Patrick Love Photography » Travel Photography

“Have you been to Boracay yet?” is a question everyone in the Philippines asks.  The keyword is yet, because eventually everyone in the Philippines goes to Boracay.  Boracay sits comfortably on the throne as the Philippines number one vacation destination.  In fact, it was rated as the world’s #1 island in 2012 by Travel + Leisure Magazine.  It’s not just that it has beaches, it’s the sand that is as soft and smooth as powdered sugar, it’s the always-just-right-temperature water, the sea breezes and warm temperatures, and enough beach-side hotels and restaurants to keep you entertained for several months.

We stayed at the Bluewaves Beachhouse.  Perfect location, and they bake amazing bread there for your morning toast and eggs.  My favorite meal was at the Lemon Cafe.  The lemon martini is a cant-miss item on the menu.  Unfortunately, we went back for a second time, and the drinks were awful, so consistency might need to be improved.

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Diving in Coron mainly focuses on about 30 WWII Japanese wrecks, and salt water/fresh water lakes.(below right) A caterpillar tractor inside one of the boats.   (below) Nudibranch – soft-bodied, marine gastropod mollusk which sheds its shell after its larval stage. They are noted for their often extraordinary colors and striking forms. WikipediaGoing into the wrecks could be a bit unnerving.  This trip marked the first time we dove below 100ft.  To add to that, it was inside of a boat, and we had about 7 minutes before we had to begin to ascend.  We trusted our dive master, who had been through the wrecks thousands of times.  I couldn’t help but think that if he had a sudden heart attack or something, we would have to find our own way back to the surface.  That would have been very difficult, and even more scary.  below – Mandarinfish, one of the most beautiful fish in the world.    below – Kayangan Lake

below – Clown fishBelow – Lion Fish, the second most venomous fish after the sting ray.  Non-lethal to humans, most of the time.   Below – Kayangan Lake is mostly fresh water.  There is a layer of spring-fed, lighter, freshwater that is the temp of a hot bath.  There is also a layer of heavier, cold, saltwater that is replenished at high tides and during storms.  How the heavy water stays on top of the lighter water, I have not idea.  Apparently a barracuda got trapped inside the lake.  We got lucky, and saw it swim by.  The profile of a face can be seen in the rock below.

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99.9% of kids I see are always plugged into some type of electronic device.  As I was thinking about why I like these images, it donned on me that this is actually what kids do when they don’t have smart phones, laptops, tablets, hand-helds, desktops, mp3 players and all other types of gadgetry.  Quite a departure from sitting quietly, dissociating and staring at a screen.  I see joy, risk, togetherness, happiness, exercise, collaboration, creativity, all-five-senses-being-engaged-at-once activities.  This is how a lot of learning and development happens.  I don’t mean to be critical of children.  This is turning into a journal entry that I’m writing to/about myself.  I’m one of the worst offenders, when it comes to the “plugged-in” life.  This serves as a reminder at how awesome it is to just get out there and do something, talk to someone, force yourself to have to create your own significance.

BTW – This happened while the Seahawks were busy destroying the 49ers in the C-Link, 42-13.  One of my favorite memories from 2012. 

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What was my favorite memory from this Christmas?  Cock fighting ranks right up there as one of the best.  Cock fighting in the Philippines uses a 4-inch blade.  This is much longer than cock fights in other countries.  Consequently, cockfights usually don’t last too long here.

First, the two owners have to get the roosters frustrated with one another and ready to attack.  They do this by letting one bite the other in the head and neck. 

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Faces seen between El Nido and Coron. 

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Photos from an 8-day open expedition.  Below, is a map from the company’s website.  It gives only a rough idea of where the boats go.  They actually sail without strict itineraries.

Pre-dawn walk on a warm beach.

On the day before Christmas it is a really scary time to be a pig.  There were a lot of pigs tied up and slaughtered on Christmas day.  We even got to watch.

We did a lot of snorkeling on the trip.  For someone who has spent some time snorkeling and diving in some pretty great places, everything that we saw was pretty meh.  However, the warm water still felt amazing!

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A few long exposure images from the Linapacan Island group, Philippines.  Over Christmas break, we did an 8-day expedition with TaoPhilippines.com. 

