Your Escape Blueprint

We found ourselves in Manila at the start of our Coral Cay Expedition.

Manila is one BIG City. Manila proper has a population over 1.7 Million. These people are crammed into an area of 38.55 square kilometres, making Manila not only the most densely populated city in the Philippines but the most densely populated city in the world.The Manila metropolitan area is comprised of sixteen cities  and is one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world with a population of 20 million people.

Manila is the essence of discombobulation, a great big amorphous mass of humanity, but as we have found exploring Manila, each area has its own distinct feel and essence.

We have also discovered that driving in Manila is THRILLING! The rules of the road (and I use the term loosely) in this metropolis of 20 million people is a little different  than what I am used to driving in Vancouver BC.

We knew we were in a new land once our cab from the Manila airport got rolling. Lanes are mere suggestions and the traffic pulses and surges and intertwines like a graceful ballet. Schools of motorcycles, weave through the traffic coming within inches of pedestrians, Pedi cabs and cars.

You have to be on your toes getting around in this town ~ getting around is about riding on the edge!

I recently logged my 100^th open water scuba dive, a personal milestone. The site was Medicare in the Santa Sofia Marine Protected Area, near Padre Burgos, Southern Leyte, Philippines.

The site was a 40 minute boat ride form the Coral Cay base near San Francisco Southern Leyte. It was the second dive of the day.  My dive partners were Yvonne and Cheryl, a fellow Coral Cay Volunteer. The site is a sloping reef in front of the town of Padre Burgos. Our dive profile was to be 18 meters for 37 minutes. After entering the water and performing an ear check at 4 meters we settled in at about 15 meters. We cruised along with the current southward along the reef, moving almost effortlessly with the flow.

On this dive there were a plethora of damsel fish, butterfly fish (alibongbong  isda in Visiyan), Angel fish, a Sea Turtle and a school of 6 Spade fish swimming in formation. The sheer abundance of life in the coral triangle is amazing. Now that I have had two weeks of education in the identification of the life forms found in the local marine environment, I have even a greater appreciation of the complexity of the coral reef environment.

Since the start of December I have logged over 30 dives at Coral Cay. The really cool thing about diving every day for a month is being really comfortable and very efficient under the water. I have discovered through gaining total control of my buoyancy, the experience of scuba diving is like being weightless. You can float around with the thousands of reef fish rising and falling by controlling the amount of air in your lungs, or float around upside down peering into all the nooks and crannies of the coral formations – having reef creatures stare back at you from their hiding spots. This is the Zen of diving.

There are many more dives to be done and the next few weeks are to include survey work in teams of 4 divers.

I am looking forward to the next 100 dives and the different counties and underwater landscapes to be explored.

Divers down!

After the crazy taxi ride at breakneck speed from the airport! The crowds at Harrison Plaza, Mall of Asia, and the hawkers insisting we could have a FREE home security system. There was the constant honking of horns, the revving of motorbikes and the wakeup call of the city’s Roosters. We discovered Intramuros……… Intramuros is just one area of Manila!

An area with a completely different atmosphere, our hotel is in Malate, close to the airport and relatively quiet, there is also Makati where lots of visitors stay as it is more of a business and tourist area. They are all Manila but what a difference between them!

We got the obligatory cab to St Augustan’s church after the customary haggle over price (Note; check beforehand what you should be paying! Helps, with the bargaining!) We were not very successful negotiating with Joseph but he was worth every Peso as he gave us a constant stream of info… there the Embassy, the Zoo, the Manila Hotel owned by Ferdinand Marcos…… all with a steady stream of smiles. He dropped us off in Intramuros and we went back in time!

It is an old walled city with some impressive Spanish Architecture the Churches are the oldest in Manila and have been burnt, bombed, ravaged by earthquakes and rebuilt several times. We found our own way to the Manila Cathedral, beautiful as all Cathedrals should be…emanating a sense of peace and tranquility….. not something we had found so far in the Manila madness.

Here Teddy found us………. Teddy gives guided tours of the walled city, along with his horse Rambo! For $10 we had an hour’s tour in a Rambo drawn buggy, with a constant stream of info from Teddy.

It was the best $10 we ever spent, a perfect delight………………..Beautiful, tranquil Gardens tucked away, statues of the Virgin Mary, Canons, Dungeons used during Spanish times and during Japanese occupation, bullet holes in walls…………..

All with the utmost, patience, friendliness and huge smiles, from not only Teddy but all the students spilling out of schools in there immaculate, distinctive uniforms.

Rambo was definitely the star! He was at home on a quiet tranquil cobbled street, as in the middle of 2 Taxi’s with a Jeepney in front and back……. Throw in the odd motorcycle all trying to converge into one lane and you get the picture.

Intramuros is definitely worth a visit, wonder if we can find a hotel there?

OK This is why I went through all that misery, discomfort, humiliation and exhilaration when I passed my exams and became a “Certified Open Water Diver”.

Remember I said I had a vacation booked? The Seychelles are absolutely mind blowingly beautiful.

April 20^th 1990; Mahe, Seychelles, Rays Rock. It was a hot sunny day with a gentle breeze, I was just itching to get in.

The hotel had a small reef in front of it, it took about 5 minutes after arriving to grab my suit, fins etc. and I was in, all I could say was WOW! This was the first time I had seen anything like this, there were fish everywhere and such amazing colours. It was almost as if they had been painted especially for the tourists.

Our dive master gave the brief and in we went, obviously still a novice diver I was quite happy to settle on the indicated sandy patch and drink it all in. No my mask wasn’t leaking……. the fact that I could see for what seemed like miles and so much to see.

I still have a distinct memory of watching a school of tiny, tiny, neon striped fish swimming through a small coral head, I can still bring the picture to mind. This was just the beginning; the Divemaster herded us up and took us to the reef proper……….

That was it, I was hooked line and sinker forever! I had never imagined so many fish, so many different shapes, patterns, sizes, the “rocks” were all different too. My mouth would have been hanging ajar if I didn’t have a regulator in it.

I had become used to the sound of breathing and bubbles, now I became aware of other sounds, little clicks and grunts. I swear I could hear that parrot fish chomping on the piece of coral he had just bitten off.

A frantic banging pulled me away from all those fish to the divemaster gesturing frantically to my left……….. Sure enough there was my first Turtle, we must have disturbed his morning nap. He slowly moved up and away, passing almost close enough to touch. I remember thinking can it get any better than this?

I know it can, because there is always another First!

I am reeling from Sticker Shock!

We just returned from the local Travel Clinic! Of course we want to make sure that we are up to date on our vaccines etc. and check out that there are no nasty medical surprises in the area. Good news is that Malaria does not appear to be too much of a problem. Got to like that!

45 minutes later …..1 Typhoid vaccine and 1 shot for Japanese Encephalitis each! Total bill $550 and to add insult to injury this is the first of 2 shots ……here comes another $400 hit. At least we have 28 days to get ready for it.

Last week we had our Diving Medicals done….. you got it!  $65 for each!  My Doctor is such a sweetie when I told him what we were doing; he grabbed his wallet and pulled out a contribution! Every bit helps  :<) Thank you to everyone who has chipped in with their help, support, donations or just spreading the word.

Volunteering is expensive!!!

NOT doing something about saving our planet and resources is going to cost a LOT more!