Hi everybody, we have just got our laptop back after if suffered terminal hard drive failure. Lucky Larry purchased a portable storage unit and backed up all our photos and docs before it broke so we can now finish the blog.
On leaving Manila on 1 July bound for Caticlan we discovered our flight on Cebu Pacific had been cancelled and all passengers had to return to the check-in counter. So we bolted to miss the rush, but no such luck, it was a shambles but we finally obtained boarding passes for a flight to Kalibo about 90 minutes drive to Caticlan, arriving just before dark. We were shown to a mini bus and the maniac driver tore through the typhoon devastated town, past massive trees uprooted and crushed houses, it was quite sad to see. This happened a few weeks before when a passenger ferry capsised drowning 806 people just of the coast near Cebu.
We arrived at Caticlan and boarded a dodgy looking banca (small local ferry with bamboo outriggers) for the short ride to Boracay, lucky it was a beautiful night and perfectly calm. Once at the port, we all piled into a motorised tricycle for a short, noisy, bumpy and smelly fast ride to our beautiful destination at White Beach boat station 3, The Blue mango Inn. It was nice to be greeted by the owner Vaughan with an ice cold beer and he showed us to our amazing room room overlooking the perfect coconut tree framed White Beach.
The water is an amazing aquamarine colour and so clear. We spend the days on the lounges on the beach swimming and reading. Maddy does her intro to scuba diving. Liz joins her on a couple of dives which they enjoy in the clear, warm water full of colourful fish and coral. Maddy's second dive was eventful as the wind had picked up. Our dive boat broke down so after wallowing in the waves for about an hour, we had to swim to another boat to get to our dive site. It was all worth it and Maddy did really well at 60 foot!
We found Boracay to be quieter with fewer tourists than Thailand. The beach is picturesque and staying right on the beach was very relaxing. The weather deteriorated towards the end of our stay as a typhoon skirted The Philippines and hit Taiwan. The day we left was raining heavily and blowing. We were taken to the other side of the island, which is more sheltered, to get on the small local ferry over to Caticlan. There is no airport on Boracay Is. Then we had to get into a tricycle to get to the airport. (This is why it is important to have small luggage as there is barely enough room for 3 people!) This ride was a bit scary in the rain as the motorbikes front brake kept sticking on as we drove through the hills. By the time our small plane was due to take off the rain had eased which Maddy was releived about!