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Puerta Princesa is more a hub than a destination.  Located almost in the middle of the Palawan Peninsula.  To the north, lay some of the best scuba diving locations, resorts, islands and beaches that the Philippines has to offer.  To the south… well nobody knows for sure.  Almost nobody goes there.  It’s just untouched nature and perfect empty beaches.  Going south far enough will take you straight into Borneo.

Places that serve good food are close to my heart.  Puerto Princesa serves the best food I’ve had in the Philippines.  KaLui and La Terrase served up dishes and drinks that you simply can’t get anywhere else.

We stayed at the Palo Alto Bed and Breakfast.  They do the whole, shoes-not-allowed-shiny-hardwood-floors-everywhere thing.  The owners were very friendly.  I would stay there again.

I was pretty skeptical about doing the Honda Bay tour.  I figured that there would be too many people, mediocre beaches, and snorkeling with uninspiring coral and fish.  Turns out that I was mostly wrong!  There were a lot of people.  However, the beaches were nice, and the fish and coral were actually pretty good.  Living in the Philippines has really spoiled me.  I’m not as easily impressed with tropical beaches, as I was when I lived in WA.

I was seriously wanting to go out on this makeshift  dock.  After giving it some thought, I realized that I would likely be the heaviest person who had ever trusted it.  I gave it a miss.

Yellow Fin Tuna – The boat captain told me that he could catch about 10 on a good day.

It was a holiday, so I came across my first cock fight ever!  Notice that the Filipino version ties 4-inch “long-knives” to the roosters’ left legs.  In other countries with cock fighting, the knives are usually shorter.

(below) If you look closely, you’ll notice lots of blood squirting out.

Cock fights don’t end in draws or split decisions.

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Holy Week in Donsol!  There are plenty of things to keep travelers entertained for a couple of days- a sandy beach, great food, nice locals, Holy Week festivities, firefly tours, and of course whale sharks.  The only problem is that on top of all that, it gets seriously packed with visitors.

Donsol is a little bit like the guy who won the lottery, but becomes a victim of his own success.  Locals have not yet found a way to manage the wealth of visitors who want to explore all the great things that Donsol can offer.  Instead, of experiencing a peaceful stroll through Donsol’s wonders, crowds of visitors experience traffic jams and pushing mobs of other visitors as everyone vies for his or her own piece of the pie.  Come back next year and you will find that they’ve paved paradise, and put up a parking lot.  I’ll explain more on that later.

(above) I recommend that you stay at the Elysia Beach Resort.  It has a nice courtyard, seen here, and it’s on one of the nicer stretches of beach.  Not exactly budget lodging though.  A huge bonus is that it is right next door to the BARracuda restaurant.  Hands down the best restaurant in Donsol, and one of the top-five best restaurants I’ve eaten at in the Philippines.  Go early (6pm) and have a reservation.  The first night, we went early and had great service and food.  The second night, we made a later reservation, and service and food were very slow, but the food was still great.

(above and below) Firefly tour – This is what a Nikon D700 with a 24 or 35/1.4 can do at iso 6400.  Our guide told me that she had never seen anyone successfully take a picture of the fireflies.

Holy Week – Good Friday Procession in Donsol

While the Philippines loves Holy Week, Holy Week has to be the whale shark’s least favorite holiday.  There are rules for whale shark encounters, but as you can guess, those all get thrown out the window.  It’s pretty much guaranteed that if you do see a whale shark, it will have almost 30 boats and 50+ people swimming right on top of it.  I can handle swimming with a crowd of people, but it really upset me to see people swimming up against the sharks, touching the sharks, or taking pictures from so close that the shark would have to change direction.  Too see people stressing the animals out, and making them work just that much harder for survival really bums me out.

Secondly, because they are being treated so poorly, shark sightings during Holy Week go way down.  Sharks have to go somewhere else, which puts even more stress on them.  Boats will only take visitors on 3-hour tours, and every day at least 2/3 of the tour groups would come back without seeing any sharks!  My group had to go out on two tours, just to be able to swim briefly with two sharks.  When it’s not Holy Week, people report usually seeing about 5-10 sharks per trip, in uncrowded surroundings.

Donsol for Holy Week? – My advice is go elsewhere.

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