A Tear in the Tail

Some of you might remember that last March we were incredibly surprised by how much fun we had swimming with whale sharks in Donsol, Philippines. We vowed if we were here another season for it, we wouldn’t pass it up! The experience is so contagious that you just want to share it with everyone that hasn’t been able to go. To prod people along, I decided I would make it one of my last tours as the American Women’s Club of the Philippines, Tours Chairperson. The response was amazing! In 3 days I had all the rooms booked. In the spirit of “the more the merrier,” I requested five more rooms. The agent rewarded me with seven additional rooms and in 1 day, they were all completely filled. Apparently, I didn’t need to prod, people were waiting for the invitation. So two weekends ago, I led 43 people to Donsol.

We followed the same itinerary, almost, that we had a year ago. 6am flight, lasting 45 minutes and into the vans. Forty-five minutes later we were dropped off at the hotel, which is adjacent to the tourism office where you catch the boats. This time there was a tour operator who set up all the boats and grabbed us all snorkel gear. We kissed Jones and waved goodbye to Marie (our yaya/nanny) as we headed out for our 3 hour tour!

We were just starting to get concerned that the whale sharks were hiding, when we caught our first “shadow” of one. This dark shadow glides through the water, which is how you spot them. From the boat deck, it’s tricky and you have to be a little closer to see the shadow, but the “spotter” stands high on the mast making it much easier for him. The protocol is to spot the whale shark, determine which direction it is swimming and then circle around to be in its path where we are dropped. The whale shark usually comes right towards us, just in time for us to move out of it’s path if it’s near the surface. If it’s farther down, we just swim above it.

Remember we had done this before, so we knew what to expect, but still, it’s so amazing! The infectious feeling spread to our boat mates, Katie and Rick. Katie is a friend I have played Mahjong with for the past 2 1/2 yrs. She isn’t prone to being this adventurous, but was taking a risk on this trip. She and Rick were truly awestruck. To be with them and see their faces and feel their excitement was such a blast. Ellery was a bit concerned about the jump off of the moving boat, so she didn’t go in but once.

Aleah, on the other hand, was a pro. She had her flippers on and her mask on her head at all times ready to jump. She would have the guide pull her along until the whale shark was visible and eventually she just started letting go and swimming solo. Curt and I couldn’t have been more impressed by her. She was truly confident and enjoying every sighting.

Three hours later, we were all filthy gross and hungry. There is nothing like salt water and a boat ride to make you beg for a shower! The hotel had lunch out for us all and then we got several hours of down time before it was time for the Firefly Tour, which we had not done the previous year. It was obvious that the small little village wasn’t prepared for our large group. Apparently, we were supposed to take jeepneys (a local Filipino transport van) to the river for the tour, but the trikes (think sidecar) all showed up instead. A bit frustrated by the chaos of the jeepney drivers fighting with the trike people and now we are forced to take trikes the 20-30 minute ride to the river. Now, remember that we all live in the Philippines, so we are used to the flexibility one needs to deal with these spur of the moment changes, but it' still grates on you. Sure, the trikes are another form of transport that really make for the experience, but if you are the one standing on the back for the entire ride, you have completely lost the novelty feeling! Anyhow, we all made it and dealt with it and chalk it up to the way it is! Getting on the boats was rather chaotic, but soon enough we were able to see what the tour was all about. Now, we have seen fireflies before. Growing up in Texas, they are a summer staple. We would catch them, put them in jars, squish then and abuse the little insects. The fireflies in Donsol were a little bit different. They were smaller in size and they collectively swarmed in the mangrove trees. We have no idea why they were only in a few of the trees, but they swarmed in huge numbers, all together. The entire tree seemed to light up with white Christmas lights that would slowly blink on and off, sometimes in small group unison and sometimes at different times. It was like nothing I have ever seen before. Very interesting and I am thankful we added something to our experience this year.

After fireflies, we had dinner at BARacuda. We also went here last year and were amazed at what wonderful cuisine this little restaurant/bar offered. The owner, Juliet, is an amazing cook and she takes fresh fish and seafood to a whole new level. The best part is that Curt and I went on and on about the food and were rewarded 43 times over by the reactions of the people in the group. Everyone seemed to agree, that Juliet does a great job!

To bed WAY too late (I had to stay and pay tips and all that tour leader stuff) and we were up again at about 630am to eat breakfast and be on the boats by 730a. I have to say that the Sunday morning whale sharks are sleepy and introverted! It took forever to find a few and we know we swam with the same one at least on three different times in the water. He had this tear on his tailfin that made it obvious which one he was. The last hour on the boats this particular morning had a bit more action, but it was slow in the beginning. Once we figured out that Ellery was nervous about the jump off the moving boat (this was completely revealed when we all jumped in the water and look back and she’s still on the boat!), Curt solved the issue by just pushing her overboard. Sounds barbaric, but she was fine with it. She was totally thrilled by the whale shark and wouldn’t stop jabbering for about 5 minutes. “That was so awesome, I want to do it again.” Her voice got really high and she was smiling ear to ear. We were so happy she got in again. She was “pushed” in one more time and was pretty enthralled by the experience. Then there was a HUGE break between sightings and she lost her enthusiasm, so up to the seats she went and she never went back in. At least she did it and wasn’t scared, that’s all we could ask for.

Off the boats, in the shower, zip the suitcase and away we all went! It’s the fastest and most rewarding 36 hours I can imagine having! When some of our family comes in late March, we are going again! This time Aleah and I will go with the family and show them how much fun it all is! I can’t tell you how truly spectacular this experience is, you will need to come and experience it yourself!