It's time to whale! The sharks had gone
Trip Start
Jan 20, 2009
1
97
120
Trip End
Jan 19, 2010
Where I stayed
Peter's dive resort
Padre Burgos, Southern Leyte, Philippines
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
The trip to our next destinations took much longer than we expected, we had hoped to do it in 10 hours, however we got stuck half way when we arrived in the town of Ormoc to find it was too late to catch a bus to Padre Burgos (it was only 7.30pm). After an overnight stay we finally made it. The journey was an interesting one as we got to see how the Filipino people celebrate All Saints Day, a national holiday. All saints day is a day to remember the dead and Filipinos descend on mass to the cemetery to commemorate/celebrate those who have passed. Outside each cemetery we passed there were virtual traffic jams as the streets were so crowded with people, it seemed to be a real celebration as people visited the graves of their loved ones complete with food, drink and even loud music. It was odd to see children laughing and running around with balloons in what are traditionally very sombre places.
When we finally made it to Padre Burgos we received some disappointing news, the whale sharks, which we'd traveled so far to see, had been spotted but on the wrong side of the island and there were no trips available to go and see them as they were just too far away. We were not happy to say the least, nature is so unpredictable! Just to add to our good mood we awoke the next day to find the glorious sunshine had been replaced by wind and rain. With even snorkeling off the menu all that was left was to stay indoors, however that wasn’t so bad as the resort had a two month old puppy which we played with for hours, too cute! Fortunately the weather picked up in the afternoon so whilst I decided to continue my recuperation Paul decided to try scuba diving. After 10 minutes in the pool, he ventured into the sea for an hour and thoroughly enjoyed it. Being able to stay underwater gives you a lot more opportunity to see things you might otherwise miss when snorkeling.
Although we didn’t get to see the whale sharks we did enjoy Padre Burgos, there really is nothing to do here other than diving or snorkeling. However both are very good and make it a worthwhile place to visit.
Next stop, Padre Burgos.
