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AhhhMazing Malapascua
My goal was to always take the time this weekend to write a post about the amazing trip some friends (and now new friends) took two weeks ago to Malapascua, a small island near Cebu, Philippines. Sadly, we now have another typhoon headed our way, so I doubt I’ll do this trip justice. I’m still traumatized from Mawar, but whatevs, back to the latest adventure — and it was just that.
If you’re a diver and have been wondering if the island is worth the flight, the 4 hour bumpy van drive and then the 45 minute boat ride — yes! It most definitely is. We were blown away by the threshers; they swam so close to us, but we were even more blown away by everything else we saw: a tiger shark (on two different dives), clownfish hatching, just about every type of pipefish you could imagine, frogfish, leaf fish, seahorses, mandarin mating, and tons more. Every dive was amazing. I’d go back tomorrow if I could.
But oh those threshers. Before I got hooked on diving, I had no idea how many types of sharks there are. Thresher sharks are a deep water species, which is why they have such big funny eyes. They use those gorgeous long tails to stun their prey. Because they’re deep water animals (going down to 1,800 feet — deepest I’m certified to go is 130 feet), we rarely get to see them as recreational divers, but for some reason they’re almost guaranteed to spot early morning at a sunken island near Malapascua. They come up to the shallows (between 40 and 90 feet) to get cleaned by the wrasses that thrive there. When we booked our trip, we thought we’d see them in the distance — boy were we ever in for a treat. They were every where swimming in between us. Ina, Rod, Kim (two new friends) and I lucked out because our guide took us away from the other divers. We had one so close to us, we could touch it (we didn’t). Ina got amazing footage (not posted here). The sheer joy (mixed in with a little bit of oh shit) of having solo time with this gorgeous being, who was just as intrigued by us as we were it (I saw its goodies, but I can’t tell male/female shark bits) was beyond words.
The dive before that one was where we saw our first tiger shark and a bunch of white tips. LOL even with the tiger shark being in the distance, it definitely cast a larger shadow than its cousins. A few days later, we got to see a tiger again. This time I was behind everyone dilly dallying (the fishies amaze me) on our way back to the boat. I felt something nearby, looked up and about 10 feet away from me was a tiger swimming along. We had eye contact for a few seconds before I quietly tinged my tank (lord knows I didn’t want to startle it). I looked behind me and everyone was swimming toward the boat, while I’m there hovering with this beauty. They truly are pretty sharks (while also quite intimidating). It turned off into the distance and then I banged like crazy so everyone else could see. What a rush that was. Sorry the only tiger pic we have is of the one in the distance, which I’m not posting because you can’t see its stripes, but lol there are plenty of videos of them you can google.
Okay, we’re getting some rain and wind in, which is distracting me, so I’m going to blast you with pics and captions.
There were all sorts of jellyfish, including these cool ones that had rainbow lights. Ina’s camera died, so no pics of them, but Benny captured a box jellyfish (yes, we steered clear of it)
and we saw several electric (also called disco) clams. Rod had the best underwater gesture for them, which I’ll just leave up to your imagination.
We had fun on land as well. There are no cars on the island, and one day after we were finished with our dives, I got talked into a scooter ride with some of the boat crew. Jon and Matt (another new friend) rented bikes, while Ina and I hopped on the back of seasoned drivers (but Jon and Matt did just fine). Um, they decided that the boat captain was the only one who could handle my fat ass on the back.
I’m the one waving a hand behind the man in yellow shirt
The food, people, sun rise and sun sets were all amazing. Our lodging, not so much. Long story short there was an overbooking, so we got to stay in concrete huts that were an adventure, but they were on the beach, so that was a plus.
Jon not riding a scooter lol but avoiding one 
Ina captured me lol getting a lazy shark sign up 
just a few feet from our hut 
crew worked hard 
boat time! 
