Me vs the sea

10 November 2018

Today was our first island-hopping trip, Tour A. The local authorities have apparently created four official itineraries, and everyone pretty much has to follow them. So don’t expect to have the islands to yourself! One of the most fun spectator sports is watching the earlier bangkas to arrive trying to extricate themselves from the pack to leave again; those huge bamboo outriggers are a right pain in the butt, and I’m astonished more aren’t snapped off.

The views are stunning: rocky, jungle-clad islands that jut up out of Bacuit Bay beyond El Nido. The rocks are carved into sharp and jagged outlines by nothing but the rain, and plants grow in every conceivable nook and cranny. We kayaked into a secret lagoon (well, a secret shared by 30 other people while we were there!), we snorkelled over coral reefs, and we chilled out on a beach with fresh coconut and a lunch barbecued for us by the boat crew.

Anyway, it was a tiring seven hour day out in the sea and the sun, which is basically me in my least natural elements. I fry in the sun. Crispy fry. Or possibly boil, red, like a lobster. So this time around I took no chances and invested in a stretchy long-sleeved surfer top which is called a “rash guard”, and basted the remaining bits of me in suntan lotion. It worked, almost entirely. There was a little crescent on my hip where obviously the top had ridden up while snorkelling, and this was bright red and rashy. Also a random patch on one leg where I obviously missed a bit.

Then a few hours after our day of immersion the sea and sun renew their assault, as my face becomes covered in spots. Dozens of them. I don’t know if it’s the salt in the water, or the suntan lotion, or the sun’s rays or a mixture of all three. It always happens worst after snorkelling, so maybe it’s the salt? Anyway, it’s all a bit annoying. We’ve got another island-hopping tour in a couple of days and I have new plans to thwart the sea: I’m going to wear my baseball cap and skip the suntan lotion, and after snorkelling (when I obviously won’t be wearing my cap but will be face-down so it don’t matter!) I’m going to wash off my face with fresh water. We shall see!

This evening we went out with the folks we met on our island-hopping trip; Joe & Julia from Scotland, Jose from Tenerife. The Republic Bar sits on clifftops south of El Nido and has the most amazing sunset view across the bay, and then La Plage back towards town serves a pukka bit of fish wrapped in banana leaf for dinner right by the lapping sea.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 14th, 2018 at 3:52 pm and is filed under The Philippines. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.