SINCE OUR CEBU PACIFIC FLIGHT FROM PALAWAN to Mindanao was stopping there anyway we decided to spend a few days on Cebu. Actually we stayed on the tiny island of Mactan where the airport is located. Vista Mar is a sprawling hotel that, except for the absence of snow, reminded me of the one in The Shining. It was undergoing a much needed facelift but it was only a short walk to pier for the 30-minute ferry ride to Olanga Island.
The wildlife sanctuary on Olanga is the only place Lonely Planet bothers to mention for birding and it looks promising — a great tangle of mangroves and even a stone pier into the flats to a viewing platform. But someone forgot to tell the birdies and we added only a single new species, the rufous lored kingfisher.