed them over to us. Tuwang-tuwa lang sa fireflies. J

Sorry, no snapshots or videos. This tour is for our eyes only! J

By the way, here are some pictures taken at Aguluz Homestay.

Search for best male poser (and the extras)

FOOD!

PS: This is 2/5 of a series post [The Long and Winding Road]

Credits to Paul for the pictures. :)