Dive buddies with our guides. Richard, the man next to me, was awesome. 
we also had a luxurious spa day our last day on island. lol Ina and I showing off our jungle hair 
I will never get tired of sunsets 
a fun hippie beach bar 
More street time 
more sun 
I also love these boats 
so many leashed roosters — um, they’re prized fighters. Basically they win or die and get eaten. But they’re pretty for a bit. 
I’ll also never tire of the moon 
We didn’t see any eagle rays on this trip, but lol this artist gets me.
And, I so enjoyed getting to relive the trip again while quickly typing up to share with all of you. I’ve gotta get back to my storm prep and move my car. There’s a construction site and a shack someone is trying to renovate where there was jungle last typhoon. Both are precariously close to our parking lot and neither have tied down the loose lumber and pipes they have all over the place, plus scaffolding is up still. I’m pretty sure some of that will go flying, so my little Rav will be far away from that nonsense.
If wifi stays with us, I’m sensing my next post will be about Typhoon Sinlaku — let’s hope she fizzles out and doesn’t give me much to write about.
Wishing I was back to doing this trip with this wonderful group of fellow divers, and the dive crew who led us to all the magic.
In between the waves
I’m currently sipping a cranberry mimosa at my first lounge of a three-flight trip home to see the family. I know it’s been a long while since I’ve last posted. My excuse is a combination of being busy with friends and birthdays and digesting the WTF events of our world. It’s hard to post how great my life is when, well, it feels like we’re always on the cusp of armageddon.
If I keep waiting for the waves of bad news to stop, I’ll never post again. Soooo, here we go for the quick rundown of some of what I got to see and do in May and June.
Ignoring what I can’t control, I’ve hit a few milestones while I wasn’t posting in here.
May was an amazing month. Michelle came to visit, Susan came to visit, Mini came to visit — lol on the day I hugged Michelle goodbye, less than two minutes later I was hugging Mini hello. Michelle not only learned to dive, but she also earned four certifications and completed 20 dives before flying back to Virginia (most impressive!). It was soooooooo good to share my love of the island and my love of diving with her — we even got to fit in a trip to Cebu. It’s always good when we get time to sip and inhale all that life sends our way. Miche also turned 50; I turned 60.
LOL. Instead of pulling a rabbit out of a hat, these magicians pulled me into another decade. While I missed another big birthday with my family, I certainly didn’t miss out on any love and laughs. I have the most Guamazing friends — on top of the ones from afar. There were many celebrations, including the one on my actual birthday, which was a picnic at Gab Gab beach, after a bring-in-the-next-year dive. It was perfect since this is also where I learned to dive.
For Michelle’s 50th we did a week in Cebu. On her actual birthday we had the most amazing meal at a resort; two days later an amazing spa day that had us looking 10 years younger. Of course we also did all sorts of sipping and sightseeing.
But, the diving was our true gift. We got to swim with whale sharks and dart in and out of a sardine run. It was pure magic.
The whale sharks are fed and thousands of people come to this tiny village to watch them. Most snorkel, but we got up at 3 a.m. to get there by 6 for the first dive of the day. It’s cheating, and I’d much rather see these beauties in the wild, but I’m so grateful we got to do this. Several times we’d turn around to have one right next to us. It’s my hope that one day I’ll get to see them without the help of locals throwing plankton their way.
There’s also the fun of showing off Guam. When Ericka visited in January I took her to Talafofo Falls, which is an experience all unto itself. I don’t want to spoil the fun for anyone reading this who might get to see this local experience, BUT I will say no one should ever go expecting it to be any normal OSHA-approved venture. If you’re willing to ride a rickety gondola OR, when it’s broken, ride in the back of a sawed-off pickup truck, it’s well worth the $12. Don’t bring the kids.
May also included visits from Mini and Susan, which also included more diving fun. The antics above water are just as fun as the world we get to witness underneath.
