Friday, December 5. At sea North of the Philippines.
By the time we woke up the ships rolling had decreased but not disappeared. Breakfast was at 7:45 and we were told that this was a very reasonable time for Coral! After this at 9 am, there was a briefing on Water activities that lasted over half an hour. Later on at 10:30 am Stella, a Filipino of Chinese origin who had lived in Australia for 23 years with a German husband Jurgen, gave a talk on the heady days of the 1986 revolution by the people in the Philippines in which she had played her part. She was very emotional That it was interesting that she said she would not take us any further on in Filipino history so we have to research that for ourselves.
Lunch at 11:45 am was good and then we retired to the room four hours during which I slept a good deal. David bought a superior Wi-Fi package and I found I could get hold of the news and my Podcasts, which was fantastic. There was a briefing at 4:45 about what we were going to do on the tomorrow which had been altered due to the strong winds now hitting us. After getting changed for dinner. We went up to the lounge and we had a cocktail . We managed to sit by ourselves for dinner which was again very good food and afterwards we watched a documentary for almost an hour on the mystery of the Philippines and its animal life.
Saturday, December 6, the ship arrives in the north of the Philippines.
Breakfast at 7:30 and then aboard the Explorer landing launch which seated up to 60 people, for a very quick trip to the beach. It had been a very rough night and the plans had been changed for us to land in a sheltered cove. Once ashore, Jeepneys were used to transport us. These were American World War II jeeps converted by the locals in 1956 as a means of giving cheap transport to the population.
This was a new destination for Coral. We were packed approximately 10 people each to each jeepney. Our first stop was after an hour of travelling somewhat fast in a vehicle which belched diesel fumes into our passenger compartment and was very noisy. The stop was a farm where they gave us a welcome dance routine which was very colourful and effective and did not last too long either. We then went for a walk round the lake and saw them throwing a net in to it to catch tilapia fish. The fish were then cooked and de boned for us to snack on little bits. We were then hassled out as the next of our three groups of 30 people arrived.
Our next stop was to listen to a band of teenage girls playing the banjo, an instrument looking like a lute. There were also coconut available to drink and some dubious snacks but the music was magical. At this. stop like the first, we had to be introduced to the local worthies. Then onto our final stop, which was to see the production of something called Sappo. It was made from rice and coconut milk and tasted to me a bit like marzipan, which was cooked wrapped in a banana leaf. Then back with a walk along a black sand beach to board the Explorer again. Although this vehicle affected a much more rapid transfer to shore, I was not convinced that it was in the true spirit of an expedition: give me a bouncy zodiac any day. We were not back to the ship till at least 13.30, so a late lunch and then just a short gap before the days review by Dawn. The review was followed by a slide show by Jurgen on tropical fish, not my cup of tea realy and I had difficulties staying awake during it. We then sat on the balcony at the back of the ship, which was warmer than our cabin. The inside of the ship in general always has been rather on the cold side. At supper we were joined again by Malcolm Fraser and another Australian man, the conversation was interesting but there were large portions of it which I could not hear because of the noise of the ship, which was somewhat frustrating. Dinner was followed by a half hour film on the effects of a volcanic eruption on the local mountain tribes, who seem to suffer from a lack of land now and even not getting a basic hovel to live in by the government.
And so to bed after a satisfying expedition day.
To get a larger photo, click on a thumbnail below
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Our Philippines Cruise on Coral