Well this week has seen us experience a large city and rural life.
Following a 2 hour high speed ferry ride we arrived in Cebu City, which is the second largest city in the Philippines.
We cannot really describe Cebu City as beautiful, as it is very ’run down’ with a lot of poverty and homelessness. Saying that, the people are so friendly and you can mingle easily in markets – including the Colon Night Market, open air mass and the jeepneys. We were also very lucky to be invited to the opening of a new cafe where we were staying (we were the only guests). Those/ in attendance included a Philippine Fashion Designer (Dexter Alzas), Model (Eric Lennart Visser) and also influencers (including Kingsley Benedict). The evening was a great success and we loved being part of the celebration.
During our stay on Cebu island we took a 5 hour bus ride to Oslob, which is famous for Whale Shark watching. It’s a tourist magnet, with more than a hundred thousand tourists visiting every year to swim with the whale sharks. Whilst the viewing is fantastic, there is a compromise that this attraction (managed by feeding the mammals) disrupts their natural migration patters and behaviours. However, saying that it was sooooo cool to swim with these ‘gentle giants’ which are 12/15 metres long, that primarily feed on plankton.
We also went the the local waterfalls (Tumalog) for a refreshing dip. Set in an amazing setting, the ‘cool’ turquoise water cascaded from approximately 70 metres above us. Ther is an interesting bike ride, costing 50 pesos ($1.50) down a very steep hill that the locals race down at break-neck speeds.
An added bonus was a lower pool that had tiny fish that ‘feasted’ on any dry skin on your feet!!!
To finish off our trip in Oslob, we decided to spend the day on the island of Sumilon, which is about 20 minutes off the coast – which was a great way to conclude our time on Cebu (including a 2 hour all you can eat buffet, although we did get drenched on the 1.3 km walk back!!!).
Our backpacks are now loaded and we’ll shortly be getting a plane to Palawan, where we will be staying ‘off the grid’ for 5 days on Darocotan Island.
