Islas de Higantes ~ Part 2

The day actually began with a heavy and noisy downpour at around 2 or 3 a.m., complete with very strong gusts of wind and a few loud rumblings.  Of course the whole show woke us up but the only thing I was anxious about was the electronics, as of course they are not supposed to get wet.  When we met our hostess the next day, she assured us that all her cabins survived Yolanda without a single leak, and that says a lot.  She would like to replace all her roofs, though, and not wait till they lose it.

The island-hopping trip today was a last-minute thing.  Our hostess/guide wasn't sure the boat she wanted would be available, then there was the question of whether or not the price could be negotiated, which also partly depended on what we were willing and could afford to shell out.  The weather was quite encouraging, though, to say the least.  It was sunny but not hot, perhaps because of a constant breeze.

First, we took a regular passenger boat, almost a ferry, from one port to another, because the boat our guide reserved was not allowed to dock at the first port (Bangkal).  We reached the second port and found the guide and he took us to the hidden pool in the middle of a large rock where we had a half-hour swim.  Afterwards, we sailed past some more smaller islands.  The captain was considerate enough to slow down to allow us to admire and shoot, but I like to think that he also enjoyed the views as much as we did, although I suppose he sees these things every single day and in all kinds of weather.  We finally 'parked' on the beach of one of the empty islands and spent an hour there.  Some people used to have a resort on the island but it got irreparably damaged by the infamous Yolanda and they were too dismayed and discouraged with what they would have had to do to get it going again, and so they simply left the island altogether, which, perhaps, wasn't a bad idea at all.

The water near the islands is clear and clean.  Again, two extras for your pleasure as well as mine.  Hubby was completely in heaven, and you can be sure I got into the water as well.

At about 14.30, we were back at the second port in plenty of time to catch the 'ferry' back to the first port.  No let up with the good weather.  The heat was intense and almost all of us fell asleep on the boat.  The glare was so bad I had to work on reducing it in post-processing.

In the meantime, we have run out of pesos so we will need to change some money again next time we go to town, which will probably be on the day we leave for the capital.  We aren't flying back to Europe yet, though.  Two more places are on the agenda, but for much shorter stays.