El Nido Recap

The Bacuit archipelago near El Nido is a destination simply waiting to be explored.  Once I was finally feeling back to normal, Ryan and I embarked on our first boat tour of the area late last week, despite threatening clouds.  The sun made a quick appearance and the weather remained warm throughout the day, so we considered ourselves lucky.  The sights were truly breathtaking.  Large lagoons and small caves, giant cliff faces and private beaches created true natural beauty.  As we swam and snorkeled we took the time to really enjoy where we are.  Some people have compared the archipelago to Vietnam’s Halong Bay.

The following day we headed out for another boat tour, duped by long awaited and elusive sunny skies.  Once we left the beach and rounded the corner toward the islands, we left the sunshine behind us.  The sky turned dark and sideways rain soaked us all.  The downpour let up for a delicious lunch and we relished a few hours in the sun after visiting an abandoned hotel and old shrine.

 

Later Ryan joined the boat crew for a game of frisbee on the beach.  Losers do push-ups. (:

The weather hasn’t broken much these last few days, which forced us to stay in most of yesterday and entertain ourselves with card games and tropical cocktails.  Oh, and the most exciting tidbit: my life flashed before my eyes last night as I awoke to a cockroach making its way across our bed via MY NECK.

I think I felt a bug crawling on me! I yelped, jumping upright from bed.

I’m sure it was just the cord from your iPod, Ryan reasoned, until he noticed the critter crawling along his own pillow.

I may have spent a good twenty minutes across the room as Ryan searched for, crushed, and flushed said roach, and another twenty minutes waiting until I felt safe enough to return to bed, lights on of course.

It’s a bit freeing when one of your worst fears is realized…

That trauma behind us, we took a long walk along a nearly deserted beachfront a few miles from town this morning.  A handful of resorts and small bungalows are all that occupy the long stretch of white sand boasting an amazing view of the archipelago.  We’re certain that in a few years this whole area will be booming with tourism, and feel lucky to have visited while El Nido is still a lesser known travel destination.

Other than that we’ve been eating delicious fresh fish and shrimp, imbibing in the local beer, and drinking all the fruit juice and shakes we can manage (hello calamansi juice!).  Oh, and they have berry Skittles here.  Discovering those was like running into an old friend.  

We've also been keeping up with our Ducks all the way from Asia.  We are #2 in the nation!

 

 Tonight we head back to Puerto Princessa for a flight tomorrow to mountainous North Luzon and its mystical rice terraces. 

We feel so lucky to be on this adventure together and are excited to see what the next destination holds.