Water Wonders

Yesterday we went on an excursion to the southern part of Cebu island. We spent a LOT of time in a car, being driven by Elmer, who drove for the tour company we went through. He was an awesome driver.

After about three hours, our first stop was for breakfast, which was included in the price of the tour. It was sticky rice and a sweet mango. So delicious!

We met our tour guide, Carmel, there. He took us to our first stop: Tumalog Falls. After a terrifying motorcycle trip down the steep road to the falls, we walked a short path to our destination. It’s been a dry summer, so the falls were mostly drips and trickles, but it was still beautiful.

There was a benefit to the low water though: it really concentrated the little fish who live there. These happen to be the fish that like to nibble at dead skin. You may have heard of them being used in salons. We could just put our feet in the water, and they went crazy. It felt weird.

We left Tumalog Falls and headed for Oslob to see whale sharks. I remember learning about these as a kid and being fascinated by them, and we were going to see them! Not only that, we were going to swim with them!

Carmel helped us navigate the crowd. There were a LOT of people there. We got outfitted with life preservers and snorkels, got into a boat, and went into a calm bay. Whale sharks are filter feeders and only eat plankton and such, but they are BIG fish. Specially trained whale feeders were paddling by and dropping food in the water while we just floated and watched the whales swim by, and in some cases, get really close to us. It was AMAZING! A truly singular experience. It is the most astounding thing I’ve done on this trip, and that’s saying something, because I’ve crossed the International Date Line, and I’ve eaten pig intestines.

Here are some pictures. I had to do screen captures from the videos we took with Denis’ GoPro.

Pictures really don’t do the experience justice though. The videos really are better.

After that we returned to the place where we started and had lunch. Carmel wouldn’t be coming to our next destination because it was a long ways away, so he said goodbye. He suggested we take a picture together.

Next, we headed to Kawasan Falls. It was another hour and a half down the road.

These falls were not dried out. They were full of rushing water and were amazing. We met another guide there called Danwep who led us on the short hike to the falls. He asked if we wanted to jump from the top. I declined. Instead, we swam. There were multiple falls and pools. We swam in a couple.

Another three hours of time in the car, and we were home. Whew! We ate and went to bed.