May quickly transitioned to June, which meant time to celebrate Susan’s, ahem 29th, birthday. That too included more fun, including the dinner show at Fisheye — totally worth every penny.
End of June, Susan and I got to spend a week on a boat in Palau, which will be its own blog entry (I began writing it during down time on the boat).
And, as you can probably tell by my writing, I’m rushing through things because I’ve run out of time. I’m actually finishing this post off on July 5 — after completing the grueling trip home, BUT getting to spend the 4th with the grandbabies (worth every second of lost sleep getting here).
I’m so grateful for all the love and joy the planet and my favorite people on it bring me. I hope all of you are having a wonderful holiday weekend with your people.
Searendipity
I slept in much later than normal today because I got home around 5 a.m. after spending a glorious week of diving with friends in Anilao, Philippines. Now, I’m doing one of my favorite above water activities: sipping tea (seriously), inhaling my view (and the breeze that comes with it), reflecting on life’s blessings (and curses) and sharing some bits with you.
I’ll blast you with photos in a bit, but me oh my there’s so much I wish I could share with you, but that’s the thing about delving into discovery — the words and pics can only give you glimpses. I think one of the reasons I love diving so much is that it demands my full attention, presence and, well, aliveness. The world underneath does not have time for my versions of happiness or horror, my needs or wants — it’s busy doing its own dance, and my only job is to breathe and stay the eff out of the way.
So, I hover and voyeur while eels poke their beaks out of hidy holes (or swim by me), frog fish plod along the murky bottom, scorpion fish hide in plain sight, and Mantis Shrimp rear up ready to punch the fool who gets too close. Our guide swam all over the place looking for rare critters for us to ooh and aahhh over. My favorite is when he found something tiny (there are so many miniscule forms of life) and while he was motioning my friends with cameras to come and click, a feisty clown fish snapped it up and swallowed it whole. One being’s work of awe is another’s being’s snack. Sea critters aint got time to pause for us.
a nudi (sea slug — they had soooo many big and tiny ones) 
A mari nudi (something like that); basically a sea slug that looks like coral 
crocodile fish 
Grumpy 
Cardinal fish with eggs in mouth 
a pink eyed blennie 
another nudi 
Pygmy sea horse: these guys are so tiny, I only see their outline until I check out a friend’s pic. Mike Borgert took this one 
Mantis Shrimp: his punch will do damage 
rhinopias — freaking loved this guy 
just look at that face 
two eels in one 
I’m too sexy 
flamboyant cuttlefish 
sea snake 
disco scallop — a neon light shoots through the middle 
another nudi 
My boat peeps!
I took none of these pics. They’re all from Shane Blaz, Ina Francisco and Mike Borgert. There are so many other pics, but my computer is ancient and it’s not playing nice with WordPress.
And then there’s the amount of frog fish we saw from teeny tiny to huge. They come in all sorts of colors and blend in with their surroundings. They have a lure that hangs in front of their face, so dinner swims right up to them. We also saw a sponge crab and bamboo shark (not pictured), plus a whole bunch of other weird and adorable creatures. You look long enough at a spot and you’ll eventually see there’s something mating, living, eating there.
Sadly, while it felt like we were on another planet, evidence of my species is all over the place. There were shoes, batteries, cans, cups, you name it mixed in with the coral and sand. I get it: Life is not fair; it’s brutal, every meal is another creature’s death, but can we all just try to keep our trash to ourselves?
The fish leave their shit all about as well, but it’s their part of the planet to dirty (and their waste serves a purpose for something else). Evidence of waters warming and the storms they birth is also hard to miss. But enough of that, we all know we need to do better, and sometimes we do.
I most certainly don’t know the secrets of the universe, or how to fix our damage, but I do know that I am one lucky girl who gets to see the many layers of art (goth included) that life creates.
And I get to make so many amazing human friends as well (we’ve got our magic too).
Our entire group thankful for our unconventional Thanksgiving.
bettina without borders 