Pieces of Siargao

We flew into the Siargao airport, and looked for a van, but instead spotted our good friend Biboy who had come to retrieve and take us to GL. As we made the drive everything felt so familiar, like returning home. I half watched out of the van window the passing hillsides of palm, bamboo, and banana trees, and half listened as our friend began to tell us that there had been some changes while we were gone. His sister Ging-Ging was no longer working at Renaldo's, and soon he would be leaving as well. Unfortunately there had been some troubles between them and NyNy Alda. But, life was still going here. Biboy filled us in on some of the things that had happened since we left, and we told him how we liked Indo. We passed more palms, and rice fields, mud caked water buffalo, and proudly displayed roosters. Finally we pulled into Renaldo's, and we were home. There was a happy reunion then Jess and I settled in. We were excited to return and I was anticipating my brothers arrival . This would be Dan's first time out side of the US aside from Western Europe. He would be seeing all of this tropical goodness for the first time.

This trip to Siargao we have been so blessed to have many old friends and new friends. We flew in with a Finish couple, who we are extremely cool and have spent a lot of time with them. We are also hanging out with a French and Slovenian couple who are also awesome as well as our old friends Steve and Char.

From here it is hard to know where to go. We have been on Siargao for 22 days now. This has already surpassed the length of time we were here before. As it is said..."time flies." Jess and I enjoyed walking everywhere our first week as we waited to rent a motorbike. There were always familiar faces as we passed to smile and wave to. We dug up the $800 in pesos that we buried in the cemetery. Thankfully it was still there. We surfed the reef in front of the cemetery, and also surfed my favorite spot at Dako Island. This first week was the beginning of the Billabong Professional surfing competition. Consequently it was one of the most festive times of the year. Many tourists were in town to either participate or to observe the contest. San Miguel Brewing Company strung up triangle fliers back and forth across miles of road. Women swept the streets and Renaldo's packed there freezer with extra meat in preparation for this busy time.

The Contest was successful. It was postponed one month this year in hopes that there would be better waves than there had been in the past. The first two days of the contest were not disappointing. There were hours of barreling waves. The opening ceremony was a special event. There was a traditional dance performance and several speeches made by the local governor. The sun was shining and the day was beautiful. Aside from that every evening through the contest there was some sort of event. There was a battle of the bands which was surprisingly impressive. A miss earth contest was held, and that was also well done. Everything led up to the final days of the contest and the awarding ceremonies where we all enjoyed a live reggae band and good company.


Daniel showed up a week after us. From that point on we were busy. We took Dan out snorkeling a total of around 9 times in 9 days. We had nonstop fun. Every day we would either be snorkeling or exploring or out Island hopping.

Dan and I took a trip by motorbike around the island. It only took around seven hours, but by that time our bums were sore. There are a few attractions, the first being the rock pools of Pilar, then the beaches of Burgos, the Takanaka waterfall (water trickle), and lastly the beautiful mangroves on the northern side of the island. We stopped and got lunch of lentils in coconut milk, and a pumpkin curry soup served with rice for less than a dollar.

Dan's second day we went out for a BBQ on Dako with some of our local friends and an Australian friend. Here we grilled and ate fresh tuna, sliced fresh pineapple and mango, rice and a very special vineger soy sauce with lime and chili that you can really only find here. The whole meal was absolutely amazing and satisfying. All was laid out and eaten on banana leaves minimizing the clean up. We snorkeled here and enjoyed the absolutely pristine landscape.

On October 31st our good friends Steve and Charlyn were wed. I was honored to be their official photographer. It was such a blessing to take part in this special day with our friends. I was able to observe many different cultural customs and felt like part of the family. Our French friends came to the wedding also. Oh, one thing that was a a total blessing, was that a couple of weeks before the wedding the flash on my camera broke. I would not have been able to take the photos if it weren't for a spectacular friend Tom from Australia (who is a commercial photographer in Hong Kong), taught me how to use the manual settings on my camera!!! After almost five years of procrastination and laziness on my part, I learned this invaluable skill (in it's basic form) in only around 45 minutes! For the next few days I took some wonderful photos, inspired by my new gift.

Our time here has been fun....Jess and I decided to take a trip to Leyte to dive and snorkel.